Useful Spelling Rules – Part II --- 11
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🌼‘se’ and ‘ce’; ‘sy’ and ‘cy’
When two words, verb and noun, are spelt alike, ‘se’ and ‘sy’ are verb endings; ‘ce’ and ‘cy’ are noun endings. The following are therefore verbs: license, practise, prophesy, advise.
The following are nouns: licence, practice, prophecy, advice
Promise is an exception to this rule. It is a noun.
This rule does not hold good when verb and noun are not spelt alike, so ‘suspense’ and ‘hypocrisy’ are nouns.

🌼The final ‘e’

🎈1. When followed by ‘ment’
Till recently the final ‘e’ was dropped from words ending in ‘dge’. Example: judgment
Nowadays, it is not necessary to drop the final ‘e’ before ‘ment’. So you can write ‘judgement’, ‘acknowledgement’, ‘arrangement’ and ‘advertisement’.
(See The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

🎈2. The final ‘e’ must be dropped before ‘able’.
Move; movable (NOT moveable)
Like; likable (NOT likeable)
The exceptions are words ending in ‘ge’ and ‘ce’. For instance
Change; changeable (NOT changable)
Peace; peaceable (NOT peacable)

🎈3. The final ‘e’ is also dropped before ‘ous’, ‘age’ or ‘ish’.
Virtue; virtuous
Mile; milage (occasionally still: mileage)
Blue; bluish
Courage is an exception to this rule. We write courageous and not couragous.

🎈4. The final ‘e’ is always dropped before ‘ing’ except when it is preceded by a vowel with which it forms one sound.
Love; loving
Like; liking
See; seeing (Here the final ‘e’ and the preceding vowel forms one sound.)
Dye; Dyeing (Here the final ‘e’ and the preceding y forms one sound.)

🌼Words ending in ‘c’ and ‘ck’
Words ending in ‘c’ take ‘k’ after the ‘c’ before adding ‘ed’or ‘ing’.
Examples:
Frolic - frolicked, frolicking
Mimic - mimicked,mimicking
picnic - picnicked, picnicking
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SV RAMANUJ

Spelling : capital letters --- 12
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👉🏻 Capital letters are used at the beginning of the following kinds of words.

🌺1. the names of days, months and public holidays. The names of seasons do not usually begin with capital letters.
🔹Sunday; Monday; Friday
🔹January; March, August
🔹Christmas; Easter;
🔹summer; autumn; winter; spring

🌺2. the names of people and places, including stars and planets
🔹Shailesh; Alka; Tina
🔹India; Tokyo; Paris; Singapore
🔹Jupiter; Mars; Neptune
(But the earth, the sun and the moon)

🌺3. people’s titles
🔹Mr Shah; Dr Dave; the Chairman; the Managing Director

🌺4. nouns and adjectives referring to nationalities and regions, languages, religions and ethnic groups
🔹He is French.
🔹She is Spanish.
🔹He is a Sikh.
🔹Chinese history

🌺5. the first word in the title of books, magazines, plays, pictures, magazines etc. Sometimes other nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in the title also begin with capital letters.
🔹The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The adventures of Tom Sawyer
🔹Gone with the Wind OR Gone with the wind

🌼 Spelling :-ly
We normally change an adjective into an adverb by adding -ly.
🔹Late – lately
🔹Real – really
🔹Right – rightly
🔹Definite – definitely
🔹Hopeful – hopefully
🔹Complete – completely

🌸 Exceptions
There are some exceptions to this rule.
🔹True – truly (NOT truely)
🔹Full – fully (NOT fullly)
🔹Due – duly (NOT duely)

🌼 Y and I
The final -y in an adjective changes to -i- before adding -ly.
🔹Happy – happily
🔹Merry – merrily
🔹Easy – easily

🌼 Adjectives ending in consonant + le
-le changes to -ly after a consonant
🔹Idle – idly
🔹Noble – nobly

🌼 Adjectives ending in -ic
Adjectives ending in -ic, have adverbs ending in -ically.
🔹Tragic – tragically
🔹Phonetic – phonetically

🌸 Exception
🔹Public – publicly
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SV RAMANUJ

Spelling and Pronunciation --- 14
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👉🏻 Words ending in -ize and -ise
In British English some words can be spelt with either -ize or -ise. In American English, the forms with -ize is more common.
Examples are given below:

🔵 British English
Realize / realise
Computerize / computerise
Mechanize / mechanise
Baptize / baptise

🟣 American English
Realize
Mechanize
Computerize
Baptize

🔶Most words of two or more syllables have -ise in both British and American English.
Examples are:
Surprise, revise, exercise, advise, comprise, despise, compromise, improvise, supervise, televise, advertise
Notes:

🔶In American English, advertize is also possible.
If in doubt, remember that -ise is almost always correct in British English.

🔶 Spelling and pronunciation
In English, spelling words is not easy. In fact, even native English speakers often find it difficult to spell words correctly. This is mainly because the pronunciation of many English words has changed over
the last few hundred years. The spelling system, on the other hand, has stayed more or less the same. Here is a list of some common words that often cause difficulty.

🟩 In the following words the letters in brackets are not pronounced.
Ev(e)ning
Asp(i)rin
Bus(i)ness
Choc(o)late
Diff(e)rent
Ev(e)ry
Marri(a)ge
Om(e)lette
Rest(au)rant
Sev(e)ral
Med(i)cine

🟨 The following four syllable words are usually pronounced like three syllable words. The letters in brackets are usually not pronounced.
Comf(or)table
Int(e)resting
Temp(e)rature
Us(u)ally
Veg(e)table

🔇 Silent letters
In the following words b is silent.
Climb, comb, dumb

🔻In the following words d is silent.
Handkerchief, sandwich, Wednesday

🔻The gh is silent in the following words.
Bought, caught, ought, thought, daughter, height, high, light, might, neighbour, right, sight, tight, straight, through, weigh

🔻In the following words h is silent
What, when, whip, why, honest, hour, honour
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SV RAMANUJ

Words ending in -ise and -ize --- 15
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👉🏻 Many English words can be spelt with either –ise and –ize. In American English, the spelling with –ize is preferred. In British English, both forms are usually possible.

🌺 Examples are:

🟡 British English
🔹Realize / realise
🔹Mechanize / mechanise
🔹Computerize / computerise
🔹Baptize / baptise

🟤 American English
🔸Realize
🔸Mechanize
🔸Computerize
🔸Baptize

🎈Some words have –ise in both British and American English. Examples are:
🔹surprise; revise; advise; comprise; despise; compromise; exercise; supervise; televise; advertise

In American English advertize is also sometimes possible.

🌸 Exception
🔸Capsize has –ize in both British and American English.

🔮 If you are in doubt, remember that in British English the forms with –ise are almost always possible.

🎈Adverb formation
We normally change an adjective into an adverb by adding –ly.
🔹Pale – palely
🔹Right – rightly
🔹Shy – shyly
🔹Sly – slyly
🔹Coy – coyly
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SV RAMANUJ

Some useful spelling rules --- 16
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👉🏻 When the word ends in a consonant
If the accent falls on the last syllable, the consonant is doubled to form the past tense.

🌷So we have
Occur –> occurred
Transfer –> transferred

When the word ends in a short vowel + consonant, the final consonant is not usually doubled to form the past tense.

🌷Therefore
Offer –> offered (NOT Offerred)
Budget –> budgeted

🍃 Short monosyllabic words always double their final consonant.

🌷Examples are:
Shop –> shopping
Let –> letting
Cut –> cutting

🌻‘ie’ and ‘ei’
The general rule is ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’
Examples are:
Siege, believe, friends

🌞But
Receive, deceive, ceiling (after ‘c’, we use ‘e’ before ‘I’)

🍃 There are however several exceptions to this rule. Examples are: reign, heir, seize, weird. As you can see, in all of these words, the letter ‘e’ goes before the letter ‘i’.

🌼Dis and mis
Never double the ‘s’ of these prefixes. In some words, you may notice a second ‘s’, but remember that it is the first letter of the next syllable.

🌼So we have
Dismiss (NOT Dissmiss)
Misplace
Misunderstand
Dispel

🌺Se and Ce
Se and sy are usually verb endings and ce and cy are usually noun endings. So the following words are verbs: license, practise, advise, prophesy

🍃 And the following words are nouns: licence, practice, prophecy, advice

🌍The word promise is an exception to this rule. Although it ends in –se, it is a noun.
Note that this rule does not hold good when verb and noun are not spelt alike.

🍁Us and ous
Nouns end in ‘us’. Adjectives end in ‘ous’.
So we have:
⛄️Nouns: census, phosphorus, genius
⛄️Adjectives: jealous, unanimous, tremendous
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SV RAMANUJ

Spelling Exercise --- 17
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👉🏻 There are some words which can cause confusion in meaning if we are not careful about their spelling because they can be confused for another word which is very similar in spelling.

🔶 Here are some commonly confused verbs

🔹die / dying / died
🔹dye / dyeing / dyed
🔹hop / hopping / hopped
🔹hope / hoping / hoped
🔹mop / mopping / mopped
🔹mope / moping / moped
🔹scrap / scraping / scraped
🔹lie (recline) / lying / laid or lain
🔹lie (tell a lie) / lying / lied
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Complete the following sentences.

1. The rabbit .......................... across the field.
hopped
hoped

2. I was ........................... that you could lend me a pound.
hoping
hopping

3. Divya ........................ the skirt to match her blouse.
died
dyed

4. The poor woman is ...........................
dying
dyeing

5. The rough surface of the floor made ........................ difficult.
mopping
moping

6. I slipped and .......................... an elbow.
scrapped
scraped

7. The witness .......................... to the jury.
lied
laid

8. The king ............................ now in his final resting place.
lays
lies

9. I .......................... down on the couch yesterday.
lie
lay

10. Please .................................. the plate down now.
lie
lay
lain

11. The tiles were .......................... in a geometric pattern.
lied
laid

12. It is a mistake to .............................. too much emphasis on grades.
lie
lay
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🟢Answers🟢

1. The rabbit hopped across the field.
2. I was hoping that you could lend me a pound.
3. Divya dyed the skirt to match her blouse.
4. The poor woman is dying.
5. The rough surface of the floor made mopping difficult.
6. I slipped and scraped an elbow.

7. The witness lied to the jury.
8. The king lies now in his final resting place.
9. I lay down on the couch yesterday.
10. Please lay the plate down now.
11. The tiles were laid in a geometric pattern.
12. It is a mistake to lay too much emphasis on grades.
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SV RAMANUJ

Hyphens --- 18
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👉🏻 Hyphens are the short lines that separate the words in the expressions ‘non-English’ and ‘ex-husband’.

☺️ When to use hyphens?
We usually use a hyphen between the two words in a two-part adjective in which the second part ends in -ed or -ing.

🔹Good-looking
🔹Broken-hearted
🔹Blue-eyed

🔗Two-part adjectives which contain the sense of ‘between’ are also hyphenated.
🔹the India-Pakistan match (= the match between India and Pakistan)
🔹the Anglo-French agreement

🔗A longer phrase used as an adjective before a noun is also hyphenated.
Compare:
🔹An out-of-work singer
🔹He is out of work. (NOT He is out-of-work.)

🟡 Prefixes
The prefixes co-, non- and ex- are sometimes separated from the following words by hyphens.
🔹Ex-lover
🔹Non-cooperation
🔹Co-production

🔗Hyphens are also used to separate the parts of a long word at the end of a written or printed line. To see where to divide words look in a good dictionary.

😥 Are hyphens disappearing?
The rules about the usage of hyphens are very complicated. Needless to say, people seem to be using hyphens less. Many short compound words are now written with no separation between the two parts.
🔹Examples are:
weekend, takeover ,cooperation etc.

📎Many longer compound words are now written as completely separate words.
🔹Examples are:
bus driver, living room etc.

📎It is also not unusual to find the same word written in three different ways.
🔹Examples are:
living-room, living room, livingroom

😌 If you do not know whether to use a hyphen or not, the best thing to do is to write the words without a hyphen.
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SV RAMANUJ

Apostrophe --- 19
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The punctuation mark (‘) is called apostrophe. It has the following functions.

🌺In writing a contraction
The apostrophe is used in writing a contraction. It shows the place of the omitted letters.
Examples are:
🔹it’s (for it is or it has)
🔹hasn’t (for has not)
🔹doesn’t (for does not)

🌺The apostrophe is also used in writing certain words which were formerly contractions.
Examples are:
🔹o’clock (of the clock)
🔹o'er (over)
🔹Let's (let us)
🔹'tis (it is)

🌺In writing most possessives
The apostrophe is used in writing most possessives.

🔹Riya’s mother
🔹Priya’s car
🔹Children’s books
🔹two weeks’ vacation

🌺Note that the apostrophe is not used in writing the possessive forms of most pronouns.
🔹The cat closed its eyes. (NOT The cat closed it’s eyes.)
🔹Whose bag is this? (NOT Who’se bag is this?)
🔹These toys are hers. (NOT These toys are her’s.)

🌺In writing the plurals of letters
Although the apostrophe is not used in writing plurals, it is used in writing the plurals of letters and other forms which would be difficult to read without the apostrophe.
🔹Dot the i’s and cross the t’s
🔹Mind your p’s and q’s
🔹Do's and Dont's
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SV RAMANUJ

📢 Comma – Part I --- 20
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👉🏻 The punctuation mark comma (,) has the following uses.

🟣 To connect the items in a list

🌼Commas are used to connect the items in a list, except for the last two which are usually connected by a coordinating conjunction like and or or.

🔹My favorite writers are Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte and Jane Austen.
🔹The Three Musketeers were Arthos, Porthos and Aramis.

🌼To join two complete sentences into a single sentence
A comma is used to join two complete sentences into a single sentence. It is usually followed by a connecting word like and, but, or, while or yet.
🔹She had very little to live on, but she would never take what was not hers.

📎 Notes
Short clauses connected by and, but or or are not usually separated by commas.
🔹She is poor but she is honest. (NOT She is poor, but she is honest.)

🌼To show that certain words have been omitted
A comma can be used to show that certain words have been omitted.
🔹Ankita decided to order to steak pie and Peter, the chicken pathia. (The omitted words are ‘decided to order’.)

🟤 Subordinate clauses
When subordinate clauses begin sentences, they are often separated by commas.
🔹When the rain stopped, we went out. OR We went out when the rain stopped.

🌼Commas are also used to set off words or expressions that interrupt the natural progression of a sentence
🔹My friends, however, did not come.
🔹Neha had, surprisingly, did everything.
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📢 Comma – Part II
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👉🏻 To separate adjectives used in the predicative position

🌸Adjectives used in the predicative position are always separated by commas.
🔹He is tall, dark and handsome.
🔹That was a lovely, long, cool drink.

🌸Sometimes commas are not used between the last two adjectives which are usually separated by a conjunction like and or or.
Commas are sometimes dropped between short adjectives.

🟡 In direct speech
A comma is generally used between a reporting verb and a piece of direct speech.
🔹Looking at the painting, she said, ‘I like this one.’

🌸 If the reporting verb follows a piece of direct speech, we usually use a comma instead of a full stop before the closing quotation mark.
🔹‘I don’t like this,‘ said Siya.

🔵 Numbers
Large numbers are often divided into groups of three figures by using commas.

◾️ Examples are:
🔹5,768 (NOT 5.768)
🔹6, 567, 873

🌸Commas are sometimes not used in four figure numbers.
🔹5,378 or 5378

🌸Commas are never used in dates.
🔹The Year 1953 (NOT The Year 1,953)

🌸Cases where commas are not used
Commas are not used before that, what, where etc in indirect speech structures.
🔹Nobody realized that the child was missing. (NOT Nobody realized, that the child …)
🔹She didn’t know what to do. (NOT She didn’t know, what to do.)

🌸Commas are not used between two grammatically independent sentences. Instead we use a full stop or a semicolon.
🔹The blue dress was cheap. On the other hand, the pink dress was better.
🔸OR The blue dress was cheap; on the other hand, the pink dress was better.
🔻(NOT The blue dress was cheap, on the other hand, …)
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SV RAMANUJ