The Great Spelling Mystery!

(Answers in blue)

Suffixes
Look at the following words before and after adding suffixes:
hot- hottest
red- redder
run- running
stop- stopped
What is the rule when adding a suffix to the end of these words? Explain
below:
When a word has a consonant at the end, double the last letter and
add your suffix.
*these words also need to have one syllable and have a vowel
before the consonant.
Using this rule, add a suffix (-er, -ing, -ed) to each of the words:
beg-

begging

drag- dragging

grin-

grinned

hop- hopped

Look at the following words before and after adding suffixes:

1) ring-ringing
1) start- starting

2) sweet- sweetest
2) look- looked

What TWO suffix rules could me made based on what each set of words (set
one and set two) have in common? (Hint: think consonants and vowels)
Rule for set 1- when two consonants are in a row at the end of a word,
the final consonant is not doubled for a suffix.
Rule for set 2- when there are two vowels in a row, the final
consonant is not doubled for a suffix
Using these rules, add suffixes (-er, -ing, -ed) to the end of each word:
comb- combed

cook-cooker

return- returning

book- booking

Using ie and ei
i before e: relief, believe, niece, chief, field
e before i: receive, deceive, ceiling, receipt
How does a writer know when to use ie or ei? Looking at these
words, write a rule that can help people determine when to use ie
or ei:
i before e except after c, when word sounds like an a.
(neighbor)
EXCEPTIONS: seize, either, weird, height, foreign, science

Plural Forms
Look at the following singular words with their plural form:
cookie- cookies

laser- lasers

house-houses

piece- pieces

With these nouns, simply add s to form a plural.

The following nouns are a bit different: (think word endings)
sandwich- sandwiches

box-boxes

bush- bushes

lens- lenses

witch- witches

fish- fishes

bus- buses

fox-foxes

With these nouns, what was added to make them plural?

-es

How can someone know that these nouns are different than
other nouns that can be made plural with just s? (hint: look at
the letters)
When a word ends with ch, -sh, -s, and x, it can be
made plural by adding es.

Commonly Confused Words

In the English language, there are a few words that get
confused. Many of them sound the same, however they are
spelled differently and have different definitions.
See if you can figure out each commonly confused words
match, as well as define what each word means.
1. Their, _there_, Theyre
Their = possession (something owned)
__there__ = direction
Theyre = they are
2. Its, __its___
Its = possession
Its = it is
3. Were, _were__, __where__ /wear
Were = we are
__were__ = past tense of to be
___where__ = location
4. To, __two____, ____too___
To = first part of infinitive form of verb (to run),
preposition

___two_ = 2
___too___ = also
5. Then, ____than_____
Then = a word to sequence events, a time other
than now, suggesting a conclusion.
____than__ = comparison