PLURAL RULE ONE

Most words add s to make the plural

PLURAL RULE TWO

Add es to words ending in ch, sh s, ss, x or z to make the plural

one apple desk name town card Try these pencil book tree desks names towns cards teacher park month truck cup pad plant

two apples teachers parks months trucks beach fox cross pitch

one box beaches foxes crosses pitches wish bus waltz hutch quiz wax dish

many boxes wishes buses waltzes hutches

Try these church gas class

PLURAL RULE THREE

When the letter before a y is a consonant, change the y to an i before adding an es

PLURAL RULE FOUR

When words end in ay, ey, iy, oy and uy add an s to make the plural

one baby city pony filly Try these family daisy army nappy cities ponies fillies berry reply belly lady jelly party cherry

two babies berries replies bellies boy pulley relay

one donkey boys pulleys relays play grey alley satay valley delay key

two donkeys plays greys alleys

Try these day monkey tray trolley

PLURAL RULE FIVE

When words end in f or fe change the f or fe to a v before adding es

PLURAL RULE SIX

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 wolf elf life

two knives one dingo wolves elves lives cargo potato avocado cargoes mango potatoes hero avocadoes buffalo two dingoes mangoes heroes buffaloes

Try these half hoof loaf shelf self calf Exceptions cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs & handkerchiefs

Try these volcano tomato domino echo mosquito torpedo Exceptions pianos, solos, banjos, Eskimos and radios

PLURAL RULE SEVEN

Sometimes, a word may completely change its form when a plural is made

PLURAL RULE EIGHT

Sometimes, a word may stay the same in both its singular and plural form

one child person goose fungus Try these foot mouse tooth people geese fungi

two children criterion nucleus man woman cactus dice criteria nuclei men bream aircraft salmon

one fish bream aircraft salmon series trout moose sheep perch tuna

two fish series trout moose

Try these species deer offspring

PLURAL RULE NINE

It maybe confusing making compound words into plural forms. In all cases the first word is made plural.

PLURAL RULE TEN

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

appendices indices foci corpora *

basis gateau crisis * quite tricky and uncommon

SPELLING RULE ONE

When a word ends with a short vowel followed by a consonant, double the last consonant before adding ed

SPELLING RULE TWO

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 Try these trip mop submit dropped admitted occurred

The girls skipped. Fiona waltzes most Tuesday nights with Jim. trim shop flip trot rub prefer trimmed shopped flipped cross wax fish Try these buzz watch push crosses waxes fishes catch relax reach tax pass fix catches relaxes reaches

SPELLING RULE THREE

When an action word ends with a consonant followed by a y, change the y to an i before adding es

SPELLING RULE FOUR

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 Try these hurry fly worry empties tries carries tidy copy fry dry dirty apply tidies copies fries stop wrap step

Grandad was sitting in his chair all morning. stopping wrapping stepping slam nod skip beg map rub slamming nodding skipping

Try these trap rip chop

SPELLING RULE FIVE

When a word ends in a silent e, drop the e before adding an ing The magic e runs away !

SPELLING RULE SIX

When a word ends in double consonant, do not double the last letter before adding an ing

Ian loves platform diving on his weekends. move taste race Try these love change hope moving tasking racing hide chase wipe hiding chasing wiping

Kellie has been thinking about marrying Ridge. report bump wash reporting bumping washing copy work dust copying working dusting

store drive stare Exception be being

Try these carry hurry spy bend camp scratch For words ending in y leave the y and add ing

SPELLING RULE SEVEN

For action words that end in ie, change the ie to a y before adding an ing

SPELLING RULE EIGHT

Often ly is added to base words to turn them into adverbs, adjectives or describing words

Rynell bungy jumped carefully from the tower. love slow main Try these rude quick soft lovely slowly mainly smart pure nice kind loud glad smartly purely nicely

Bryan enjoys lying on his back to watch clouds. Try these tie lie die

SPELLING RULE NINE

When adding ly to words which end in y, change the y to an i before adding the ly

SPELLING RULE TEN

When the suffix full is added to the end of a base word, one of the ls has to be dropped

Kirsty scored the goal quite daintily. happy merry easy Try these hungry weary heavy happily merrily easily busy pretty cosy necessary day angry busily prettily cosily hope cheer thank

Janelle paints colourful works of art. hopeful cheerful thankful taste use force peace dread joy tasteful useful forceful

Try these truth play fear

eg; thankful means full of thanks

SPELLING RULE ELEVEN

Before adding er and est to words ending in a consonant, followed by a y, change the y to an i

SPELLING RULE TWELVE

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. lazy lovely mighty Try these sandy happy curly lazier loveliest mightier salty funny heavy crazy fancy dry saltiest funnier heaviest fit slim rob

Lyne has become a great ocean swimmer. fittest slimmest robber travel win slip run begin stop traveller winner slipper

Try these spin sit drum

These new words are called degrees of comparison

SPELLING RULE THIRTEEN

Double the last letter of words ending in a short vowel followed by a single consonant before adding a y

SPELLING RULE FOURTEEN

Just add a y to words ending in two consonants to form describing words

Ricky enjoys lying back on a sunny day. rag shag cat Try these run wool fur raggy shaggy catty wit fog fun mud skin bad witty foggy funny

The last few days have been quite windy in Moura. dirt might thirst Try these rock wealth chill dirty mighty thirsty trick health sand filth smart fuss tricky healthy sandy

SPELLING RULE FIFTEEN

For words ending in a silent e, you must first drop the e before adding a y

SPELLING RULE SIXTEEN

To indicate possession or ownership by a person or object, an apostrophe () followed by an s is added

Kookaburras are very noisy birds. bone ice rose Try these flake taste spike bony icy rosy smoke stone race scare nose laze smoky stony racy horse Jenny office

Billys horse bucked him at the rodeo. horses Jennys offices Billy bird Nigel car Mary shoe Billys Birds Nigels

Try these Santa Moura Peter

SPELLING RULE SEVENTEEN

To indicate ownership by a person whose name ends in an s or a plural noun, just add an apostrophe ()

SPELLING RULE EIGHTEEN

An apostrophe () is also used to create a contraction, indicating where a letter or letters have been left out

Camilla rubbed the sunscreen on Charles chest. poets gases Lewis Try these flowers Dennis class poets gases Lewis Gladys babies Ross Chris bottles boss Gladys babies Ross

Shes really looking forward to the ballet recital. I am she would who is Try these you are it is can not Im shed whos they had do not let us where is he is she will theyd dont lets

SPELLING RULE NINETEEN

i before e except after c

SPELLING RULE TWENTY

CAPITAL LETTERS are used at the beginning of names and places

Many people believe unicorns exist. rel__ve dec__t w__rd Try these rec__ve n__ghbour anc__nt relieve deceit wierd c__ling v__n glac__r th__r fr__nd rec__pt ceiling vein glacier

Uluru is a well known Australian landmark. brisbane luke moura Try these adelaide donald mackay Brisbane Luke Moura rebecca yeppoon mikarla phillip gladstone alex Rebecca Yeppoon Mikarla

Remember there are ALWAYS exceptions !

SPELLING RULE TWENTY ONE

Prefixes can be added to base words to create new words. Prefixes ending in vowels are added directly to base words.

SPELLING RULE TWENTY TWO

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

Some people say its impossible for cows to talk. un+well dis+miss in+ferior unwell dismiss inferior mis+spell im+patient mal+treat misspell impatient maltreat

Create new words using these prefixes non+ anti+ sub+ dys+ ab+ mis+

SPELLING RULE TWENTY THREE

Prefixes can be added to roots to form new words. Roots often have meanings from other languages.

SPELLING RULE TWENTY FOUR

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. di+vide audi+ble pro+ceed divide audible proceed inter+cept de+tatch auto+matic intercept detatch automatic store+age forgive+en pale+est

Vikings lived many, many years ago. storage forgiven palest live+ed manage+er amaze+ing lived manager amazing

Try these chron+ic ex+ceed cred+ible per+mit meta+phor poly+gon * pre means before and dict means speak

Try these nice+est like+en grave+ity use+ing arrive+al forge+ery Remember there are always exceptions to the rule !

SPELLING RULE TWENTY FIVE

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

SPELLING RULE TWENTY SIX

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 soft soft hard

cards (hard c) candle cymbals cave hard c soft c hard c

centipede (soft c) cuddle circus curly hard c soft c hard c

Which are hard and which are soft ? gym gutter ginger giant gas gather

Identify which are hard and soft ? caring cycle citizen cat comedy circle

SPELLING RULE TWENTY SEVEN

CAPITAL letters are used to spell the names of proper nouns, including people and places

SPELLING RULE TWENTY EIGHT

Homophones are words that have the same sound but a different meaning and spelling.

Lloyd is an accomplished bowler in Moura. adelaide luke lions park Try these biloela christmas rover Adelaide Luke Lions Park qantas mazda english Qantas Mazda English

A pair of scissors. route allowed pause root aloud paws

The pear is a sweet fruit. principal maid days principle made daze

jessica july australia

Write another word that sounds the same as practise main male threw four not

SPELLING RULE TWENTY NINE

A homographs is a word that may have more than one meaning or pronunciation.

SPELLING RULE THIRTY

Sometimes when writing, words may be shortened. These are known as abbreviations.

A calculator is a useful object.

The Lawyer said, I object ! I need to make an appointment to see Dr Phillips. Other examples kilometre km centimetre cm Australia Aust Try these kilogram example approximately Street Anonymous ante meridian page Queensland second St anon a.m.

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