Spelling: 'i' before 'e' except after 'c'

Spelling matters. If you want to create a good impression in your writing and make sure you get your meaning across clearly, it’s important to get your spelling right.

i before e except after c

Most people know the spelling rule about i before e except after c, as in the following words:

-ie-	-ei-
achieve	ceiling
belief	conceit
believe	deceit
chief	deceive
piece	perceive
thief	receipt
yield	receive

 

The rule only applies when the sound represented is ‘ee’, though. It doesn’t apply to words like science or efficient, in which the –ie- combination does follow the letter c but isn’t pronounced ‘ee’.

 

There are a few exceptions to the general i before e rule, even when the sound is ‘ee’. Examples include seize, weird, andcaffeine. There’s nothing for it but to learn how to spell these words, checking in a dictionary until you are sure about them.

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Dangling participles

Participles of verbs are often used to introduce subordinate clauses, which give extra information about the main part of a sentence (known as the main clause). It’s important to use participles in subordinate clauses correctly. The participle should always describe an action performed by the subject of the main part of the sentence. 

For example:

 

Mrs Stevens,	opening the door quietly,	came into the room.
[subject]	[participle]

In this sentence, the present participle (opening) in the subordinate clause refers to the subject of the main clause. Mrs Stevens is both opening the door and coming into the room.

 

Sometimes writers forget this rule and begin a sentence with a participle that doesn’t refer to the subject of their sentence. They then end up with what’s known as a dangling participle, as in this grammatically incorrect statement: 

 

Travelling to Finland,	the weather got colder and colder.
[participle]	[subject]

 

Strictly speaking, this sentence means that it is ‘the weather’ that is ‘travelling to Finland’, which obviously isn’t what the writer was intending to say. The sentence needs to be reworded to make the meaning clear and to make it grammatically correct, e.g.:

 

As I was travelling to Finland, the weather got colder and colder.

or:

 

Travelling to Finland, I found that the weather got colder and colder.

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Different from,than or to

Different from, than, or to

Is there any difference between the expressions different from, different than, and different to? Is one of the three ‘more correct’ than the others?

In practice, different from is by far the most common of the three, in both British and American English:

 

We want to demonstrate that this government is different from previous governments. (British English)

This part is totally different from anything else that he's done. (American English)

 

Different than is mainly used in American English:

 

Teenagers certainly want to look different than their parents.

 

Different to is much more common in British English than American English:

 

In this respect the Royal Academy is no different to any other major museum. 

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Contractions

Contractions are a type of abbreviation in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted. 

Examples include:

contraction	full form
Dr	Doctor
St	Saint
Ltd	Limited
Revd	Reverend

 

A contraction can also be an abbreviated form of more than one word.

For example:

 

contraction	full form
I’ll	I will/I shall
we’ve	we have
shouldn’t	should not

• You do not need to use a full stop at the end of contractions, because the last letter of the original word is still present.

• In contractions that represent more than one word, the letters that have been omitted should be replaced with an apostrophe.

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Commonly confused words

Take a look at these two sentences – one of them contains a mistake:

I poured over book after book.

We pored over the catalogues.

 

Are you uncertain which one is right? There are a lot of words in English that look or sound alike but have very different meanings, such as pore and pour or flaunt and flout. It’s easy to get them confused and most electronic spellcheckers won’t be much help in this type of situation: they can tell you if a word has been spelled wrongly but they can’t generally flag up the misuse of a correctly spelled word.

 

Here’s a quick-reference list of pairs of words that regularly cause people problems. The words follow the accepted British English spelling and some of them do have alternative American spellings.

Word 1	Meaning	Word 2	Meaning
accept	to agree to receive or do	except	not including
adverse	unfavourable, harmful	averse	strongly disliking; opposed
advice	recommendations about what to do	advise	to recommend something
affect	to change or make a difference to	effect	a result; to bring about a result
aisle	a passage between rows of seats	isle	an island
all together	all in one place, all at once	altogether	completely; on the whole
along	moving or extending horizontally on	a long	referring to something of great length
aloud	out loud	allowed	permitted
altar	a sacred table in a church	alter	to change
appraise	to assess	apprise	to inform someone
bare	naked; to uncover	bear	to carry; to put up with
bazaar	a Middle Eastern market	bizarre	strange
berth	a bunk in a ship, train, etc.	birth	the emergence of a baby from the womb
born	having started life	borne	carried
brake	a device for stopping a vehicle; to stop a vehicle	break	to separate into pieces; a pause
breach	to break through, or break a rule; a gap	breech	the back part of a gun barrel
broach	to raise a subject for discussion	brooch	a piece of jewellery
canvas	a type of strong cloth	canvass	to seek people’s votes
cereal	a grass producing an edible grain; a breakfast food made from grains	serial	happening in a series
chord	a group of musical notes	cord	a length of string; a cord-like body part
climactic	forming a climax	climatic	relating to climate
coarse	rough	course	a direction; a school subject; part of a meal
complement	to add to so as to improve; an addition that improves something	compliment	to praise or express approval; an admiring remark
council	a group of people who manage or advise	counsel	advice; to advise
cue	a signal for action; a wooden rod	queue	a line of people or vehicles
currant	a dried grape	current	happening now; a flow of water, air, or electricity
defuse	to make a situation less tense	diffuse	to spread over a wide area
desert	a waterless, empty area; to abandon someone	dessert	the sweet course of a meal
discreet	careful not to attract attention	discrete	separate and distinct
disinterested	impartial	uninterested	not interested
draught	a current of air	draft	a first version of a piece of writing
draw	an even score at the end of a game	drawer	a sliding storage compartment
dual	having two parts	duel	a fight or contest between two people
elicit	to draw out a reply or reaction	illicit	not allowed by law or rules
ensure	to make certain that something will happen	insure	to provide compensation if a person dies or property is damaged
envelop	to cover or surround	envelope	a paper container for a letter
exercise	physical activity; to do physical activity	exorcise	to drive out an evil spirit
fawn	a young deer; light brown	faun	a mythical being, part man, part goat
flaunt	to display ostentatiously	flout	to disregard a rule
foreword	an introduction to a book	forward	onwards, ahead
freeze	to turn to ice	frieze	a decoration along a wall
grisly	gruesome, revolting	grizzly	a type of bear
imply	to suggest indirectly	infer	to draw a conclusion
loath	reluctant, unwilling	loathe	to hate
loose	to unfasten; to set free	lose	to be deprived of; to be unable to find
meter	a measuring device	metre	a metric unit; rhythm in verse
pedal	a foot-operated lever	peddle	to sell goods
pole	a long, slender piece of wood	poll	voting in an election
pour	to flow or cause to flow	pore	a tiny opening; to study something closely
practice	the use of an idea or method; the work or business of a doctor, dentist, etc.	practise	to do something repeatedly to gain skill; to do something regularly
prescribe	to authorize use of medicine; to order authoritatively	proscribe	to officially forbid something
principal	most important; the head of a school	principle	a fundamental rule or belief
sceptic	a person inclined to doubt	septic	infected with bacteria
sight	the ability to see	site	a location
stationary	not moving	stationery	writing materials
storey	a level of a building	story	a tale or account
tortuous	full of twists; complex	torturous	full of pain or suffering
wreath	a ring-shaped arrangement of flowers etc.	wreathe	to surround or encircle

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