Rules

Words (Words in bold are statutory spellings)

Rule 1

Words with the long /ai/ sound spelt with ei

eight

eighth

eighty

weight

neighbour

vein

veil

beige

sleigh

freight

Rule 2

Words with the long /ai/ sound spelt with ey

hey

they

obey

grey

prey

whey

survey

convey

disobey

purvey

Rule 3

Words with the long /ai/ sound spelt with ai

straight

campaign

contain

brain

faint

waist

claim

praise

complaint

afraid

Rule 4

Words with /ur/ sound spelt with ear

earth

early

learn

heard

earn

pearl

search

unearth

earl

rehearse

Rule 5

Homophones & near homophones

here

hear

heel

heal

main

mane

mail

male

knot

not

Rule 6

Homophones & near homophones

berry

bury

brake

break

meet

meat

ball

bawl

fair

fare

Rule 7

Creating adverbs using the suffix -ly (no change to root word)

kindly

quickly

safely

rudely

sweetly

strongly

bravely

secretly

finally

usually

Rule 8

Creating adverbs using the suffix -ly (root word ends in ‘y’ with more than one syllable)

happily

angrily

lazily

easily

busily

greedily

messily

wearily

cheekily

clumsily

Rule 9

Creating adverbs using the suffix -ly (root word ends in ‘le’)

gently

simply

humbly

nobly

horribly

terribly

possibly

incredibly

comfortably

probably

Rule 10

Creating adverbs using the suffix -ly (root word ends in ‘ic’ or ‘al’)

basically

frantically

dramatically

magically

tragically

comically

actually

accidentally

occasionally

eventually

Rule 11

Creating adverbs using the suffix -ly (exceptions to the rules)

truly

duly

wholly

fully

daily

publicly

dryly

slyly

shyly

coyly

Rule 12

Words with short /i/ sound spelt with ‘y’

myth

gym

Egypt

pyramid

mystery

hymn

system

symbol

lyric

typical

Rule 13

Adding suffixes beginning with a vowel (er/ed/ing) to words with more than one syllable (unstressed last syllable - DO NOT double the final consonant)

gardener

gardening

limited

limiting

offering

offered

benefited

benefiting

focused

focusing

Rule 14

Adding suffixes beginning with a vowel (er/ed/en/ing) to words with more than one syllable (stressed last syllable - double the final consonant)

forgetting

forgotten

beginning

beginner

preferred

preferring

occurred

occurring

forbidden

committed

Rule 15

Creating negative meanings using prefix mis

misspell

mislead

mistreat

misbehave

mistrust

misprint

misuse

misplace

misheard

misread

Rule 16

Creating negative meanings using prefix dis

dislike

disobey

discolour

discover

disappear

dishonest

disallow

disbelieve

disapprove

discontinue

Rule 17

Words with a /k/ sound spelt with ‘ch’

scheme

chorus

echo

character

ache

chaos

stomach

chemistry

orchestra

technology

Rule 18

Homophones & Near Homophones

grate

great

grown

groan

plain

plane

peace

piece

rain

reign

Rule 19

Homophones & Near Homophones

scent

sent

vain

vein

rode

road

steel

steal

waist

waste

Rule 20

Adding the prefix bi- (meaning ‘two’ or ‘twice’) and Adding the prefix re- (meaning ‘again’ or back’)

bicycle

biplane

bisect

bilingual

biannual

reappear

redecorate

reapply

repay

rebuild

Rule 21

Words ending in the /g/ sound spelt ‘gue’ and the /k/ sound spelt ‘que’

league

plague

rogue

vague

fatigue

unique

antique

mosque

cheque

technique

Rule 22

Words with a /sh/ sound spelt with ‘ch’

chef

chalet

machine

brochure

crochet

ricochet

parachute

moustache

champagne

chute

Rule 23

Words ending in -ary

library

February

dictionary

boundary

salary

summary

primary

secondary

ordinary

necessary

Rule 24

Words with a short /u/ sound spelt with ‘o’

woman

wonder

month

govern

brother

another

shovel

above

Monday

discover

Rule 25

Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning.

instruct

structure

construction

instruction

instructor

unit

union

united

universe

university

Rule 26

Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning

scope

telescope

microscope

horoscope

periscope

inspect

spectator

respect

perspective

spectacles

Rule 27

Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning

press

suppress

express

compress

impress

prevent

invent

venture

adventure

eventful

Rule 28

Words ending in the suffix -al

natural

occasional

actual

accidental

medical

national

capital

vocal

sensational

personal

Rule 29

Words ending with an /zhuh/ sound spelt with ‘sure’

treasure

measure

pleasure

enclosure

closure

leisure

exposure

pressure

composure

fissure

Rule 30

Words ending with a /chuh/ sound spelt with ‘ture

creature

picture

nature

furniture

capture

culture

moisture

future

gesture

structure

Rule 31

Words ending with a /chuh/ sound spelt with ‘ture

lecture

literature

fracture

miniature

mixture

puncture

sculpture

signature

temperature

texture

Rule 32

Silent Letters

island

answer

write

wrapper

knife

knock

thumb

doubt

half

calm

Rule 33

Silent Letters

build

guide

guard

wheat

whale

honest

whirl

gnome

gnaw

surprise