Spelling Rules

Concept sheet | English Language Arts

Grade

1-6

Spelling rules are guidelines that illustrate how to write a word.

The rules apply to most words, but watch out for exceptions.

The most common general spelling rules are:

Double Consonants	Plural Spellings	Words Ending in Y

-I Before E, Except After -C	Sounds & Spelling	Regularly Misspelled Vowel Sounds

Silent Letters	Words Whose Pronunciation and Spelling Differ	Canadian Spelling

One Rule To Rule Them All

Only one rule applies to every English word: Each syllable contains at least 1 vowel.

A syllable is a group of letters.

Together this group of letters is pronounced as one sound.

Each syllable must always contain at least one vowel.

For example:

The word fantastic has 3 syllables.

Syllables:	1	2	3
Syllables:	fan	tas	tic

The word monkey has 2 syllables.

Syllables:	1	2
Syllables:	mon	key

A vowel is a letter representing a sound.

The vowels are the letters:

a	e	i
o	u	y*

*y is sometimes also used as a consonant.

For instance:

A consonant is a letter representing a sound.

The consonants are the letters:

*y is sometimes also used as a vowel.

For instance:

See Also