It's really important to spell words correctly in your IELTS Listening, Reading, and Writing tests. Any spelling errors may impact your score, making it challenging to achieve your desired band score. To support you, we've compiled a comprehensive guide to spelling rules to improve your spelling skills.
Spelling rules: Essential terms and definitions
Before we dive into the details, let’s start by understanding some basic terms first.
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
Vowels | The letters a,e,i,o and u are vowels. |
Consonants | The other 21 letters of the alphabet, any letter that is not a vowel. |
Syllable | A word or a section of a word with a single sound. E.g key has one syllable, happy (hap-py) has two syllables, impressive (im-pres-sive) has three and intelligent (in-tel-li-gent) has four. |
Suffix | A suffix is a group of letters put at the end of a word to change its meaning or its usage. E.g -ing, -able, -ed, -ly, -ful. |
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Basic spelling rules to know
1. The letter "q" is always followed by "u" and then a vowel.
e.g: quarter, queen, quiz, antique, require, quote.
2. "i" before "e", except after "c" and when it sounds like "a".
(a) I before E
This is usually when the word has the long ë sound as in "piece" e.g: niece, believe, cashier
(b) Except after C
e.g: deceive, ceiling, receive.
(c) When it sounds like A
e.g: weigh, neighbour, beige.
There are some exceptions to the rule:
e.g: ancient, efficient, sufficient, eight, vein, weird, height, weird.
Common suffixes and their meanings
A suffix is a part of a word added at the end to change its meaning or type. Suffixes can turn nouns into verbs. Here's a simple table illustrating some common suffixes and their meanings:
Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
-er | one who does | teacher |
-ful | full of | playful |
-less | without | fearless |
-ing | action or process | eating |
-ed | past tense | jumped |
-ly | in a certain way | quickly |
-able, -ible | capable of | comfortable |
-ment | result or product | improvement |
-tion,-sion | state or quality | celebration |
-est | most | calmest |
Understanding verb tenses
Adding suffixes to words
Adding suffixes to words can be challenging to learn and master, but the table below with the basic rules for suffix spelling will guide you in using them accurately.
Type of word | Type of suffix | Basic rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
Ending in "e" | Beginning with a vowel (e.g -ed, -ing, -able, -ion) | delete the "e" at the end. | change > changing > changed > changer > changeable |
Ending in "e" | Beginning with a consonant. (e.g. -ness, -ly, -ful, -fully) | keep the "e" at the end | hope > hopeful > hopefully > hopeless |
Ending in "l" when it comes after a single vowel | -ing, -ed | use double "l" | control > controlling; controlled |
Ending in "l" when it comes after two vowels | -ing, -ed | use a single "l" | peel > peeling > peeled |
Ending in "n" | -ness | use double "n" | green > greenness |
Ending in "y" | -ly, -ed, -age, -est, -er, -ment, -ness | replace the "y" at the end with "i", except when the suffix begins with an i. | carry > carried > carrier > carrying |
When the letter before the final "y" is a vowel | -ed, -ing, -ful | keep the "y" at the end | play > played > playing |
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Rules for plurals
A plural noun is a word that indicates that there is more than one person, animal place, thing, or idea. Learning how to make nouns plural can be tricky so here's a guide that breaks down plural spelling rules to help you understand better.
Type of noun | Basic rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Regular nouns | Add -s | bottle - bottles; table - tables |
Words ending in "y" and it comes after a consonant | Replace "y" with "ie" and add -s | baby - babies; story - stories |
Words ending in "y" and it comes after a vowel (except "u") | Add -s | days - days; key - keys |
Words ending in "o" and it comes after a vowel | Add -s | radio - radios; rodeo - rodeos |
Words ending in "o" and it comes after a consonant | Add -es | hero - heroes; tomato - tomatoes. Some execptions include: Photo - photos; piano - pianos |
Words ending in "f" or "fe" | Replace "f" or "fe" to "v" and add - es | wife - wives; loaf - loaves. Some exceptions include: roof - roofs; giraffe - giraffes |
Words ending in "ss", "sh", "ch", "s", "x", "zz" | Add -es | dress - dresses; wish - wishes; church - churches ; gas - gases; fox- foxes; fizz - fizzes |
Nouns that do not follow any of the rules listed above:
Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
goose | geese (vowel change) |
woman | women (vowel change) |
mouse | mice (change in spelling) |
child | children (change in spelling) |
person | people (change in spelling) |
sheep | sheep (no change) |
shrimp | shrimp (no change) |
fungus | fungi (change -us to - i) |
cactus | cacti (change -us to - i) |
alumnus | alumni (change -us to - i) |
crisis | crises (change -is to -es) |
analysis | analyses (change -is to -es) |
phenomenon | phenomena (change -on to - a) |
criterion | criteria (change -on to - a) |
Tip: There's no simple way to understand these common exceptions to the rule. We recommend that you memorise them
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IELTS Spelling Quiz
Now that we’ve gone through some spelling rules and shown you some examples, let’s test your understanding with this quick spelling test.
Answer key: A, A, B, A, B, A, A, B, A, B
How to prepare for IELTS
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If they have trouble with a topic, they attend a FREE Masterclass with an IELTS expert who can teach them how to improve. When they’re almost ready to take IELTS, they will complete as many practice tests as they can find.
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