Spelling Rules

. To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed:
 
                 at           red            it            hot           up

2. To spell a long sound you must add a second vowel. The second may be next to the first, in the VVC pattern (boat, maid, cue, etc.) or it may be separated from the first one by a consonant in the VCV pattern (made, ride, tide, etc.). If the second vowel is separated from the first by two spaces, it does not affect the first one. This is the VCCV pattern in which the first vowel remains short. Thus, doubling a consonant can be called "protecting" a short vowel because it prevents an incoming vowel from getting close enough to the first one to change its sound from short to long:

         maid,  made,  but  madder;            dine,  diner,  but dinner.


Spelling the Sound /k/

This sound can be spelled in any one of four ways:


1. c     2. cc     3. k        4. ck

1. The single letter, c , is the most common spelling. It may be used anywhere in a word:



cat corn actor victim direct mica
scat  bacon  public  cactus  inflict  pecan


2. Sometimes the letter c must be doubled to cc to protect the sound of a short vowel:



stucco  baccalaureate  hiccups
Mecca  tobacco  buccaneer
occupy raccoon  succulent  


3. The letter k is substituted for c if /k/ is followed by an e, i, or y.



kin  make  sketch  poker  kind  risky
skin  token  skill  keep  liking  flaky


(Boring examples? How about kyphosis, kylix, keratosis, and dyskinesia?)

4. Similarly, the spelling ck, is substituted for cc if the following letter is an e, i, or y:



lucky  picking  rocking  finicky
blackest  mackintosh  frolicked  ducking
Kentucky  picnicking  stocking  Quebecker


5. The letters, k and ck are more than substitutes for c and cc. They are used to spell /k/ at the end of a monosyllable. The digraph, ck, ALWAYS follows a short vowel:



sack  duck  lick  stick  wreck  clock


(Forget about yak. Your student will never need it.)


The letter, k, follows any other sound:



milk  soak  make  bark
tank  peek  bike  cork
tusk  hawk  duke  perk


The Sound, /j/
The sound, /j/ is spelled in three ways: j ge and dge.

1. The letter j is usually used if the sound if followed by an a, o, or u.



just  jam  jungle  injure  major  adjacent  
jog  jar  Japan  jury  job  Benjamin
adjust  jacket  jolly  jaguar  jump  jalousie


2. Since the letter g has the soft sound of /j/ when it is followed by an e, i, or y, it is usually used in this situation:



gentle  ginger  aging  algebra
Egyptologist  gem  origin  gym


2. If /j/ follows a short vowel sound, it is usually spelled with dge. This is because the letter j, is never doubled in English.



badge  ridge  dodge  partridge  gadget
judge  edge  smudge  judgement  budget


The Sound, /ch/

The sound /ch/ has two spellings: tch after a short vowel, ch anywhere else:



witch  sketch  botch  satchel
catch  hatchet  kitchen  escutcheon

Exceptions:
Which, rich, much, such, touch, bachelor, attach, sandwich, and ostrich.

The Sound, /kw/
This sound is ALWAYS spelled with the letters, qu, never anything else.

Using -le

Words ending in -le, such as little, require care. If the vowel sound is short, there must be two consonants between the vowel and the -le. Otherwise, one consonant is enough.



li tt le ha nd le ti ck le a mp le
bo tt le pu zz le cru mb le a ng le




bugle able poodle dawdle  needle  idle  people


Odds and Ends

1. The consonants, v, j, k, w, and x are never doubled.
2. No normal English words ends with the letter v. A final /v/ is always spelled with ve, no matter what the preceding vowel sound may be:



have  give  sleeve  cove  
receive  love  connive  brave  
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