The Seven Ways of Spelling the Long E Sound

blog home

If you struggle with spelling – you’re not alone. One of the reasons why English spelling is so difficult is because of how inconsistent it is. This week we’re looking at the long /e/ sound and the seven different ways of spelling it. Please note the pronunciation of some of the example words may vary depending on accent.

  1. Just the letter e

    In some cases, the long /e/ sound is spelled with just the letter e. This is usually the case in words that are more than one syllable long, but exceptions include some very common words like ‘me’, ‘be’, ‘we’, ‘he’, and ‘she’.

    This spelling of the long /e/ sound is used for prefixes ‘re-‘, ‘be-‘, and ‘de-‘.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with just the letter e:

    evening
    emergency
    become
    between
    decide
    delight
    recess
    relax

    You can try spelling some e words here.
     
  2. EE words

    Many words spell the long /e/ sound with the letters ee. In these words, the long /e/ sound usually appears in the middle of the word and occasionally appears at the end of the word.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with letters ee:

    peel
    creep
    breeze
    fourteen
    speech
    three
    flee
    agree
    committee
    ​​​​You can try spelling some ee words here and here.
     
  3. EA words
    A very common way of spelling the long /e/ sound is with the letters ea.

    Here are some examples:

    peach
    dream
    year
    feast
    breathe
    squeak
    reason
    season

    You can try spelling some ea words here and here.
     
  4. E – E words
    Sometimes the long /e/ sound is spelled with an e in the middle of the word and an e at the end of the word. These words are normally (but not always!) more than one syllable long.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with an e in the middle of the word and an e at the end:

    here
    gene
    these
    theme
    concrete
    delete
    severe
    Portuguese
    You can try spelling some e – e words here.
     
  5. Y words

    Often, at the end of a word, the long /e/ sound is spelled with the letter y. This sound is not always as strong as other long /e/ sounds.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with the letter y:

    happy
    cherry
    glory
    memory
    twenty
    family
    smelly
    empty

    You can try spelling some y words here.
     
  6. IE Words

    The famous ‘i before e except after c’ spelling rule applies to long /e/ sounds.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with the letters ie:

    field
    brief
    shriek
    fierce
    achieve
    mischief
    diesel
    relieved

    You can try spelling some ie words here.

  7. EI Words

    Since the ‘i before e’ spelling rule doesn’t apply after the letter c, some long /e/ sounds are spelled with the letters ei.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with the letters ei:

    ceiling
    receipt
    receive
    deceive
    conceive
    perceive
    conceit
    deceit

    You can try spelling some ei words here.


If you’d like to learn more about spelling long /e/ sounds, have a look at Unit 7 and Unit 21 on our online spelling course. Have a good week!


05 Oct 2016
blog home

"I have just subscribed and look forward to continuing to use Spellzone. I have been really impressed with the program during the trial period and the students gave very positive feedback. Many thanks."

Teacher, International School, Geneva