Here are the most common spelling rules in English. For exceptions to the rules take a look at Common Spelling Problems.

Capital Letters

Use Capital (T, S, B, etc.) letters for the following types of words:

• Days, months and public holidays: Monday, January, Christmas
• Proper names of people and places: Jack, Maria, New York, Germany
• Titles for people: Ms, Dr, General
• Nationalities and regions (both nouns and adjectives): Dutch, Swedish, Basque
• Titles of works of art (content words only): The Last Day of Summer, American Journal of Medicine

When to Double Final Consonants

The final consonant of a word is often doubled when adding -ed, -ing, -er, -est in the following cases:

• The double final "b, d, g, l, m, n, p, r, and t" at the end of words: rob - robbing sad - sadder big - bigger skim - skimming win - winner pop - popping prefer - preferred hit - hitting
• Words of more than one syllable have their consonants doubled only when the final syllable is stressed: begin - beginn ing BUT open - opening defer - deferr ing BUT offer - offering
• When words have more than one syllable and end in 'L' British English always doubles the 'L', even in the case of unstressed syllables. In American English, on the other hand, the 'L' is not doubled when the syllable is unstressed. British English - travelled American English - traveled More information on the differences between British and American English.

Here are the most common spelling rules in English. For exceptions to the rules take a look at Common Spelling Problems.

Final -E

Leave off the final 'e' in the following cases:

• When the word ends in 'e' adding a suffix that begins with a vowel (this is usually the case, although there are exceptions such as 'outrageous'): make - making note - notable
• Do not leave out the final 'e' when a word ends in 'ee': agree - agreeable
• Words ending in 'ge' and 'ce' do NOT drop the final 'e': encourage - encouragement embrace - embraceable

'IE' and 'EI'

This is a common spelling problem, even for native English speakers. Probably the best thing to do is remember this rhyme:

I before E except after C relief thief believe

But... perceive receipt ceiling

'Y' and 'I'

When adding an ending to a word that finishes in 'y', the 'y' usually changes to 'i':

• Most nouns and verbs that end in 'y' have plural or third person singular conjugations that change to 'i': party - parties hurry - She hurries to work.
• When changing the word form (for example from adjective to adverb): happy - happily lazy - lazily easy - easier

Do NOT change the final 'y' to 'i' when 'y' is preceded by a vowel: stay - stays enjoy - enjoyed

Exceptions:

• say, lay, pay - said, laid, paid
• Do NOT change the final 'y' to 'i' when followed by '-ing', '-ism', '-ish': boy - boyish try - trying

'IE' to 'Y'

When a word ends in 'ie' change to 'y' before adding '-ing': die - dying lie - lying