Bravehearts
'ie' and 'ei', and silent letters
Learn when to write ie or ei, and about silent letters.
Two spelling puzzles from the comic.
1. ie or ei? Look at: seize, sovereign, their, soldiers. You can't hear which is which!
The old tip: "i before e, except after c".
- ie: believe, thief, achieve, friend, shield
- after c, it flips to ei: receive, deceive, perceive, ceiling
Useful, but not a law! Seize, weight, sovereign, their have ei with no c; protein and society break it too. So use the tip as a first guess, then check.
2. Silent letters. "Bangadi too may have to face their wrath." Is the w pronounced? No: it sounds like 'roth'.
Many English words have letters that are written but not said: silent letters. They're usually left over from long ago, when they were pronounced.
The book's examples: campaign (silent g), knowledge (k), pneumonia (p), honour (h), calm (l).
They come in families:
| Silent letter | Examples |
|---|---|
| k before n | knee, knife, know, knock |
| w before r | write, wrong, wrap, wrestle, wrath |
| b after m | comb, thumb, lamb, climb |
| gh | night, thought, bought, though |
| t | listen, castle, whistle |
| h | hour, honest, ghost, rhyme |
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