Spelling Rules

Rule 9

Double the last letter of words ending in a short vowelfollowed by a single consonant before adding a ‘y’. 

eg. Ricky enjoys lying relaxing on his recliner beach chair on a sunny day.

rag à raggy

shag à  shaggy

cat à catty

wit à witty

fog  à  foggy

fun  à  funny
Try these

run à runny

wool  à  woolly

fur à furry 

mud à muddy
skin  à  skinny 

Now use some of these words in a sentence to show you know how to spell them and use them correctly in the context of a sentence.

The skinny girls furry woolly jumper was very muddy and the mud was very runny.

On a cold rainy day I went out to play in the mud and the next day I got a runny nose so I had to wear a wooly jumper and had to have a furry blanket over me.

Rule seven 

Before adding ‘er’ and ‘est’ to words ending in a consonant, followed by a ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’.

eg. Dean is the skinniest member at the local gym.

lazy à laziest

lazy  à  lazier

salty à saltiest

salty à saltier

happy  à  happiest

happy  à  happier

Rule six

For action words that end in ‘ie’, change the ‘ie’ to ‘y’ before adding ‘ing’.

eg. Brian enjoys lying on his back to watch the clouds in the sky.

lie à lying

tie  à  tying

die à dying

Rule five

When the letter before a ‘y’ is a consonant, change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’ before adding ‘es’.

eg. Each year we go on a beach holiday with three other families.

family à families

lady  à  ladies

jelly à jellies

nappy à nappies

party à parties

Rule four

When an action word ends with a consonant followed by a ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘es’.

eg. Our puppy buries her toys so no one can find them.

bury à buries

empty  à empties

try à tries

carry à carries

tidy à tidies

Rule three

When action words end with an 'sh', 'ch', 'ss', 'x' or 'z'

cross ~ crosses
boss ~ bosses
buzz ~ buzzes
catch ~ catches
box ~ boxes

 Rule two

 When a word ends with a short vowel followed by a consonant,

dubble the last consonant

adding 'ed'

eg.

drop-dropped

nap-napped

shop-shoped

admits-admitted 

Rule One

'i' before 'e'  except after 'c' 

Relieve

Believe 

Friend

Relief 

Ancient 

Belief

Exceptions-  Neighbour 
                     Their