PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING

This Handbook is for those of you who have ever had doubts about
punctuating your work or deciding on the correct spelling of a word.
If you've never suffered from such doubts (and how many of us can
honestly put ourselves in this category?) then congratulate yourself
and move on quickly.
For the rest of you, read through the information and advice given and
then use it in the way that suits you best.
Obviously you should stick to the basic rules of punctuation but don't
wear yourself to a frazzle checking and re-checking your work to ensure
that every comma is perfectly placed. Do your best and make the
punctuation marks work for you as part of your own individual style.
Spelling is rather different. Editors and publishers will expect your
spelling to be good (although the odd error will not bring instant
rejection). So, it's worth working at. Use a combination of the rules
(and exceptions) we provide, a good dictionary and, of course, a fair
helping of common sense.
If you work on a computer always use the spellcheck facility. But be
aware that this is not infallible. If you write to instead of too or were
instead of where it won't correct you. So after you have done the
spellcheck make sure you re-read the work carefully yourself to pick
up on any mistakes it may have missed.
Learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them and that is good
advice coming from someone who once had an essay returned from a
history tutor with most uncomplimentary remarks because Louis
XIV had miraculously (for those days) changed into Louise XIV! You
can improve if you are prepared to work at it.

PUNCTUATION
When people speak to each other, they make their meaning clear by
pausing between groups of words, by putting emphasis on certain
words and by using gestures. When we write words down, we still need
to be able to indicate these pauses, emphases and gestures, otherwise
our writing would be one long continuous stream of words. This would
be very difficult to understand. To indicate these pauses, emphases and
gestures in the written word we, of course, use punctuation.
We have had the following paragraph set first without punctuation and
then properly punctuated. The difference between the two shows you
quite clearly the value of punctuation.
therefore we use punctuation that is full stops commas hyphens
and so on to make our meaning clearer punctuation tells us
where the pauses should be punctuation also gives a written
passage that indefinable yet dynamic quality we call life with
good punctuation you can make an otherwise dull passage seem
sparkling and alive and also much easier to understand but be
wary good punctuation cannot hide poor style bad grammar or
the wrong use of words you must still get these right
Therefore we use punctuation that is full stops, commas,
hyphens and so on to make our meaning clearer. Punctuation
tells us where the pauses should be. Punctuation also gives a
written passage that indefinable, yet dynamic, quality we call
'life'. With good punctuation you can make an otherwise dull
passage seem sparkling and alive and also much easier to
understand. But be wary, good punctuation cannot hide poor
style, bad grammar or the wrong use of words. You must still
get these right!
Do you now fully appreciate why punctuation is necessary?

There are many rules of punctuation which you must obey. For
instance, you must always put a full stop at the end of a sentence.
However, there are also some rules of punctuation where you, the
writer, can decide whether or not to apply them.
The Full Stop (.)
In English there are four punctuation marks which indicate a pause.
In ascending order of strength, these are the comma, the semi-colon,
the colon and the full stop. The full stop is the strongest of these marks
and it indicates the longest pause.
You must always end a sentence with a full stop and this rule is one
you must obey. Full stops can also be used after an abbreviation.
As you know, when you start a new sentence after a full stop, you
always start it with a capital letter. However, when a full stop follows
an abbreviation you do not use a capital letter unless you are starting
a new sentence or unless the next word naturally begins with a capital
letter. For instance:
The months of the year, January, February, March etc.
may be abbreviated to Jan., Feb., Mar.
Notice that after etc. there is no capital letter, but Jan., Feb. and Mar.
start with capitals because their full forms have capitals. Also notice
that at the end of the sentence there is only one full stop. This does
both jobs of indicating an abbreviation and finishing the sentence.
Never use two full stops.
The Comma (,)
The comma is the punctuation mark which indicates the shortest pause.
At one time, writers tended to write long sentences with many commas
in them. The modern way is to use fewer commas and write shorter,
more direct sentences.

However, you will still need to use commas in your work, so here are
their main uses.
(1)

Commas mark off the items in a list:

I saw pens, pencils, paper, rubbers and files on his desk.
You will notice that there is a comma after pens, pencils and
paper, but there is no comma after rubbers. In a list the commas
replace a series of ands. (Pens and pencils and paper and rubbers
would be cumbersome; so we use commas instead.)

(2)

You can use commas to separate two or more adjectives

connected to a noun. This is similar to separating items in a list:
He is a talented, prolific writer.
The comma comes between the two adjectives talented and
prolific. If you put another adjective in, you could have the
following sentence:
He is a talented, prolific and modest writer.

(3)

If you want to put a phrase into a sentence to make the sentence

clearer or give greater explanation, you should surround that
phrase with commas. Take the simple sentence:
The editor arrived at his office early.
Now let's extend this by explaining that the editor arrived early
because he is a very busy man. We can put that into the sentence,
but should surround it with commas, as follows:
The editor, who is a very busy man, arrived at his
office early.

Here's a tip to remember when inserting a phrase or clause into

a sentence: if you can take the part surrounded by the commas
out of the sentence and the sentence still makes complete sense,
then you know you have placed the commas in the correct
places. This is a test you should always use. The rule also applies
to the use of brackets and dashes (which we will deal with shortly).
(4)

Just as you can surround phrases with commas, you can surround
adverbs. There are three you are likely to meet regularly. These
are however, therefore and of course. For example:
These facts, however, are not accurate.
There are, therefore, no further reasons to delay
starting your novel.
We will, of course, return your manuscript as soon
as possible.

(5)

Instead of inserting a phrase into a sentence, you will often want

to add information to the end of a sentence. For instance:
She still went to town, even though it was raining.
You can phone the editor, although she prefers email.
In both these examples you can see how the main clause is
separated from the subordinate clause by a comma. However,
beware of making unnecessarily long sentences as in the
following example:
Please accept my apologies for the fact that your
manuscript has been held in our office for two months,
unfortunately there has been a staff shortage,
however we expect to be able to read it within the
next week, and will contact you again soon.

This would be much better broken up into simple sentences like

this:
Please accept my apologies for the fact that your
manuscript has been held in our office for two
months. Unfortunately, there has been a staff
shortage. We now expect to read it within the next
week and will contact you again soon.
Often, the words and and but are used excessively with
commas to make sentences which are too long. Resist the
temptation. Remember that the purpose of commas is to
indicate where a slight pause would come if the sentence
was being read aloud. Follow this as a general guide and
you will never go far wrong.
(6)

You will usually see direct speech marked off with a comma.
For example:
He said, "I must go and catch the train."

The Colon (:)

The colon indicates a slightly shorter pause than a full stop. It is a
punctuation mark which is falling into disuse nowadays. In fact, there
are some writers who never use the colon at all.
However, one time you may find it useful is when introducing a list of
ideas like this:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Idea One
Idea Two
Idea Three

Did you notice how we used it after the word 'this'? You can also use
it to introduce a list which is written out:

Candidates should bring into the examination room

the following items: admission cards, pens, pencils,
a rubber, a ruler, mathematical instruments and a
calculator.
In a long sentence like this a colon after the word items is more
appropriate than a comma. However, as a general rule, we would
advise you to use colons sparingly.
The Semi-Colon (;)
The semi-colon is a punctuation mark that is also falling into disuse
nowadays. Like the colon you can choose whether or not to use it. It
indicates a pause longer than a comma, but shorter than a colon and was
used at one time to separate the different parts of very long sentences.
The most common uses are as follows:
(1)

You can use a semi-colon to join two closely connected sentences:

The room was empty; the girls had all left.
In this example, a full stop would have been too long a pause;
while a comma would have been too short a pause.

(2)

A semi-colon can be used in front of an adverb (ie however, so,

for instance):
He was late in submitting his entry for the competition;
so the judges disqualified him.

(3)

The most frequent use of the semi-colon is to separate a list of

items where additional information is given about some of the
items:

In his 'den' there was: a desk, with a glass top; a

chair, covered in leather; two filing cabinets; a table
and a computer.
Here you can see how the semi-colon separates each individual item,
but only a comma is needed when additional information is being
given about the items. However, use semi-colons to separate lists like
the above only when you have additional information to add about an
item. Otherwise, it is better to separate a simple list with commas.
The Hyphen (-)
Do not confuse a hyphen (-) with a dash ( ). A dash lengthens the
pause between words, while a hyphen shortens it. There are several
ways you can use the hyphen.
(1)

You can link two or more words together with a hyphen, to form
a compound word:
son-in-law, court-martial, men-at-arms

(2)

You can form a compound adjective by using a hyphen:

first-rate, well-known, far-reaching
However, you only use a compound adjective like this, when the
noun it is describing immediately follows it:
He is a well-known author.
But, if the noun comes first:
All the authors on this list are well known.
Do you see the difference? In the second sentence there is no
hyphen because the noun author precedes the words well known.

(3)

Another use of the hyphen is to link certain prefixes like anti,

ex and pro to a noun. For instance:
ex-champion, pre-war, pro-British
This use of a hyphen is usually limited to when words are first
being introduced into English. Once the word containing the
hyphen is in regular use, the hyphen is often dropped. So if in
doubt, check with your dictionary.

(4)

One word you will come across regularly is co-operation and its
derivative co-operative.
In both these cases, and others like them, the hyphen is there to
show that the two vowels they separate are pronounced separately.
Otherwise you would be tempted to pronounce the oo in cooperate as in look, and say cuperate. As you can see, the hyphen
here helps the pronunciation.

(5)

Sometimes a hyphen is required to make the meaning of a

sentence clearer. For instance:
We built the frame with wood and six inch nails.
As it stands that sentence means that only six nails were used,
and these were one inch long. If it is intended to mean that the
nails were six inches long, then a hyphen is required between six
and inches:
We built the frame with wood and six-inch nails.
Six-inch is now one word and clearly indicates the size of the
nails. Another example is:
We are going to have two hour long lessons.

Does this mean there are two lessons of one hour each, or that
the lessons are each two hours long? By putting hyphens in we
make the meaning quite clear.
Two-hour-long lessons (each lesson is two hours long).
Two hour-long lessons (there are two lessons and each
is one hour long).
As you can see, insufficient punctuation can be a cause of
ambiguity.
An alternative to putting hyphens in, is to re-phrase the whole
sentence so that its meaning is quite clear. However, this usually
means a longer sentence which can be avoided by the use of
hyphens.
(6)

Hyphens are sometimes used to alter the meaning of words. For

instance:
He recovered his umbrella from the lost property
office.
His torn umbrella was re-covered.
or
She remarked on the fact that she had passed her
exams.
She was not satisfied with the results, so she asked
for her paper to be re-marked.
Do you see the difference the hyphen makes in these cases?

10

(7)

A hyphen is used to indicate a break in a word at the end of a

line. This is when there is not enough space to finish the word;
so part of it is typed on one line and completed on the next line.
The hyphen indicates the word has been divided.
However, with the increasing use of computers most writers will
not need to worry about this as the spacing will be regulated for
them.

If you are still using a typewriter avoid division of words whenever

possible. Only break longer words and never divide single syllable
words, or words of only 4 and 5 letters. Eg Friend, Index, Item.
Where possible, try to see that each line finishes with a complete word,
but if this cannot be done then use your common sense. Never divide
a word at the end of a page so that part of the word is on the first page
and the rest is on the next.
Inverted Commas (" ")
These punctuation marks are used to indicate direct speech or a
quotation. There are two schools of thought about the use of inverted
commas. One method is to use double inverted commas for direct
speech and single inverted commas for quotations.
The other school of thought believes in using them the other way
round single inverted commas for speech and double inverted
commas for quotations. It doesn't really matter which method you use
as long as you adopt one of the methods and do not mix them.
The publisher said, "Come into my office."
But:

To quote from this course, 'Regular reading will substantially

improve your knowledge of the language.'

11

You will notice that the inverted commas only go round the actual
words spoken or the actual quotation. Also, any punctuation marks
such as commas, full stops or question marks are placed inside the
inverted commas. For instance:
"Why did you not come to work yesterday?" he said.
The use of inverted commas is fairly simple and they should present
no difficulties for you.
Brackets ( )
You can use either round brackets ( ) or square brackets [ ], whichever
you choose. You also have a lot of discretion in the use of brackets.
Some writers use them frequently, others hardly use them at all.
Brackets are usually put round a phrase or statement inserted into a
sentence. For instance:
The cost of the book will be 2.50 (inclusive of postage
and packing).
Note how the sentence finishes after the brackets so you must put a
full stop.
Here is another example:
At present, Britain (unlike other countries in the
EEC) does not levy VAT on books.
This example illustrates another important point about brackets. You
should be able to lift out of the sentence the whole phrase contained
in the brackets and the sentence should still make complete sense. If
we did this, it would leave the sentence like this:
At present, Britain does not levy VAT on books.

12

That sentence makes complete sense, and so the brackets were used
correctly. Do you remember how commas can be used in a similar way?
Brackets indicate stronger pauses than commas. You should use them
for longer insertions in sentences and particularly to add information
which (even though it provides extra information) is not an essential
part of the sentence.
Brackets are also used round numbers, especially in subsections of
reports. Eg I(i), I(ii), I(iii).
The Dash ( )
As you can see, the dash is longer than the hyphen. You can use a dash,
instead of commas or brackets, when inserting a phrase or statement
into a sentence:
His secretary a very competent person always
corrected his spelling.
As you can see, you could have used commas or brackets just as well
as dashes in this sentence. If you use dashes in this way, you should
be able to remove the phrase between the dashes and still have a
complete sentence.
Another use of the dash is in the middle of a sentence, where you want
to change the thought or idea, or you want your reader to pause. At the
same time, you do not want to use a full stop and start a new sentence:
I had writer's block last month and did not put pen
to paper for almost three weeks but that is now a
thing of the past.
Do you see how the dash makes you pause? It also provides a smooth
switch from the idea that you had writer's block to the idea that it is
something that happened in the past.

13

A pause like this can sometimes be achieved with a colon or semicolon, but the dash is the more modern way of doing it.
Capital Letters
Here are seven rules for when to use capital letters:
(1)

You always start a sentence with a capital letter.

(2)

At the beginning of a passage of direct speech even if it is not

the beginning of the sentence.
He said, "Would you like to publish my book?"

(3)

To begin proper nouns, for instance:

London, Nairobi, Toronto, Clair

(4)

To begin the first word and other main words in the titles of
books, poems and so forth:
The Taming of the Shrew
You will note that The, Taming and Shrew all have capital letters.
You do not normally use capital letters for the prepositions and
conjunctions.

(5)

For the pronoun I, which is always written as a capital letter.

(6)

You always use a capital letter for days of the week and months
of the year, when you are referring to a particular month or day:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.
January, February, March etc.

14

When you use them in a general way, you do not use a capital:
I do not like monday mornings.
(7)

In abbreviations capital letters are only used if capital letters are

also used for the full word or title. For example:
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

The Apostrophe ( ' )

The following rules of punctuation about the apostrophe are ones
which you must follow. The apostrophe has two uses:
1.

You use it to show where a letter has been missed out of a word.
it's (it is), don't (do not), can't (cannot),
doesn't (does not) etc.
The versions of these words with the apostrophe are used
frequently in speech and in informal writing and when creating
dialogue. Use the words in full when writing serious articles or
material of a more academic nature.

2.

You also use it to show ownership. Simply add an apostrophe

and a letter s:
My father's house means: The house that belongs
to my father.
Joe's suit means: The suit that belongs to Joe.
The same rule applies to something owned by a number of
people. For example, if a lawyer has an office, you write:

15

The lawyer's office.

But if two or three lawyers share one office, you write:
The lawyers' office.
Here 'lawyers' is the plural of lawyer, and the apostrophe is put
after the final s.
But suppose the owner's name already ends in s. The rule is easy.
You add the apostrophe and then the extra s:
She admired Charles's suit.
So just to recap:
The girl's room means: The room belonging to the girl.
The girls' room means: The room belonging to the girls.
The rule is the same when the plural does not end in s:
The men's dinner means: The dinner belonging to the men.
The most common mistake people make with apostrophes is to
put them in where they are not needed. For example, you may
see a sign outside a shop:
Shoe's for sale.
This is wrong. There is no need for an apostrophe, because the
word 'shoes' is a simple plural. Never put an apostrophe in front
of the s in a plural.
Another mistake that many people make is to confuse it's and its.

16

So remember:
The word it's means it is.
The apostrophe shows where the letter i is missing from the
word is. So when you write it's, you mean it is.
So what do you do when you want to write about something that
belongs to it? You just leave out the apostrophe:
The tail belonging to the dog is its tail.
One more thing before we leave apostrophes, they are not
necessary in:
(a)

Plurals of figures: Boeing 747s, the 1800s

(b)

Plurals of abbreviations: MPs, GCSEs

NB. Please study the work on apostrophes very carefully as this

is something that many people get wrong.
Question Mark (?)
Here is another rule of punctuation: you must always put a question
mark at the end of a direct question. This is one punctuation mark
which is often wrongly used. Many people forget to put it in at the end
of a question and nearly as many use it where it is not needed.
The rule about its use is very simple. Always use a question mark at
the end of a direct question:
What time does the train leave?
When will you be able to finish the book?

17

But do not use question marks at the end of indirect questions:

Ask the guard what time the train leaves.
She asked when he would be able to finish the book.
Notice that there is always a full stop underneath a question mark. So
you treat it exactly the same as a full stop and start the next word with
a capital letter.
The Exclamation Mark (!)
You can use an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence to draw
attention for stress, to express amusement, surprise, anger or
indignation:
If you don't need characters on stage, get them off!
If you think it's funny, try it!
You must be joking!
You can also use an exclamation mark after single words or phrases
but there is no set rule; so you must decide for yourself whether you
wish to use one:
Oh! Watch out! Hello! Cheers!
You will note that just like the question mark, the exclamation mark
incorporates a full stop so the next word should begin with a capital
letter.
But be warned! If you use too many exclamation marks they will lose
effect. In journalism they are referred to as 'screamers' and ruthlessly
eliminated by sub-editors. So, use them sparingly.
The correct use of punctuation is important. Its purpose is to help
you make your meaning absolutely clear. This in turn will help your

18

reader who is more likely to read on and enjoy what you are trying
to say. At the same time don't worry unduly if you think this is one of
your weaknesses. Look how other people use punctuation in books
and newspapers and try to learn by example. Then follow three golden
rules:
(1)

Use plenty of full stops.

(2)

Don't pepper your work with commas you are better to leave
them out rather than use them in the wrong places as this will
interrupt the flow of your work.

(3)

If you are not confident of your ability to punctuate properly

read your work aloud. More often than not, where you pause
naturally will be the place where you should insert a comma or
a full stop.

Punctuation is important; so always do your best to get it right.

SPELLING
Correct spelling is also important. Some people are lucky in that
spelling comes easily to them. Unfortunately, the majority of people
are not like this and they have to constantly work hard to ensure that
their spelling is correct. If you are like the majority, then you will have
to work on your spelling regularly all your life. However, don't despair
about this there are many people like yourself.
The more effort you make, the better your spelling will be. And you
must make this effort, because English spelling doesn't, in general,
follow a regular pattern. Let's look at a few words which illustrate this
point:
enough cough through plough ought

19

The ough part of each of these five words has a different

pronunciation. See what we mean!
Your regular reading will undoubtedly help your spelling a great deal.
You will subconsciously absorb how words should look on the page,
so that when a word is spelt wrongly, it automatically stands out as
not being right.
Another help with your spelling will be the tips that we are going to
give you. However, you must remember that these are only guidelines
and that there are always exceptions to them.
Now before we go any further, here is a tip which many people have
found helpful with their spelling. To teach yourself how to spell a
word, write it out several times. As you write the word, read it out
aloud phonetically. This may sound quite different, of course, from
how the word is actually pronounced when spoken. Then, whenever
you write the word in future, say it phonetically to yourself and you
will find that you spell it correctly.
For instance, take the word definitely. If you say it to yourself as defi-nite-ly you will write it correctly, as definitely, and not make the
common mistake of definately.
Your dictionary will, of course, tell you how to spell any word
correctly. So always keep a dictionary on your desk or in your drawer.
Also, make sure you always use the spell-check facility on your
computer when you have finished a document.
But in addition let's now look at some guidelines to help you.
1.
IE and EI
Maybe the most famous spelling rule in English is put i before e,
except after c.

20

Examples:

chief, piece
receive

(i before e)
(except after c)

Even this famous rule has its exceptions and here are some of them:
foreign, either, counterfeit, forfeit, seize, weir, weird, neighbour and
species.
2.
Doubling the last letter
Many short words are spelled with a double last letter when you add
an ending to them:
bat
drop
slip
occur
thin
big
fat
omit

batted
dropped
slipped
occurred
thinner
bigger
fatter
omitted

batting
dropping
slipping
occurring
thinnest
biggest
fattest

There are, of course, exceptions, and you just have to learn them by
heart. In the end, regular usage should enable you to get it correct
every time.
3.
'LL' at the end of a word
Some very short words in English end in double ll such as well, full,
till etc. When these are used as part of a longer word the double ll
usually changes to a single l:
handful, fearful, delightful, powerful, welcome, welfare, until
There are, however, some exceptions to this rule such as:
illness, tallness, farewell

21

Again, you just have to learn these exceptions by heart.

4.
The Silent 'E' at the end
If you add onto a word that has a silent e at the end, drop the e when
the addition starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u):
care
hope
argue
become

caring (not careing)

hoping (not hopeing)
arguing
becoming

change
shine
grieve
conceive

changing
shining
grievance
conceivable

But keep the e when there is a soft-sounding ce or ge ending:

peace/peaceable;
manage/manageable

change/changeable;
notice/noticeable;

You also keep the e if you add an ending which begins with a
consonant to a word ending in a silent e:
lone/lonely; effective/effectively; move/movement
There are, however, some exceptions to this rule:
argue/argument; due/duly; true/truly
5.
Words ending in '-ful'/'-fully'/'-al'/'-ally'
Adjectives with one l usually take a double ll when they become
adverbs:
careful/carefully
accidental/accidentally
real/really

economical/economically
international/internationally

6.
Adding onto words ending in a double consonant
If a word ends in a double consonant and you add an ending, it is usual
for both consonants to be retained:

22

assess/assessment; success/successful; discuss/discussion

7.
Adding 'ing' and 'ed' to words ending in 'c'
When you are adding ing or ed to a word that ends in the letter c you
add the letter k to the c:
frolic/frolicked; picnic/picnicking
8.
Words ending in 'oe'
When a word ends in oe, and you add to it, you always keep the e,
except when the addition begins with the letter e:
hoe/hoeing; toe/toeing
but note: hoe/hoed; toe/toed
9.
Words that end in 'y'
When you are building words, y usually stays the same if it comes after
a vowel (a, e, i, o, u):
boy/boys; day/days; play/plays; monkey/monkeys;
employ/employment; play/playful
Exceptions: day/daily; lay/laid; pay/paid; say/said
Otherwise, when the y follows a consonant change the y to i:
beauty/beautiful; busy/business; easy/easily; lonely/loneliness;
marry/marriage; rely/reliance
Apply this rule unless two letter i's would occur next to each other:
carry/carrying (not carriing); occupy/occupying (not occupiing)
10. Words that end in 'cede'
Words like precede, intercede and recede all end in -cede EXCEPT
for four words:

23

exceed, proceed, succeed and supersede the only word in the

language that ends in sede.
11. Endings with 'ize' or 'ise'
How do you spell such words as, advertise and economise with ise
or ize at the end? Unfortunately there is no direct answer to this one.
Even the experts disagree.
The best advice we can give you is to follow your dictionary. One tip
that might help you is that in England it is usual to end such words in
ise, while in America both endings seem to be used indiscriminately.
If in doubt, we suggest you use ise. At least that way you will be
consistent.
Remember, though, that exercise always has an 's'.
12. Words ending in '-ing'/'-ed'/'-er'/'-able'
Usually, if the consonant follows a short vowel sound, the final
consonant is doubled before '-ing', '-ed', '-er' and '-able'.
So:

begin/beginning; commit/committed; wet/wetter;

regret/regrettable

But: benefit/benefited
13. Words beginning with 'fore-'/'for-'
Always remember that the prefix 'fore' means 'before' or 'in front' of.
So retain the e in words that have this meaning such as:
forecast, forestall, forewarn, forearm, foreclose, foreward
But: forbid, forward
14. Double consonants within words
Many people spell the following words incorrectly. But it helps if you

24

remember that the double consonants are simply joins between the
two parts of each word.
unnecessary (un+necessary)
withhold (with+hold)
misspell (mis+spell)
15. Some common causes of confusion
There are a few word-endings which sound very similar, and are often
confused with each other. The advice we gave you earlier to read a
word out phonetically should help you to always use the correct
spelling.
(i)

One of the most common mistakes is to confuse the endings able

and ible.
admissible
compatible
fallible

(ii)

acceptable
notable
teachable

The endings ant and ent are often confused.

conversant
militant
pleasant

despondent
impatient
component

(iii) The endings ance and ence are often confused.

assistance
ignorance
reluctance

indifference
coherence
subsistence

25

Plurals
The usual way to form the plural is simply to add a letter s to the end
of the word. Examples are:
door/doors; pen/pens; bicycle/bicycles
The majority of words conform to this rule of forming the plural, but
as you would expect, there are variations.
(i)

For words that end in o you add es to form the plural:

potatoes, tomatoes, mosquitoes, vetoes, echoes.
There are some exceptions, however, which revert to the overall
rule, and just add s:
photos, radios, pianos, zeros, provisos.

(ii)

If the word ends in f or fe, it often takes s in the plural:

belief/beliefs;
proof/proofs;

chief/chiefs;
roof/roofs;

cliff/cliffs;
safe/safes.

But some endings change to ves:

calf/calves;
leaf/leaves;
self/selves;
thief/thieves;

half/halves;
loaf/loaves;
sheaf/sheaves;
wife/wives.

knife/knives;
life/lives;
shelf/shelves;

Can you see the difference in pronunciation here which indicates

the change in the spelling? A few can even be spelled either way
with an s or ves, to make the plural:

26

hoof (hoofs, hooves);

handkerchief (handkerchiefs, handkerchieves);
scarf (scarfs, scarves);
wharf (wharfs, wharves).
(iii) Words ending in s, x, z, ch, sh, ss, form the plural by adding es:
dress/dresses; box/boxes; fizz/fizzes; church/churches;
dish/dishes; boss/bosses.
(iv) Words ending in y change to ies in the plural:
company/companies; diary/diaries; party/parties.
except names:
the Creaseys, the Barrys
and except for words that end in ay, ey, iy, oy, uy:
day/days; monkey/monkeys; boy/boys.
(v)

Then there are some words which do not conform to any rules.
This is because they have come from either Old English or a
foreign language. Your dictionary will, of course, help you but
you still have to learn them. When you come across them, take
special note of them. Here are some examples:
child/children; man/men; woman/women;
stimulus/stimuli; cactus/cacti; analysis/analyses;
foot/feet; tooth/teeth; goose/geese; mouse/mice.

(vi) The animals sheep and deer stay the same in the plural:

27

one sheep ten sheep

one deer ten deer
Other animals normally form the plural by following the usual
rules and simply adding an s.
As we said earlier, when you are unsure of the spelling of a word,
check in your dictionary. Also, if you are not too confident of your
ability to spell correctly always try to get someone to read your work
to check for errors. And don't neglect the spellcheck facility on your
computer.
These simple measures should help you to eliminate most spelling
mistakes but another point worth mentioning is the words that sound
alike but have different spellings, meanings and usage. They are called
homophones and a good example is 'air' and 'heir'. It's important
that you don't confuse these and, unfortunately, your spell-check won't
help you.
Look at the following for some examples of what we mean:
Last (weak/week) I ordered two (bales/bails) of hay and a ton
of (cereal/serial) for my farm. When they did not arrive on time
I telephoned (two/to/too) enquire (were/where/wear) they
(were/where/wear). The secretary who answered said that she
did not (know/no) anything about the order but she would
(check/cheque) with the despatch department. Apparently
(there/their/they're) lorry had broken down on (it's/its) way to
the farm but they assured me that it had now been put
(right/write) (sew/so/sow) I could expect delivery later that day.
In that short passage we included some of the most common words
which can cause confusion. However, there are many others; so take
care. Incidentally, if there were any places where you were undecided
about which word to choose check in your dictionary!

28

The last warning we shall give you here about spelling is to beware of
malapropisms. This is the misuse of words of similar appearance and,
as you probably know, it is derived from a character called Mrs
Malaprop in Sheridan's play, The Rivals. In the play her wrong usage
and confusion of words is used as a calculated humorous technique.
But unless you're striving for the same effect try and avoid such
mistakes.
Examples include:
preceding/proceeding
illusion/allusion
eminent/imminent
affect/effect
accept/except
emigrant/immigrant

official/officious,
exceptionably/exceptional
moral/morale
adopt/adapt
disinterested/uninterested
imply/infer

... and many more.

That brings us to the end of our coverage of spelling. The truth is that
anyone can spell if they make the effort. Good spelling comes with
regular use of words. If you read and write regularly and check words
in your dictionary when you need to, then your spelling will improve
automatically.
It's a slow process, like growing, but it is happening all the time, even
if we can't measure it. We've given you some tips; so it's over to you
now the more effort you make, the better your spelling will be!

29

Notes

30

Notes

31

Notes

32