Intermediate English
Lesson 3 - People
Spelling
On This Page
- How to spell words with the combination of i and e
Spelling in English
I before E except after C
In school children learn a famous phrase to help with a common spelling problem.
"I before E except after C"
In words that have a combination of i and e, usually the i comes before the e, except after the letter c.
| ie | ei (after c) |
| believe | ceiling |
| friend | deceive |
| belief | receive |
| piece | perceive |
| chief | deceit |
Unfortunately, there are many exceptions to this rule. In words where the combination of letters has a long a sound, e comes before i even if there is no c.
eight
weigh
freight
Some words don't follow any of the rules from above.
weird
neither
foreign
This guide in .pdf. All of the English Guides
Practice
Select "Correct" if the word is spelled correctly, and "Incorrect" if it is not spelled correctly.
Recommend Passport to English to your friends!
Click on NEXT to go to the next page in the lesson.