Learning some standard spelling rules can serve you well as you proofread your research papers.

 Here are the basics:
1. i before e except after c. . .
i before e except after c
or as sounded as a as in neighbor and weigh
Examples: Words That Fit the Rule

Examples: Words That Don't Fit the Rule

either             neither           foreign           height

leisure            seize               weird              protein

codeine          financier        glacier            counterfeit

Fahrenheit      fiery

2. e, i, e, i (no o). Words with i and e pronounced with a long a sound are always spelled -ex, never -ie.

Examples

Eight               feign               sleigh

vein                neigh              peignoir

If the sound is a long-/, the word is usually spelled with the -ei combo, not -ie.

Examples

feisty              stein    seismic

height             leitmotif

Common Exceptions

Hierarchy                  fiery               hieroglyphic

Notice that in each case, the -ie combination is followed by an r.

In addition, "ie" words with a short vowel sound usually spell it -ie rather than -ei.

Examples

patient            friend                         transient

sieve               mischief         handkerchief

Common Exceptions

heifer             nonpareil       sovereign

counterfeit      surfeit

3. The -ceed/-cede rule. There are only three verbs in English that end in -ceed: succeed, proceed, exceed. All the other verbs with that sound end in -cede. For example,

secede, recede, intercede, concede, accede, cede, precede.

4. The -ful rule. Remember that the sound full at the end of a word is spelled with only one /.

When the suffix is -ful plus -ly, there are two l's.

5. -cry or -aryl Only six commonplace words end with -ery as opposed to -ary. They are: cemetery, confectionery, millinery, monastery, distillery, stationery (writing paper).

6. Q is followed by u. This is a nice rule because it has only one English exception, the lightweight nylon fabric called (liana. The rule doesn't fit with abbreviations or foreign words, however. For instance, the abbreviation for quart is qt. (not qut.) The east Arabia peninsula on the Persian Gulf is Qatar, not Quatar, but that's ok, because the word can also be spelled "Katar."

7. ks and cs. Some words that end in c have a hard "k" sound. Adding y, i, or e after the final c changes the hard sound to a soft one, creating spelling dilemmas. As a gen­eral rule, add a k after the final c when the hard sound becomes soft.

Examples

Word ending in C                  Adding the K

mimic                                     mimicked, mimicking, mimicker

traffic                                     trafficked, trafficking, trafficker

panic                                      panicked, panicking, panicky

8. Compound words. Compound words fall into three categories: open compounds, closed compounds, hyphenated compounds. Here are the definitions and examples:

Open compounds are written as two words:

cedar shingles   night shift    executive secretary

Closed compounds are written as one word: handbook        northeast      homemaker

Hyphenated compounds have a hyphen: president-elect   over-the-counter

Warning!

A hyphen is one press of the button -; a dash is two—. A hyphen is used within words; a dash is used between words.

PROOFREADING SYMBOLS

What happens if you have completely finished proof­reading your paper and you suddenly spot a few more errors? Don't panic. If there are only a few errors, use the following proofreading marks rather than retype an entire page.

Closed compounds are written as one word: handbook        northeast      homemaker

Hyphenated compounds have a hyphen: president-elect   over-the-counter

Warning!

A hyphen is one press of the button -; a dash is two—. A hyphen is used within words; a dash is used between words.

PROOFREADING SYMBOLS

What happens if you have completely finished proof­reading your paper and you suddenly spot a few more errors? Don't panic. If there are only a few errors, use the proofreading marks rather than retype an entire page.