SOME HELPFUL RULES  
    1   i before e except after c, if the sound is ee .
            e.g. believe, achieve, chief, siege, deceit, receipt, ceiling
            Exception to the rule: seize, counterfeit, weir(d), species.)
            Note: The rule does not apply when ie or ei is not pronounced  ee.  
  2   Verbs ending in –eed and –ede
           With suc-, ex- and pro-    
           Double ee must be.   e.g. succeed, exceed, proceed
           Otherwise: intercede, precede, recede, concede.
 
      3  c or s?
           Usually the noun has c; the verb s.
           e.g. prophecy (noun) to prophesy (verb)
           advice (noun)   to advise (verb)
           In some cases either c or s  is used for both the noun and the verb e.g. practice, license.)
 
      4 Doubling the letter before –ing, -ed, and other suffixes which start with a vowel,   
         e.g.,  -er -est, -able)  The final consonant is doubled before –ing, ed, etc.
         (a) in words containing a single short vowel (e.g. tap, hop):
              e.g. hopping (short) as opposed to hoping (long) 
              Distinguish: shinning (up a tree), shining (sun) starring, staring; scarred, scared
              dinner, diner (A diner eats a dinner.)
         (b) in longer words where the stress falls on a short vowel at the end of the word:
              e.g. begin(ning), occur(red), (p)referred, committed, admitted, fulfilling, regrettable,
                     forgettable
                     but not when the stress is elsewhere:e.g. offer(ing), happening, benefited, galloped
                     preference (Exceptions: handicapped, kidnapped.)
      5  Plurals
          The general rule is to add an “s”, or after s, x, ch, sh, z, to add “es.”
               (a) If the noun ends in a consonant followed by a y drop the y and add “ies”:
                    e.g. fairy – fairies; monastery—monasteries; lady —ladies; ally—allies; story—stories
                    If the noun ends in a vowel followed by y, simply add s.
                    e.g. donkeys, valleys, monkeys, chimneys, alleys, boys, trays
                (b) Nouns ending in o, except for those listed below add s: e.g dynamos, photos
                      Exceptions: tomatoes, potatoes, heroes, mosquitoes, echoes, mottoes,                     
                      torpedoes, cargoes, volcanoes, vetoes, embargoes, tornadoes, dominoes,
                      buffaloes, desperadoes, haloes, noes.)
                 (c) Nouns ending in f and fe. There is no rule, though attention to  the pronunciation  
                       helps e.g. calves, wives, knives, halves, shelves, thieves, loaves, roofs, proofs, chiefs
                       Some have either: e.g. hoofs/hooves, wharfs/wharves
 
                (d) Some nouns keep their foreign plurals:
                      e.g. crisis—crises; oasis—oases
                     criterion—criteria; phenomenon—phenomena
                     terminus—termini (or uses); larva—larvae
                     medium—media (but mediums to contact)
                (e) Hyphenated compounds usually add the s to the main noun part:
                      e.g. passers-by, sons-in-law
                 (f) A few nouns have the same form in singular and plural:
                      e.g. sheep, aircraft
 
       6  Words with prefix dis- or mis-
          Do not add extra letters when a word contains the prefix dis- or mis-:
           e.g. dis + appear = disappear dis + appoint = disappoint
           A double s will appear only when the word to which the prefix is added starts with an s:
           e.g. service           disservice
                  spell               misspell
                  satisfied         dissatisfied
 
       7  Suffixes –ful, -fully; -al, -ally
          (a) Adjectives formed with the suffix –ful or –al (e.g. careful, actual) have one l.
           (b) When forming adverbs add –ly as usual:
                   e.g. careful           carefully
                        beautiful          beautifully
                        real                   really
                        accidental        accidentally
                        actual                actually
           (c) Adjectives ending in –ic form adverbs in –ically (except, publicly):
                   e.g. basically, terrifically, fantastically
 
       8  Words ending in a silent e
           (a) These usually keep the e before suffixes which begin with a consonant:
                e.g. hopeful, arrangement, sincerely, completely
                (Exceptions: argument, truly, duly, wholly.)
           (b) If the suffix begins with a vowel the e is usally dropped:
                   e.g. come—coming; argue—arguing; inquire—inquiry; subtle—subtly
                   (Verbs ending in –oe do not drop the e: e.g. canoeing, hoeing.)
             C After words ending in –ce or –ge the e must be kept so that the c/g
                remains  a “soft” sound (i.e. as in Cecil or George, not “hard” as in catgut):
                e.g. noticeable, serviceable, manageable, courageous, singeing (burning
                     (Contrast the pronunciation of singing, navigable, practicable.)
      9  Words ending in –y
            (a) Words ending in –y preceded by a consonant change the y to i before any    
                  suffix   except ing
                   e.g. cry                 cried                crying
                          try                  tried                trying    
                          dry                 dries, drier      drying
                          satisfy            satisfied          satisfying
                          hungry           hungrier,         hungrily        
                          necessary      necessarily
                    (Exceptions: shyly, slyer, spryest, dryness)
           (b) Verbs like lie, die, tie, become lying, dying, tying. (To dye [clothes] becomes dyeing.)
      10  Words ending in -ic     These add a k before –ing, -ed, -er:  
                   e.g. picnic       picnicking
                          panic        panicking
                          mimic      mimicked
                          traffic       trafficker
      11 Prefixes fore-, for, ante, anti
            (a) The prefix fore- means in front or beforehand: e.g. forewarn, forecast, 
                   forestall, foreground (Contrast: forbid, forbearance.)
           (b)Ante- means before; anti- means against: e.g. antenatal, anteroom; antidote, antiseptic