Unit 21: The i before e rule – does it work?
Page 1 of 9
One of the best known spelling rules is:
But does it always work?
The answer is that as with many spelling rules, it works only some of the time. If you count all the borrowed words in our language, some sources say there are actually more exceptions to the rule!
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Look at the words in the table below. They all use the long /e/ sound and follow the rule. Use our icons to learn the words. Some will be tested in the next activity.
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| ie as in field | ei as in receipt | ||||||||||||||||
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ceiling* receipt receive deceive conceive perceive conceit deceit |
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| NOTES: 1) Words marked * are homophones. Please see page 9 2) The /ē/ sound on the end of a word is usually spelled with the letter y but it can be ie. For example: a) Shortened words e.g.
b) 'Pet' names e.g.
c) Slang words e.g.
d) Other words e.g.
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Look at the words in each list.
You will see that, for these words with the long /ē/
sound, this rule DOES work:
You have not completed Learn the Words activities for each word list on this page.
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