but there are always exceptions to the rules that need to be learned too. The main basic spelling rules of English relate to: spelling and plural; doubling letters; dropping and adding letters; verb forms, prefixes and suffixes; When there is a prefix, we do not normally add or take away more letters: Prefixes il-, im-, ir- We commonly use the prefixes il-, im- or ir- when the first letter of a word is l, m, p, or r. Spelling and plural forms There are rules for the plurals of regular nouns and the - s forms of regular verbs. The general rule is add - s : If the ending is pronounced as ‘ch’ /t ∫ / or ‘s’ /s/, we add -es / I z/: dis + obey → disobey mis + spell → misspell in + humane → inhumane over + hear → overhear il- before l im- before m or p ir- before r il legible im moral ir relevant bring → brings day→days ear → ears smile → smiles speak → speaks town → towns Unit- - A THOUGHT - - - If a word ends in an -e, we add a n -s: If the word ends in a consonant plus -y, we change -y to i and add -es: We add -esto some wor ds ending in -o: However, some words ending in -o only require -s: videos, discos, pianos, memos, photos.
For some nouns ending in -f or -fe, we form the plural by changing the -f or -fe to -ves: Spelling: doubling consonants(tense) We often double the final consonant of a word (b, d, g, l, m, n, p, r, t) when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added (-ed, -er, -est, -ing): noun plurals verb -s forms bus → buses cross → crosses church → churches fetch → fetches noun plurals verb -s forms baby → babies marry → marries opportunity → opportunities reply → replies noun plurals noun plurals/ verb -s forms tomato → tomatoes echo → echoes hop + -ed → hopped slim + -ing →