8. The final Y of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed into I before an additional termination; as MERRY, MERRILY: but with a vowel before, the Y is not changed; as VALLEY, VALLEYS, and not VALLIES, as frequently written; and before ING the Y is retained to prevent the doubling of the I as PITY, PITYING.
9. Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words of which they are composed; as ALL-WISE, BLUE-EYED.
10. Words ending in F or FE have V substituted for the F in forming the plurals: as WIFE, WIVES; KNIFE, KNIVES, etc., except when ending in FF.
11. Some words are spelt the same in both the singular and plural; as DEER, SHEEP, etc., in which instance, by placing a before the word, one is meant, and by using THE, more than one.
12. Some words are spelt altogether differently in the singular and plural; as MOUSE, MICE; GOOSE, GEESE.
13. In spelling words it is necessary to consider well the different sounds of each part of the word. Every separate sound in a word must have in it one of the following letters, A, E, I, O, or U. Take for instance, CONTEMPLATE, which consists of three different sounds,CON-TEM-PLATE; there are the letters o, E, and A, respectively, in each sound or syllable, as it is called, and each one gives the sound to its syllable. In dividing such words at the end of a line. you must not let the last letter be any one of the above-mentioned five vowels, but must divide according to the syllable.
Another rule to be observed in the spelling of words which have ING added to them, when such words end in E, the F must always be left out; as COME, COMING; DIVIDE, DIVIDING.
It is also found difficult when the letters I and E come together in a word, to know which is to be placed first. The following simple rule will obviate such difficulty: When I and follow C in a word, the E is usually placed first; as RECEIVE, DECEIVE, CONCEIVE, etc.; in other instances the I comes before the E; as BELIEVE, RELIEVE, etc.
Words of Similar Pronunciation that are Spelled Differently.
- Ail, Ale. Ail, unwell; Ale, a liquor.
- All, Awl. All, everyone; Awl, shoemaker's tool.
- Bear, Bare. Bear, wild animal; Bare, naked.
- Bier, Beer. Bier, frame for carrying corpse; Beer, a malt liquor.
- Bore, Boar. Bore, carried, or to make a hole; Boar, the male swine.
- Birth, Berth. Birth, to be born; Berth, sleeping place.
- Bee, Be. Bee, an insect; Be, is used in every other instance.
- Call, Caul. Call, to visit, or shout after; Caul, the covering on the heads of some children when born.
- Currant, Current. Currant, a fruit; Current, a stream.
- Draft, Draught. Draft, commercial form, or current of air; Draught, to draw a load, or a drink.
- Dear, Deer. Dear, not cheap, term of affection; Deer, an animal.
- Fourth, Forth. Fourth, next after third; Forth, forward.
- Four, Fore. Four, the number after three; Fore, the front.
- Great, Grate. Great, large; Grate, fire support in the stove.
- Hail, Hale. Hail, to shout after, frozen rain; Hale, vigorous.
- Hear, Here. Hear, to understand; Here, in this place.
- Hole, Whole. Hole, an opening; Whole, entire, complete.
- I, Eye. I, myself, used thus it should always be a capital; Eye, organ of sight.
- Know, No. Know, to understand; No, a denial,
- Lief, Leaf. Lief, willingly; Leaf, part of a tree.
- More, Moor, Moore. More, in addition; Moor, a piece of waste land; Moore, a man's name.
- None, Nun. None, not any; Nun, a female who secludes herself from all worldly affairs.
- Piece, Peace. Piece, a bit; Peace, quietness.
- Pare, Pear, Pair. Pare, to peel; Pear, a fruit; Pair, two.
- Rain, Rein, Reign. Rain, water falling from clouds; Rein, strap for guiding a horse; Reign, to rule.
- Reed, Read. Reed, a kind of tall grass; Read, the act of reading.
- Red, Read. Red, a color; Read, past tense of read.
- Sign, Sine. Sign, a token; Sine, a mathematical term.
- There, Their. There, in that place; Their, a personal pronoun.
- Tow, Toe. Tow, rope material; Toe, a part of the foot.
- Vain, Vane. Vain, conceited; Vane, a weathercock.
- Vice, Vise. Vice, wickedness; Vise, a blacksmith's tool.
- Ware, Wear. Ware, goods, or earthen-ware; Wear, to make a use of clothing.
- Write, Wright, Rite, Right. Write, to use a pen; Wright, a man's name; Rite, a ceremony; Right, not wrong.
- Wrote, Rote. Wrote, having written; Rote, to repeat from memory.
- You, Yew, Ewe. You, yourself; Yew, a tree; Ewe, female sheep.
- Blew, Blue. Blew, having blown; Blue, a color.
- Made, Maid. Made, formed; Maid, female servant.
- Pail, Pale. Pail, a vessel; Pale, white.
Words having prefixes and suffixes of different spelling, while having each the same or nearly the same pronunciation.
ible' and able.
The following words end in ible. Most other words of similar pronunciation end in able.
- Accessible,
- Admissible,
- Appetible,
- Apprehensible,
- Audible,
- Coercible,
- Collectible,
- Comminuible,
- Compatible,
- Competible,
- Comprehensible,
- Compressible,
- Conceptible,
- Conclusible,
- Congestible,
- Contemptible,
- Contractible,
- Controvertible,
- Convertible,
- Convincible,
- Corrigible,
- Corrosible,
- Corruptible,
- Credible,
- Deceptible,
- Decerptible,
- Decoctible,
- Deducible,
- Defeasible,
- Defectible,
- Defensible,
- Depectible,
- Deprehensible,
- Descendible,
- Destructible,
- Digestible,
- Discernible,
- Discerptible,
- Distractible,
- Distensible,
- Divisible,
- Docible,
- Edible,
- Effectible,
- Eligible,
- Eludible,
- Expansible,
- Enforcible,
- Evincible,
- Expressible,
- Extendible,
- Extensible,
- Fallible,
- Feasible,
- Fencible,
- Flexible,
- Forcible,
- Frangible,
- Fusible,
- Horrible,
- Ignoscible,
- Illegible,
- Immarcessible,
- Immiscible,
- Intelligible,
- Trascible,
- Legible,
- Miscible,
- Partible,
- Perceptible,
- Permissible,
- Persuasible,
- Pervertible,
- Plausible,
- Possible,
- Producible,
- Quadrible,
- Reducible,
