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Practice Exercise Eight - ie/ei words
Choose the correct spelling of the word in parentheses.
1. Her little brother is very ____________________. (weird, wierd)
2. When you see a ____________________ sign, you should slow down. (yeild, yield)
3. I ____________________ in UFOs. (beleive, believe)
4. I didn't get a ____________________ for my lunch. (receipt, reciept)
5. The little girl was very ____________________. (mischeivous, mischievous)
6. Our ____________________ needs to be painted. (ceiling, cieling)
7. My new ____________________ is named Amber. (neice, niece)
8. Before you see the doctor, the nurse will check your ___________________. (height, hieght)
9. I asked my ____________________ to mow the lawn. (neighbor, nieghbor)
10.The lawyer's ____________________ fell off the table. (breifcase, briefcase)
What is it that makes a word tricky? Is it the fact that it’s funny and hard to pronounce, likediscombobulate? Or is it the fact that it has many meanings, like the verb to set? Irregular verbs are, by their nature, tricky little words and they have to be learned by heart. Compound words can be tricky as well. For an English language learner, a person who’s yet to discover all the rules and rhythms of the language, some of the trickiest words to learn are tricky simply because they are confusing.
Lie, Lay, Lain
To lie is as tricky as verbs can get. It’s an intransitive verb, so it cannot have a direct object, and it means “to recline.” Lie is tricky because its past tense, lay, looks the same as the transitive verb to lay. To lay has a similar meaning (“to put down”), but because it is a transitive verb, it requires an object. So, you can say:
Last night, I lay (past tense of to lie) in bed knowing the morning would come all too soon.
And you can say:
She lays (present tense of to lay) a dress on her bed.
But you can’t say:
As I lay here in bed, I think about how tomorrow will be a very long day.
Beside/Besides
Beside and besides are two commonly confused prepositions. Beside is used to determine a spatial relationship between two objects:
He sat beside the piano while she played.
Besides can be used as a preposition and as a linking adverb. If used as a preposition, it means “in addition to”:
She wants to learn how to play other instruments besides the piano.
If used as a linking adverb, besides means “also:”
It was too late to get back on the road, and, besides, we are feeling too tired.
Discrete and Discreet
Here’s a tricky pair of words for you. Discrete anddiscreet are homonyms, words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings.
Discrete means separate or distinct:
The space was divided into discrete areas for working, eating, exercising, and sleeping.
Discreet has a sneakier meaning, having to do with privacy and not attracting too much attention:
John gave Pete a discreet nudge under the table.
There, They’re, and Their
It wouldn’t be fair to speak about homonyms and not mention the most famous trio among the commonly confused and misspelled homonyms in the English language—there, they’re, and their.There is an adverb, they’re is a contraction of they are, and their is a pronoun. When used correctly, they look like this:
They’re going to their house—the one over there.
Whom
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” is probably the most recognizable usage of the pronoun whom. Given that it’s the title of a famous novel, and that it’s been used as a title for a well-known song, one would think that it would suffice to remind us when to use who and when to use whom. But it gets tricky for English language learners. Even those who speak English as their first language sometimes don’t get it right.
Who is a subject pronoun, and it is used in a sentence like this:
He who enters this website shall find all the secrets of English grammar.
Whom is an object pronoun, and it is used in a sentence like this:
The person to whom the correct usage of commas comes easily shall find happiness in life.
Everyone
Everyone is not a particularly tricky pronoun to use. When you want to say something about a whole group of people, you use it like this:
Everyone remembers where they were when humans first landed on the moon.
The tricky part comes when everyone is separated into every one because then it changes its meaning from “the whole group” to “every discrete member of the group.” It can seem a subtle difference, and that’s what makes it tricky. Here’s how every onelooks in a sentence:
Gifts were given to each and every one of the linguists who attended the convention.
Program and ProgrammeWriters are often unsure whether to useprogram or programme. Those following US writing conventions don't need to worry about this. They can use the word programfor everything. However, those following UK writing conventions are not so fortunate. They do need to make a distinction betweenprogram and programme. (This is because the English were influenced by the French word programme, but Americans weren't.)Use Program for Anything Relating to ComputersFor anything to do with a computer, useprogram. For example:It's a useful computer program. () ()(In this example, program is a noun.)Do you know how to program the computer? () ()(In this example, program is a verb.)Use Program If It's a VerbAs in the second example above, the wordprogram is the only one that can be used as a verb (i.e., programme is never used as a verb). For example:Do you know how to program the alarm? () ()(Usually, this will have something to do with computers.)Please program the team-building exercises before the lunch. () ()(Be aware that it's not always about computers.)A box of crayons and a big sheet of paper provide a more expressive medium for kids than computerized paint programs. (Clifford Stoll) () ()My virus checker keeps rejecting your programme. () ()If You're British, Use Programme to Mean Agenda, TV Show or Collection of ProjectsIn the UK, programme is used to denote an itinerary, a show (typically, on the TV or radio), or a collection of work projects. For example:It looks like an entertaining programme tonight. () ()Family Guy is one of my favourite programmes. () ()(Family Guy is one of my favorite programs. ())The person who leaked the secret programme is hiding in Hong Kong. () ()(Here, programme means a collecton of work projects.)I'm glad the President finally found an economic development program. I'm just sad that it's only in Baghdad. (John Kerry) () ()Programmed and ProgrammingIn UK and US English, you should useprogrammed for the past tense and past participle of the verb to program, and you should use programming for the present participle and gerund. However, in the US, you can also use programed and programing, which are acceptable alternatives.
AMERICANS, JUST USE PROGRAM
Americans do not need to worry about the word programme. Just useprogram. The noun programmecomes from the French, and only those following UK writing conventions need to make a distinction between program andprogramme.
Your scorecard:
Q1: True or False?
Program and programmeare interchangeable.A: TrueB: False
Its/it’s
We said earlier that apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”. Unsurprisingly, this exception gets lots of people confused.
The rules:
“It’s” is only ever used when short for “it is”.
“Its” indicates something belonging to something that isn’t masculine or feminine (like “his” and “hers”, but used when you’re not talking about a person).
If it helps, remember that inanimate objects can’t really possess something in the way a human can.
How not to do it:
Its snowing outside
The sofa looks great with it’s new cover
How to do it properly:
It’s snowing outside
The sofa looks great with its new cover
Most Common Mistakes in English.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Anybody have an idea how …?”, and wondered whether it should be “anybody has”? Although “anybody” is in the third person singular, and hence the correct verb form used with it must contain an “s” (as in “anybody who has read the book …”), “have” in the situation described above is the only “correct” option. Why?
What we are dealing with here is so-called conversational deletion. In colloquial English, it is possible to omit certain elements at the beginning of a sentence that are not essential to the overall meaning. For example, we can often read
Hope to hear from you soon!
instead of “I hope to hear from you soon!” in informal email correspondence. “Anybody have” falls into the same category. The deleted word in this case is “does”:
Does anybody have an idea how to get there?
This usage should be completely avoided in formal writing, but it is relatively widespread in spoken language. Trying to “correct” the sentence by using “has” results in something that doesn’t sound natural at all:
Does anybody have any questions? (correct)
Anybody have any questions? (colloquial, avoid in formal language)
Anybody has any questions? (unnatural)
Time for some exercises 🔝🔝🔝🔝
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Later we will put the rules for present and future continuous. The exercise was just for testing your knowledge.
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How to Use "ie"/"ei"
English spellings can often be tricky, especially because they’ve taken inspiration from so many different languages. Nearly every rule has an exception, and it can be hard to keep them all straight!
Learning the spelling rules for ‘ie’ and ‘ei’ correctly will help you overcome one of the most common spelling mistakes in English. There is even a rhyme created to help remember the spelling rules.
I before E, except after C, or when sounding like AY as in neighbor and weigh.
I before E… When the sound is e [/ē/], write ‘ie’
Examples: belief, believe, brief, chief, field, hygiene, niece, priest, relieved, thief, tier
… except after C. When the e sound comes after an S sound, use ‘cei’
Examples: ceiling, conceive, deceive, receipt, receive, conceited
Or when sounding like AY. When the main vowel sounds like AY, use ‘ei’
Examples: freight, neighbor, sleigh, weigh, weight, vein
Of course, as with most English spelling and grammar rules, there are exceptions! Here are some weird uses of ei and ie.
Examples: ancient, caffeine, friend, height, leisure, seize, species
So remember, “I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor or weigh.”
Start by refreshing your tenses
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Your/you’re
We covered this one before in our post on homophones, but it’s such a widespread problem that there’s no harm in covering it again.
The rules:
“Your” indicates possession – something belonging to you.
“You’re” is short for “you are”.
How not to do it:
Your beautiful
Do you know when your coming over?
Can I have one of you’re biscuits?
How to do it properly:
You’re beautiful
Do you know when you’re coming over?
Can I have one of your biscuits?
Misplaced apostrophes
Apostrophes aren’t difficult to use once you know how, but putting them in the wrong place is one of the most common grammar mistakes in the English language. Many people use an apostrophe to form the plural of a word, particularly if the word in question ends in a vowel, which might make the word look strange with an S added to make it plural.
The rules:
Apostrophes indicate possession – something belonging to something or someone else.
To indicate something belonging to one person, the apostrophe goes before the ‘s’. For instance, “The girl’s horse.”
To indicate something belonging to more than one person, put the apostrophe after the ‘s’. For example, “The girls’ horse.”
Apostrophes are also used to indicate a contracted word. For example, “don’t” uses an apostrophe to indicate that the word is missing the “o” from “do not”.
Apostrophes are never used to make a word plural, even when a word is in number form, as in a date.
How not to do it:
The horse’s are in the field
Pen’s for sale
In the 1980’s
Janes horse is over there
The girls dresses are ready for them to collect
How to do it properly:
The horses are in the field
Pens for sale
In the 1980s
We didn’t want to do it
Jane’s horse is over there
The girls’ dresses are ready for them to collect
⏳⏰ Don't waste your time, make it useful by reviewing and strengthening you English language.
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💅Fashionholic 👄 أناقة بلا حدود💅
تعرفي على اسرار الموضة وكيفية تنسيق الملابس.
دليلك سيدتي لعالم الجمال.
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🔝🔝🔝🔝we used in the previous exercise simple present/ simple future/ present cont./ future continuous
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