Spelling

Characteristic sequence of letters

I always comes before E (but after C, E comes before I)[22][23]

In most words like friend, field, piece,pierce, mischief, thief, tier, it is "i" which comes before "e". But on some words with c just before the pair of e and i, like receive, perceive, "e" comes before "i". This can be remembered by the following mnemonic, I before E, except after C But this is not always obeyed as in case of weird and weigh,weight,height,neighbor etc. and can be remembered by extending that mnemonic as given below I before E, except after C Or when sounded "A" as in neighbor, weigh and weight Or when sounded like "eye" as in height And "weird" is just weird Another variant, which avoids confusion when the two letters represent different sounds instead of a single sound, as in atheist or being, runs When it says ee Put i before e But not after c

Where ever there is a Q there is a U too

Most frequently u follows q. e.g.: Que, queen, question, quack, quark, quartz, quarry, quit, Pique, torque, macaque, exchequer. Hence the mnemonic: Where ever there is a Q there is a U too[23](But this is violated by some words; see:List of English words containing Q not followed by U)

When two vowels go walking the first does the talking[19] For words like "oat" or "eat", here the second letter a is silent and first letter o and e respectively are pronounced in the examples Letters of specific syllables in a word[edit] BELIEVE[23]
Do not believe a lie.

SECRETARY
A secretary must keep a secret[23] PRINCIPAL The principal is your pal.

TEACHER
There is an ache in every teacher.[23]

MEASUREMENT
Be sure of your measurements before you start work.[23]

FRIEND
A friend is always there when the end comes. Fri the end of your friend[23]

When Friday ends, you go out with your friends.

SPECIAL
The CIA have special agents[23]

BEAUTIFUL
Big Elephants Are Ugly[24]

SLAUGHTER
Slaughter is laughter with an S at the beginning.

PIECES
Pieces of a pie

ASSUME
When you assume, you make an ass of u and me.

SEPARATE
Always smell a rat when you spell separate[23] There was a farmer named Sep and one day his wife saw a rat. She yelled, Sep! A rat E!!![25]

Distinguishing between similar words[edit]

Difference between Advice & Advise, Practice & Practise, Licence & License etc. Advice, Practice, Licence etc. (those with c) are nouns and Advise, Practise, License etc. are verbs.
One way of remembering this is that the word noun comes before the word verb in the dictionary; likewise c comes before s, so the nouns are practice,licence,advice and the verbs are practise,license,advise.[26]

Here or Hear
We hear with our ear.

Complement and Compliment

complement adds something to make it enough compliment puts you in the limelight[23]

Principle and Principal

Your principal is your pal A rule can be called a principle[25]

Sculpture and Sculptor

A sculpture is a kind of picture[25]

Stationary and stationery

Stationery contains er and so does paper; stationary (not moving) contains ar and so does car[23] A for "at rest", e for envelope

First letter mnemonics of spelling[edit]

DIARRHOEA
Dashing In A Rush, Running Harder Or Else Accident! Dining In A Rough Restaurant: Hurry, Otherwise Expect Accidents! Diarrhoea Is A Really Runny Heap Of Endless Amounts[24]

ARITHMETIC

A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream[27] A Red Indian Thought He Might Eat Tulips In Class

NECESSARY
Not Every Cat Eats Sardines (Some Are Really Yummy)[27] Never Eat Crisps, Eat Salad Sandwiches, And Remain Young![25]

BECAUSE
Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants Big Elephants Cause Accidents Under Small Elephants Big Elephants Can't Always Use Small Exits Big Elephants Cant Always Use Small Entrances[27]