Other Spelling Rules
Prefixes
A syllable placed before a word to change its meaning is called a prefix. Some prefixes are a, ab, ad, anti, ante, be, contra, com, de, dis, ex, hemi, hyper, intra, pro, im, un, in, co, dis, inter.
Examples: atheist, abdicate, anti-aircraft, antibiotic, combat, disadvantage, enlighten, infertile, imbibe, sub-tropical etc.
Doubling the Final Consonant
Apostrophes:
When ee precedes a vowel suffix, it is usually spelled with the letter i:
A syllable placed before a word to change its meaning is called a prefix. Some prefixes are a, ab, ad, anti, ante, be, contra, com, de, dis, ex, hemi, hyper, intra, pro, im, un, in, co, dis, inter.
Examples: atheist, abdicate, anti-aircraft, antibiotic, combat, disadvantage, enlighten, infertile, imbibe, sub-tropical etc.
Doubling the Final Consonant
- Words of one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before adding ed and ing (trim - trimmed - trimming).
- Words of two or more syllables double the final consonant before adding ed and ing when these conditions are met: the last syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, and the accent is on the last syllable (refer - referred - referring).
- Words that end in an accented short or modified vowel sound must have the final consonant doubled to protect that sound when you add a vowel suffix:
- Quebec - Quebecker
- remit - remittance
- confer - conferring
- refer - referred
- upset - upsetting
- shellac - shellacking
- occur - occurred
- concur- concurrent
- open - opening
- organ - organize
- focus - focused
- refer - referee
Apostrophes:
- Possessive Forms
- Singular nouns form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and s (pilot - pilot's).
- Plural nouns that end in s add only an apostrophe to form the possessive (aviators - aviators').
- Plural nouns that do not end in s add the apostrophe and s to form the possessive (men - men's).
- Contractions
- A word or phrase that has been shortened by leaving out some of the letters is called a contraction.
- An apostrophe is used to show that the letters have been omitted (won't - will not), (o'clock - of the clock).
When ee precedes a vowel suffix, it is usually spelled with the letter i:
- Indian
- obvious
- medium
- ingredient
- zodiac
- material
- The beginning of a sentence is always capitalized (The Sun rises in the east.).
- The names of holidays are capitalized (Christmas, Sankratri).
- The names of the months of the year and the days of the week are capitalized (January, Monday).
- The names of countries are capitalized (United States, Great Britain).
- When you write the name of a particular street, capitalize the words (Banjara Hills).
- The abbreviations Mr., Mrs. and Ms. are always capitalized and followed by a period (Mr. Callahan, Mrs. Perry, Ms. Smith).
- The names of deities are capitalized (God, Allah, Buddha, Lord Vishnu).
- The word congress is capitalized when it refers to the Congress Party (The Congress won the election.).
- When words like padmasri and padmabhushan are used as titles with a person's name, they are capitalized (Padmasri NTR, Padma Vibhushan Sachin).
- We capitalize the words supreme and court when referring the Supreme Court of India.
- Compound Words are made by writing two small words together to make one larger word. (newspaper, somebody).
- A root word is the root, or beginning word, from which another word is made. Play is the root word of plays, played and playing.
- Derived words are words that come from other words.
For example Suitable is derived from suit; advertisement from advertise. Sometimes the spelling of the root word is slightly changed in the derived word.
- Mist and missed sound alike, as do band and banned. To determine the spelling, remember that -ed is a past-tense tending.
- The mist drifted into the harbor.
- I nearly missed my bus.
- The movie was banned in Boston.
- The band played on.
- The endings of dentist and finest sound alike. Deciding which one to use can be tricky. One rule helps but doesn't cover all cases:
- --ist is a suffix meaning someone who does something:
artist - machinist - druggist - --est is the ending used on superlative adjectives:
finest - sweetest - longest
- --ist is a suffix meaning someone who does something:
#Tags