PLURAL RULE ONE

PLURAL RULE TWO

Most words add s to make the plural

Add es to words ending in ch, sh

s, ss, x or z to make the plural

one apple
desk
name
town
card

desks
names
towns
cards

two apples
teacher
park
month
truck

beach
fox
cross
pitch

beaches
foxes
crosses
pitches

many boxes
wish
bus
waltz
hutch

quiz
wax
dish

Try these

Try these
pencil
book

tree

teachers
parks
months
trucks

one box

cup
pad
plant

church
gas

class

wishes
buses
waltzes
hutches

PLURAL RULE THREE

PLURAL RULE FOUR

When the letter before a y is a consonant,

change the y to an i before adding an es

When words end in ay, ey, iy, oy

and uy add an s to make the plural

one baby
city
pony
filly

cities
ponies
fillies

two babies
berry
reply
belly

berries
replies
bellies

Try these
family
daisy
army
nappy

one donkey
boy
pulley
relay

boys
pulleys
relays

two donkeys
play
grey
alley

plays
greys
alleys

satay
valley
delay
key

Try these
lady
jelly
party
cherry

day
monkey
tray
trolley

PLURAL RULE FIVE

PLURAL RULE SIX

When words end in f or fe change

the f or fe to a v before adding es

When a word ends in o and comes after

a consonant, add es to make the plural

one knife
leaf
wife
thief

leaves
wives
thieves

two knives
wolf
elf
life

wolves
elves
lives

Try these
half
loaf
self

hoof

shelf

calf

Exceptions cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs & handkerchiefs

one dingo
cargo
potato
avocado

two dingoes

mango
cargoes
potatoes hero
avocadoes buffalo

mangoes
heroes
buffaloes

Try these
volcano
tomato
domino
echo

mosquito
torpedo
Exceptions pianos, solos, banjos, Eskimos and radios

PLURAL RULE SEVEN

PLURAL RULE EIGHT

Sometimes, a word may completely

change its form when a plural is made

Sometimes, a word may stay the same

in both its singular and plural form

one child
person
goose
fungus

people
geese
fungi

criterion criteria
nucleus nuclei
man
men

bream
aircraft
salmon

bream
aircraft
salmon

two fish
series
trout
moose

series
trout
moose

Try these

Try these
foot
mouse
tooth

one fish

two children

woman
cactus
dice

species
deer
offspring

sheep
perch
tuna

PLURAL RULE NINE

PLURAL RULE TEN

It maybe confusing making compound words into

plural forms. In all cases the first word is made plural.

Many words, particularly from other languages

have exceptions when making them plural

one analysis of data two analyses of data

Maxine is terrified of men of war jelly fish.
brother in law
court martial
attorney general
Try these
son in law
heir apparent
passer by

brothers in law
courts martial
attorneys general

Other examples are

curriculum
criterion
antenna
bureau

Try these
octopus

formula

datum

curricula
criteria
antennae
bureaux

appendix
index
focus
corpus
basis
gateau
crisis

appendices
indices
foci
corpora *

* quite tricky and uncommon

SPELLING RULE ONE

SPELLING RULE TWO

When a word ends with a short vowel followed by a

consonant, double the last consonant before adding ed

When action words end with an sh, ch, ss, x, or

a z and es is added to make the present tense.

The girls skip.

drop
admit
occur

dropped
admitted
occurred

The girls skipped.

trim
shop
flip

trimmed
shopped
flipped

Try these
trip
mop
submit

trot
rub
prefer

Fiona waltzes most Tuesday nights with Jim.

cross
wax
fish

crosses
waxes
fishes

Try these
buzz

watch

push

catch
relax
reach
tax
pass
fix

catches
relaxes
reaches

SPELLING RULE THREE

SPELLING RULE FOUR

When an action word ends with a consonant followed

by a y, change the y to an i before adding es

Double the consonant before adding ing to words that

have a short vowel followed by a consonant at the end

The pirate buries his treasure with great care.

empty
try
carry

empties
tries
carries

Try these
hurry

fly

worry

tidy
copy
fry
dry
dirty
apply

tidies
copies
fries

Grandad was sitting in his chair all morning.

stop
wrap
step

stopping
wrapping
stepping

Try these
trap

rip

chop

slam
nod
skip

slamming
nodding
skipping

beg
map
rub

SPELLING RULE FIVE

SPELLING RULE SIX

When a word ends in a silent e, drop the e

before adding an ing The magic e runs away !

When a word ends in double consonant, do not

double the last letter before adding an ing

Ian loves platform diving on his weekends.

Kellie has been thinking about marrying Ridge.

move
taste
race

moving
tasking
racing

Try these
love

change
hope

hide
chase
wipe
store
drive
stare

hiding
chasing
wiping

Exception be being

report
bump
wash

reporting
bumping
washing

Try these
carry

spy

camp

copy
work
dust

copying
working
dusting

hurry

bend

scratch

For words ending in y leave the y and add ing

SPELLING RULE SEVEN

SPELLING RULE EIGHT

For action words that end in ie, change

the ie to a y before adding an ing

Often ly is added to base words to turn them

into adverbs, adjectives or describing words

Rynell bungy jumped carefully from the tower.

Bryan enjoys lying on his back to watch clouds.

Try these
tie
lie
die

love
slow
main

lovely
slowly
mainly

Try these
rude

quick

soft

smart
pure
nice
kind
loud
glad

smartly
purely
nicely

SPELLING RULE NINE

SPELLING RULE TEN

When adding ly to words which end in y,

change the y to an i before adding the ly

When the suffix full is added to the end of a

base word, one of the ls has to be dropped

Janelle paints colourful works of art.

Kirsty scored the goal quite daintily.

happy
merry
easy

happily
merrily
easily

Try these
hungry
weary

heavy

busy
pretty
cosy

necessary
day
angry

busily
prettily
cosily

hope
cheer
thank

hopeful
cheerful
thankful

Try these
truth

play

fear

taste
use
force

tasteful
useful
forceful

peace
dread
joy

eg; thankful means full of thanks

SPELLING RULE ELEVEN

SPELLING RULE TWELVE

Before adding er and est to words ending in a

consonant, followed by a y, change the y to an i

Double the last letter before adding er or est to words

that have a short vowel followed a single consonant

Dean is the skinniest member at the local gym.

Lyne has become a great ocean swimmer.

lazy
lovely
mighty

lazier
loveliest
mightier

Try these
sandy

happy

curly

salty
funny
heavy

crazy
fancy
dry

saltiest
funnier
heaviest

These new words are called degrees of comparison

fit
slim
rob

fittest
slimmest
robber

Try these
spin

sit

drum

travel
win
slip

traveller
winner
slipper

run
begin
stop

SPELLING RULE THIRTEEN

SPELLING RULE FOURTEEN

Double the last letter of words ending in a short vowel

followed by a single consonant before adding a y

Just add a y to words ending in two

consonants to form describing words

Vanessa enjoys laying back on a sunny day.

The last few days have been quite windy in Rocky.

rag
shag
cat

raggy
shaggy
catty

Try these
run

wool

fur

wit
fog
fun

mud
skin
bad

witty
foggy
funny

dirt
might
thirst

dirty
mighty
thirsty

Try these
rock

wealth

chill

trick
health
sand

tricky
healthy
sandy

filth
smart
fuss

SPELLING RULE FIFTEEN

SPELLING RULE SIXTEEN

For words ending in a silent e, you

must first drop the e before adding a y

To indicate possession or ownership by a person or

object, an apostrophe () followed by an s is added

Kookaburras are very noisy birds.

Peters horse bucked him at the rodeo.

bone
ice
rose

bony
icy
rosy

Try these
flake

taste

spike

smoke smoky
stone stony
race
racy

scare
nose
laze

horse
Jenny
office

horses
Jennys
offices

Try these
Santa

Tavern

Peter

Billy
bird
Nigel

Billys
Birds
Nigels

car
Mary
shoe

SPELLING RULE SEVENTEEN

SPELLING RULE EIGHTEEN

To indicate ownership by a person whose name ends

in an s or a plural noun, just add an apostrophe ()

An apostrophe () is also used to create a contraction,

indicating where a letter or letters have been left out

Venetta rubbed the sunscreen on Les chest.

Shes really looking forward to the ballet recital.

poets
gases
Lewis

poets
gases
Lewis

Try these
flowers

Dennis

class

Gladys Gladys
babies babies
Ross
Ross

Chris

bottles
boss

I am
Im
she would shed
who is
whos
Try these
you are

it is

can not

they had
do not
let us

theyd
dont
lets

where is
he is
she will

SPELLING RULE NINETEEN

SPELLING RULE TWENTY

i before e except after c

CAPITAL LETTERS are used at the

beginning of names and places

Many people believe unicorns exist.

rel__ve
dec__t
w__rd

relieve
deceit
wierd

Try these
rec__ve

n__ghbour
anc__nt

c__ling
v__n
glac__r

ceiling
vein
glacier

th__r
fr__nd
rec__pt

Remember there are ALWAYS exceptions !

Uluru is a well known Australian landmark.

brisbane
luke
mackay

Brisbane rebecca
yeppoon
Luke
Mackay kath

Try these
adelaide

donald

perth

Rebecca
Yeppoon
Kath

phillip

gladstone
alex

SPELLING RULE TWENTY ONE

SPELLING RULE TWENTY TWO

Prefixes can be added to base words to create new words.

Prefixes ending in vowels are added directly to base words.

Sometimes negative prefixes are added to words

to create new words and change their meaning

It is important to try to recycle any items we can.

Some people say its impossible for cows to talk.

re+move remove
tele+vision television
de+frost
re+gain
defrost
regain
para+chute parachute giga+byte gigabyte
Try these
tri+angle
kilo+metre
auto+graph

de+void
re+align
multi+age

un+well
dis+miss
in+ferior

unwell
dismiss
inferior

mis+spell misspell
im+patient impatient
mal+treat maltreat

Create new words using these prefixes

non+
anti+

sub+
dys+

ab+
mis+

SPELLING RULE TWENTY THREE

SPELLING RULE TWENTY FOUR

Prefixes can be added to roots to form new words.

Roots often have meanings from other languages.

When adding a vowel suffix to words ending

in a silent e, drop the e and add the suffix.

Mr Smith may predict * a hot summer again.

Vikings lived many, many years ago.

di+vide
audi+ble
pro+ceed

divide
audible
proceed

Try these
chron+ic
cred+ible
meta+phor

inter+cept intercept
de+tatch
detatch
auto+matic automatic

ex+ceed

per+mit
poly+gon

* pre means before and dict means speak

store+age storage
forgive+en forgiven
pale+est
palest
Try these
nice+est

grave+ity
arrive+al

live+ed
lived
manage+er manager
amaze+ing amazing

like+en

use+ing
forge+ery

Remember there are always exceptions to the rule !

SPELLING RULE TWENTY FIVE

SPELLING RULE TWENTY SIX

The letter g may have a soft or hard sound.

A soft g is usually followed by an i or e.
A hard g is usually followed by a consonant or an a, o or u

The letter c may have a soft or hard sound.

When c meets an a, o or u its sound is hard.
When c meets an e, i or y its sound is soft.

g in golf is hard
gypsy
goat
goose

soft
hard
hard

g in gem is soft
general
gel
goblet

Which are hard and which are soft ?

gym
gutter

ginger
giant

gas
gather

soft
soft
hard

cards (hard c)
candle
cymbals
cave

hard c
soft c
hard c

centipede (soft c)
cuddle
circus
curly

Identify which are hard and soft ?

caring
cycle

citizen
cat

comedy
circle

hard c
soft c
hard c

SPELLING RULE TWENTY SEVEN

SPELLING RULE TWENTY EIGHT

CAPITAL letters are used to spell the names

of proper nouns, including people and places

Homophones are words that have the same

sound but a different meaning and spelling.

Les is an accomplished bowler in Rocky.

adelaide
Adelaide qantas
luke
mazda
Luke
lions park Lions Park english
Try these
biloela

christmas
rover

Qantas
Mazda
English

jessica

july

australia

A pair of scissors.
route
allowed
pause

root
aloud
paws

The pear is a sweet fruit.

principal principle
maid
made
days
daze

Write another word that sounds the same as

practise
main

male
threw

four
not

SPELLING RULE TWENTY NINE

SPELLING RULE THIRTY

A homographs is a word that may have

more than one meaning or pronunciation.

Sometimes when writing, words may be

shortened. These are known as abbreviations.

A calculator is a useful object. The Lawyer said, I object !

Other examples
bow
The front of a ship; to bend or a knot
wind
A breeze or to turn around
desert
To leave people or a dry, arid place
Can you identify the different meanings ?
close

excuse

wound

I need to make an appointment to see Dr Phillips.

Other examples
kilometre
km
centimetre cm
Australia
Aust
Try these
kilogram

example

approximately

Street
St
Anonymous anon
ante meridian a.m.
page

Queensland
second

SPELLING RULE THIRTY ONE

SPELLING RULE THIRTY TWO

When writing numbers less than ten, they should

be written in word form not in digit form.
Numbers greater that ten can be written as digits.

Always spell out simple fractions

and use a hyphen with them.

I ate nine lamingtons before lunch yesterday.

One-half of the water melon has been eaten.

Other examples
9
nine
7
seven
6
six
Try these
1

12
3

4
8
2
5
19
23

four
eight
two

Other examples
1/3 one-third
5/8 five- eights
1/6 one-sixth
Try these
1/4
2/3
5/9

2/4 two-quarters
4/5 four-fifths
2/10 two-tenths
3/12
2/5
4/8

SPELLING RULE THIRTY THREE

SPELLING RULE THIRTY FOUR

A hyphen is used to create compound words.

Many compounds are written as one solid word.

A hyphen can also be used to join

words that form a compound noun.

The scarecrow had managed to save our crops.

Truck driving is undertaken by owner-drivers.

Other examples
along side
alongside
before hand beforehand
mean time
meantime
Try these
road block
every thing
up date

Other examples
go ahead
city state
air conditioned
Try these
eye opener
break in
well being

go-ahead
city-state
air-conditioned

SPELLING RULE THIRTY FIVE

SPELLING RULE THIRTY SIX

Always write decimals in number form

with a 0 before the decimal point.

When combining numbers, the first

number is always written in word form.

The plant has only grown 0.5 of a metre so far.

They have three 6 year olds.

Other examples
one tenth of a metre
0.1 of a metre
half a kilometre
0.5 of a kilometre
one quarter of a kilogram 0.25 of a kilogram
Try these
one third of a gram
two quarters of a metre
three quarters of a kilogram

Other examples
One in eight 12 year olds require glasses.
Nineteen 15 year olds were injured in the crash.
I asked for seven 6 metre lengths of timber.
Can you think of other examples ?

SPELLING RULE THIRTY SEVEN

SPELLING RULE THIRTY EIGHT

Always hyphenate all compound numbers

from twenty-one through to ninety-nine

Always write a number in word

form if it begins a sentence.

There were twenty-one marbles in the bag.

Eight students received awards this week.

Other examples
89 eighty-nine
52 fifty-two
26 twenty-six
Try these
44
37
92

47 forty-seven
69 sixty-nine
98 ninety-eight
55
29
74

Other examples
Seven apples were rotten in the fruit bowl.
Forty-three people came to the special service.
Three boys and one girl entered the event.
Try these
4
76
9

22
50
6