Natural Spellers, are there certain words you seem to misspell?

[Trresh]

OK, I have a bunch of obscure rules! :D

 

(That doesn't mean I always spell everything correctly or even that I spell these words correctly, it just means I know a lot of rules after studying phonics and spelling for so long. I collect rules and spelling books and dictionaries...)

 

Argument and judgement fall under the final silent e rules:

 

 

 

So, judgement should have that e to keep the g soft. I could see how the dg *could* signal a soft g, but judgement is preferred in my opinion.

 

Occasionally would be pronounced with a sh instead of a zh if it had 2 s's (like mission.) For an explanation of why, you can watch my phonics lesson 22. The explanation is within the first 3 minutes. It would take a long time to type here--I explain in the movie with a specially marked print that helps you "see" how it works. The audio also helps.

 

Accommodate needs 2 m's to keep the o short.

 

The doubling rules cover several words, here first are the rules:

 

 

 

Philippines has an accent on the 2nd syllable, so will double the p.

 

Occurrence has an accent on the 2nd syllable, so will double the r.

 

Hyperbole and epitome are from Greek. They follow Greek spelling and pronunciation rules. My chart from phonics lesson 27 explains this to some degree, and the lesson covers it a bit as well, although it might not totally explain these words, but just knowing that they are all Greek to me, too might help! :D

 

Cemetery: Well, since there are hundreds of words spelled -ary and only 2 spelled -ery with this pronunciation, I can see why you would want to spell it ary! Just memorize that cemetery and stationery are exceptions. (Most -ery words are pronounced like "recovery" or "treachery."

 

-ant/ent and -ence/ance and -ar/or/er:

 

There are actually rules for these, but they are complex and I don't have a good source for them that is not under copyright. The best consolidated explanation of all these suffix rules is in Stephen V. Ross's "Spelling Made Simple."

 

*All rule quotes are from my upcoming new spelling rules document, I'm finally adding in all the suffix rules. There are a lot, I'm still typing, it is still in draft.

 

Thanks for these!! I'm going to show them to my kids, too.

[BatmansWife]

I used to spell underwear as underware. Actually, it was only a few years ago that I finally got it right (I have to think about "wearing" it to get it right)....not that I spell that word very often anyway. :001_smile:

 

Forty is still a tricky one.

[Word Nerd]

I have a tendency to use peak instead of peek because peek looks wrong to me even when it's right.

[Momof3Maidens]

Probably - I always want to leave out the second b

Tomorrow - There's only one "m", I want to use two

Separate too - I want to spell it "er" too

[scrappyhappymama]

Argument and judgement fall under the final silent e rules:

 

Final silent e

 

Is normally dropped when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. (move, movable)

-unless needed to keep c or g soft (change, changeable)

 

Will be kept if it is part of a letter team that end in e (ee, ue, oe, etc; i.e. see, seeing)

-exception: dropped after u or w (true, truly; awe, awful)

 

Will be kept if the suffix begins with a consonant. (careful, lateness)

 

So, judgement should have that e to keep the g soft. I could see how the dg *could* signal a soft g, but judgement is preferred in my opinion.

 

 

Thanks for the rules. They were very helpful!

 

Except now with 'argument' and 'judgment' I am *more* confused!

 

By the rules you listed, it seems that both argument and judgment should keep the 'e' because the suffix starts with a consonant. The "unless needed to keep c or g soft" should only apply to suffixes that start with vowels, right?

 

Incidentally, I've always believed that judgement is the British spelling and that judgment is the American spelling (and Firefox agrees). So I typically write both of these words without the final e, but this seems to contradict the rules you listed.

[ElizabethB]

Except now with 'argument' and 'judgment' I am *more* confused!

 

By the rules you listed, it seems that both argument and judgment should keep the 'e' because the suffix starts with a consonant. The "unless needed to keep c or g soft" should only apply to suffixes that start with vowels, right?

 

 

Argument falls under the exception I listed, it works like true/truly, it is after a u or a w (after a u.) True/truly argue/argument

 

Judgement should follow under the keeping a g soft rule. If there is no e after the g and it is followed by a consonant (in this case, m), it should be hard like in augment, sigma, or pragmatic. The spelling judgment is probably allowed because dg together acts as a j.

[QuirkyKapers]

Definitely

Separate

 

I also have to think "I before E, except after C"

[scrappyhappymama]

Argument falls under the exception I listed, it works like true/truly, it is after a u or a w (after a u.) True/truly argue/argument

 

Judgement should follow under the keeping a g soft rule. If there is no e after the g and it is followed by a consonant (in this case, m), it should be hard like in augment, sigma, or pragmatic. The spelling judgment is probably allowed because dg together acts as a j.

 

Thank you. I knew I had to be missing something!

[extendedforecast]

Argument falls under the exception I listed, it works like true/truly, it is after a u or a w (after a u.) True/truly argue/argument

 

Judgement should follow under the keeping a g soft rule. If there is no e after the g and it is followed by a consonant (in this case, m), it should be hard like in augment, sigma, or pragmatic. The spelling judgment is probably allowed because dg together acts as a j.

 

What about cueing? Wait, I'm getting the squiggly red line on that word, yet I've seen it spelled that way numerous times. Should it be cuing?

[KidsHappen]

Necassary and occasionally, no matter how many times I look them up. I know I have problems with them and that I have to look them up all the time but I can never remember the results of the look up. I have given up on trying to master them and just settle for getting them right about half the time. I used to be an excellent speller then about five years ago I started taking a medicine that has the strange side effect of causing difficulty spelling. Sometimes I have problems with even the most basic words. It is quite distressing because I use IE with does not have the auto spell check function so I have to look up every word that looks weird which is at least 1/4 of them. :glare:

[ElizabethB]

What about cueing? Wait, I'm getting the squiggly red line on that word, yet I've seen it spelled that way numerous times. Should it be cuing?

 

The OED says cueing is more common but cuing is also correct.

 

Dictionary.com says cuing is correct.

 

With this suffix rule:

 

Final y

Will change to an I when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel.

(cry, cries, cried)

-except if the suffix starts with an I (crying)

or, a few other exceptions like adding –ness (dryness, shyness)

So: bury, buried, burying

Try, ties, tried, trying

 

You have something different going on with the ing. I don't think there is a separate rule about the u and w when it is followed by an i, but it is similar and it could be.

 

The suffix rules are fairly complicated. I haven't taught all of them to my daughter yet and only cover them with my more older students, and then only if their reading progresses to a certain level first, I concentrate on reading and basic spelling rules before I move on to suffix rules.

 

That being said, I do think they are useful, especially for a word that you frequently have trouble remembering how to spell. In my case, at least, I find it easier to remember the correct spelling if I know the rule behind the spelling.

Edited November 19, 2011 by ElizabethB

[extendedforecast]

The OED says cueing is more common but cuing is also correct.

 

Dictionary.com says cuing is correct.

 

With this suffix rule:

 

 

 

You have something different going on with the ing. I don't think there is a separate rule about the u and w when it is followed by an i, but it is similar and it could be.

 

The suffix rules are fairly complicated. I haven't taught all of them to my daughter yet and only cover them with my more older students, and then only if their reading progresses to a certain level first, I concentrate on reading and basic spelling rules before I move on to suffix rules.

 

That being said, I do think they are useful, especially for a word that you frequently have trouble remembering how to spell. In my case, at least, I find it easier to remember the correct spelling if I know the rule behind the spelling.

 

You are awesome :D This is all fascinating to me. Spelling is one of my strengths, yet none of my children seem to be natural spellers. I find your posts on this thread very interesting, and I'm off to explore the links you posted. Thanks.

[LazyDazy]

convenience :glare:

[DarlaS]

Ninety. That "e" just looks so misplaced, even though "nintey" doesn't work at all. And forty. I have to fight not to include the "u." I have always had a contentious relationship with numbers.

 

Too funny. Those are the ones my dh asks me to spell every time he writes a check for those amounts.

 

I can't figure out why though

 

Nine + ty. Makes perfect sense to me. Forty is a little weird.

 

For me, I have a hard time with unnecessary or other words with more than one pair of double consonants.

[macpuffins]

OK, I have a bunch of obscure rules! :D

 

(That doesn't mean I always spell everything correctly or even that I spell these words correctly, it just means I know a lot of rules after studying phonics and spelling for so long. I collect rules and spelling books and dictionaries...)

 

Hyperbole and epitome are from Greek. They follow Greek spelling and pronunciation rules. My chart from phonics lesson 27 explains this to some degree, and the lesson covers it a bit as well, although it might not totally explain these words, but just knowing that they are all Greek to me, too might help! :D

 

*THANK YOU*

:hurray:

[ereks mom]

I always have an issue with the word accommodate. I always want to spell it with one M instead of two. /QUOTE]

 

Me too. I always have to write it out and see which way looks right. I also have trouble with broccoli and chauffeur (sp?).

Edited November 19, 2011 by ereks mom

[KrissiK]

I always have trouble with "occasionally". I want to add another "s".

[Audrey]

vaccuum/vacuum/vaccum

 

I can never remember how to spell that. It looks wrong to me no matter how I spell it.

[J-rap]

Vacuum. It's the one word I have to look up EVERY SINGLE TIME. (Including just now.)

[WIS0320]

 

Separate...we try to spell it like 'seperate'.

 

This is THE word I always have to think about to spell.

[obsidian]

Necessary. I have to look it up every single time I want to use it.

[ElizabethB]

I also have trouble with broccoli and chauffeur (sp?).

 

I don't know about broccoli, but chauffeur is French, that explains it! :tongue_smilie:

 

In French, ch is often sh and -er at the end is usually eur.

 

chateau, chef, sabeteur

 

My word origin slides may help, you can watch my phonics lesson 27 if you want to know more. Also, I don't know about the au in chauffeur, if you want to know, CleoQC should know, she helped with the French for my charts.

[Carol in Cal.]

I realized late in life that many of the words I have had trouble with are spelled differently between American and British English.

 

Also, necessary has been challenging. As has infinite. And definite. And scissors.

[Melinda TX]

convenient

 

 

can't spell it without REALLY thinking long and hard about it!

[Just Robyn]

I have trouble with a couple of the words already mentioned:

 

occasionally

 

occur

 

I also have trouble with

 

recommend

 

and I have to say 'restaurant' in my head in Spanish every time I spell it to know where to put the 'u'.

[funschooler5]

Necessary. I have to look it up every single time I want to use it.

 

Me too! In fact, I was hoping somebody else posted it so I wouldn't have to look up the spelling again.:lol:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

equipment - I always want to add a "t", as in equiptment.

 

I never had trouble with these words until I became fluent in French, and now I always have to stop and think in both languages:

 

English French

 

address adresse

envelope enveloppe

medicine médecin (means doctor, but I always mess up the spelling)

[Rivka]

Mine are attach (I always want to put in a t), recommend (always want to double the c), and, regrettably, conscientious (always forget the second i).

[Laura Corin]

I'm fine with occasionally and separate. 'Caribbean' always catches me out: I never know if it's double 'r' or double 'b' or both.

 

Laura