Spelling list: ie words

Have you heard of the 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' English spelling rule?

If you look closely at the words in this list, you will notice that they all include the spelling pattern ie to spell the long /e/ sound. You might also notice that none of these words have the letter ‘c’ directly before the ie pattern.

The 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' rule is a good way of getting started with spelling the long /e/ sound, but like with every spelling rule it has its exceptions!

Once you are confident with the words in the list, you can move onto rulebreakers and the six other ways to spell the long /e/ in English.

field	The sheep were let loose in the field.
brief	The instructions were too brief.
chief	The tribe elected a chief.
grief	His death caused terrible grief.
relief	There was great relief at the rescue.
mischief	That child is getting up to mischief again.
niece	My brother's daughter is my niece.
piece	Please may I have a piece of cake?
siege	The castle was under siege.
priest	The priest blessed the people.
fierce	The tiger was fierce.
pierce	Pierce the lid before cooking.
achieve	He wanted to achieve good grades in school.
believe	I can't believe she has married him.
relieved	She was relieved to hear her father was better.
retrieve	The dog ran to retrieve the ball.
diesel	This truck's engine runs on diesel fuel.
hygiene	Good hygiene keeps germs away.