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📝 English and Language Usage · Conventions of Standard English · Lesson 1 of 6 · 5 min

Spelling rules and commonly confused words (their, affect, than)

✏️ A handful of spelling rules and a short list of sound-alike words cover most of the spelling questions on the TEAS. Learn the patterns once and stop guessing.

💡 Key idea

Know the patterns (i before e, doubling, silent e, y to i, plurals) and check sound-alike words by meaning.

🧠 The idea

I BEFORE E except after c, or when it sounds like "ay": believe, receive, neighbor. Learn the exceptions by sight: weird, seize, either, height, foreign, science. DOUBLING: in a one-syllable word ending consonant-vowel-consonant, double the last consonant before a vowel suffix (stop, stopped; run, running); in longer words, double only if the last syllable is stressed (admit, admitted; but open, opened). A final silent e usually drops before a vowel suffix (hope, hoping) but stays before a consonant suffix (hope, hopeful). Y TO I: after a consonant, change y to i before most suffixes (carry, carried; happy, happiness), but keep y before -ing (carrying) and after a vowel (play, played). PLURALS: add -es after s, x, z, ch, sh (boxes); consonant + y becomes -ies (cities). HOMOPHONES sound alike but differ in meaning: their/there/they're, your/you're, its/it's, affect (usually a verb)/effect (usually a noun), accept/except, than/then.

✏️ Worked example

"The nurse ____ the new policy would ____ patient wait times." Choices: excepted/effect, accepted/affect, excepted/affect, accepted/effect. Step 1: the nurse took in or agreed to the policy, so the word is ACCEPTED (receive); "except" means "leave out." Step 2: after "would" you need a verb meaning "to influence," so AFFECT. The answer is accepted/affect. A quick test for than/then: THAN compares ("faster than"), THEN tells time ("first wash, then dry").

📌 Takeaways

  • I before e except after c; memorize weird, seize, either, height, foreign.
  • Double the final consonant only for one-syllable CVC words or a stressed last syllable.
  • Affect is usually the verb, effect the noun; than compares, then tells time.

✅ Check yourself

Question 1 of 3

Which word is spelled correctly?

  1. acheive
  2. neighbor
  3. beleive
  4. recieve
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B

"Neighbor" follows the rule that ei is used when the sound is "ay." The others break i before e: the correct spellings are receive (ei after c), believe and achieve (ie, no c before it).

Question 2 of 3

Which word correctly completes the sentence? "The cold weather did not ____ her plans for the hike."

  1. effect
  2. affect
  3. affects
  4. effects
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B

After "did not" the sentence needs a base-form verb meaning "to influence," which is affect. "Effect" and "effects" are usually nouns, and "affects" is the wrong verb form after "did not."

Question 3 of 3

Which shows the correct spelling when -ed is added to "carry"?

  1. carred
  2. carryed
  3. carried
  4. caried
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

When a word ends in a consonant plus y, the y changes to i before -ed, so carry becomes carried. "Carryed" keeps the y, and "carred" and "caried" drop letters from the base word.

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