How to improve your English orthography

General techniques

• Divide words into syllables: re-in-force, ab-so-lute!
• Underline words within words: de-forest-a-tion!
• When you learn your vocabulary, say each word slowly and clearly!
• Find other words that contain the same blend of letters: knife – know – knot…
• Find out whether a vowel is long (bag) or short (back)!
• Highlight strange endings (castle), beginnings (white), and silent letters (interested) when you write down vocabulary!
• Find rhyming pairs: make – lake, sack – back…!

Rules

• Try out each rule you learn!
• Learn and practice one rule at a time!
• Learn only the rules that help you with your problem words!
• Learn the rules which are easy to remember, which apply to a large number of words and have few exceptions!
• Rules are more helpful if you spot them yourself! Write down your own rules.
• Express the rules you read about in your own words.
• Do also learn the exceptions to the rule!

Dictionaries

• Don’t depend on your dictionary too much.
• If you are uncertain about the spelling of a word, don’t immediately search through your dictionary for it!
• Try to write the word! If it looks wrong, try to write alternative versions!
• Always complete your piece of writing before you use the dictionary!
• When you check a word in your dictionary, make certain it’s the word you require by checking its definition!
• Apply scanning skills: (1) Locate the correct quarter of the dictionary; (2) Find the first letter; (3) Follow the guide word; (4) Find the correct page; (5) Scan the page for the entry.
• Create your own dictionary of problem words!
• Use a spell check!

Jogging the memory

• Use mnemonics: necessary = one collar and two socks!
• Mnemonics can also help you recall words connected with spelling rules more easily: The wicked bandit / Who practiced deceit / Gazed at the ceiling / And seized the receipt.
• When learning to spell words containing silent letters, grouping these words together may also be helpful: The knight knew the knack of knitting knickers.
• It may also be helpful to remember difficult letter combinations in a word by identifying the problem letters and chanting them to yourself as you write down the word: two “c”s and two “m”s in accommodation!
• A list of exceptions to a rule may also be learned this way: Truly, Mr Duly, your ninth argument is wholly awful and that’s the truth.
• Memory aids can help you work out which of a pair of homophones to use: stationary = remaining still, stationery = envelopes!
• Collect words that belong to the same word family: traveler, travelling, travelled…!
• Make word pairs: difficult / different!
• If you have difficulty spelling a word, try treating it as an acronym and then find a word for each letter of your problem word: which = whose heart is completely hollow?
• Play scrabble, solve crosswords, and unscramble anagrams!
• Make a word chain: face – fate – rate – rite – rice – mice…!

• Make word squares: The last two letters of a word (here: fare) will be the first two letters of the following word (here: rear)!

Problems with plurals

• If a noun ends in ch, sh, ss, x, z or zz, an “es” must be added to make the word plural.
• If there is a consonant immediately before the “y”, change “y” to “I” and add “es”!
• If there is a vowel before the “y”, just add “s”.
• Words that end in “f” sometimes form their plurals by changing “f” into “v” and adding “es”: self, elf, shelf, wolf, thief, loaf, leaf, sheaf, calf, knife, wife, life, half.
• Some words which end in “o” add “s”, but not “oes”: 1. If there is a vowel before the “o”: kangaroos, 2. Abbreviated words: discos, 3. Italian and Spanish words: solos, sombreros, cellos.
• Some words have irregular plurals: man –men, woman – women, child – children, goose – geese, tooth – teeth, foot – feet, mouse – mice, louse – lice.
• Some words don’t change at all: deer, sheep, salmon, trout, grouse, moose, news, cattle, fish, pants, trousers, scissors, mathematics, series, species, tights, innings.
• In compounds, the main word in made plural: man-of-war – men-of-war, passer-by – passers-by, son-in-law – sons-in-law, court-martial – courts-martial, maid-of-honour – maids-of-honour. If both parts are of equal importance, both parts take a plural form: manservant – menservants, woman writer – women writers.
• Some foreign words still keep their original plural form: stimulus – stimuli, bacterium – bacteria, radius – radii, medium – media, criterion – criteria, phenomenon – phenomena, larva – larva, crisis – crises.

Tough vowels and tricky consonants

• “au” occurs at the beginning and middle of words, “aw” at the end of words”!
• “ai” and “oi” are mostly used at the beginning or in the middle of words, “oy” and “ay” are more common in the end of words. EXCEPTION: royal
• “ou” as an [ou] sound is never used at the ending of words, use “ow”! “ou” is more common in the middle of words!
• If the last sound in a word is [u], use “ew” or “ue”! If the sound is in the middle, try “oo”!
• Memorize all “gh” words: drough, bough, plough, trough, cough, tough, enough, rough, borough, thorough, ought, thought, bought, fought, brought, though, although, dough, through, daughter, laughter, caught, naughty, taught, slaughter!
• “er” is the most common combination for the [er] sound at the end of words, “ur” is more common than “ir”, “ear” is used least!
• “gh” making an [f] sound is never found at the beginning of words!
• Memorize words where the “h” is silent after “g”: ghetto, ghost, ghastly!
• “f” is used in words that look like or sound like German words (fall, foot, five), “ph” is more common in words that look like Latin or French words (phrase, phase, phone).
• If a word has one syllable, one short vowel, one final consonant the consonant will doubled in participles or comparison: wet – wetter, hit - hitting, chat – chatter.
• When adding a vowel suffix or a consonant suffix to words where the first syllable is stressed, do not double the final consonant of the base word: profit – profitable, limit – limited, enter – entering
• When adding a vowel suffix to words where the stress falls on the second syllable, double the final consonant. Don’t do that if the suffix starts with a vowel: forget – forgetting, commit – committal, equip – equipped; BUT: forgetful, commitment, equipment
• If there is one vowel before “l”, double the “l” when adding a vowel suffix. If there are two vowels before “l”, don ‘t double the “l” when adding a consonant suffix: travel – travelling, signal, patrol – patrolling; BUT: appeal – appealing, conceal – concealing
• In two-syllable words which end in “l” and have one vowel before the “l”, double the “l” when adding a vowel suffix but don’t double the “l” when adding a consonant suffix: quarrel – quarrelsome; BUT: formality, civilize
• “c” usually makes a hard sound when it is followed by “a”, “o”, “u” and consonants, when it is followed by “y”, “I” or “e” it will make a soft sound: protocol, percussion, unclear, abdicate; BUT: perceive, incinerate, policy
• In some words where “cc” occur together, the first “c” makes a hard sound and the second a soft sound: accent, eccentric, access
• Memorize words that end in “se” as opposed to those which end in “ce”: cease, nonsense, promise, expense, loose, chase, false, tense, increase, else; BUT: slice, circumference, experience, difference, pence, conscience, service, absence, choice, police
• The noun is spelled with “ce”, the verb is spelled with “se” or “ze”: licence – license, practice – practice, advice – advise, device - devise
• The silent “e” is dropped when a vowel suffix is added but kept when a consonant suffix is added: spice – spicy, rate – rated, place – placing, invite – invitation; BUT: hate – hateful, tire – tiresome, blame – blameless
• Silent “e” is also retained to keep “c” or “g” soft when you add “able” or “ous” is added: courageous, noticeable, manageable
• Some words drop the final “e” when a consonant suffix is added: argue – argument, awe – awful, nine – ninth, true – truth, whole – wholly, due – duly: “Truly, Mr Duly, your ninth argument is wholly awful and that’s the truth.”
• If the base word has a consonant before the final “y”, change the “y” to “i” before adding a suffix. If there is a vowel before the final “y”, add the suffix without changing the “y”: apply – application, heavy – heaviness, pity – pitiful, mystery – mysterious, busy – busily; BUT: play – displayed, destroy – destroyed, pay – payment. EXCEPTION: This will not work with some verbs and their past tense forms: pay – paid!