Page 44 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

■ too: That’s too much syrup! We were too tired to go to the after-party.
Are you coming with us, too?

■ two: There are two sides to every coin.

■ you’re: You’re the kind of person we want to hire. Whether you’re rich

or poor, you still need to eat.
■ your: Your responsibility is to make sure the dog does not escape.
Where is your house? I noticed your swimming has improved.

4.3 Common Spelling Rules

Even though English spelling is inconsistent, we don’t have to throw our hands
in the air and say, “It’s too hard! It can’t be learned!” In fact, a few general rules

apply to enough situations that they may be worth learning.

4.3.1 I BEFORE E

You may have heard the spelling guideline, “I before E except after C.”
However, many words don’t follow this rule: weird, their, height, and so on. In

fact, a careful analysis of English shows that “I before E” is only barely better
advice than no rule at all: there are just too many exceptions.

■ You can improve upon the rule a little bit with this: I before E except

after C, Or when sounded as “a”
As in neighbor or weigh.

But a lot of IE/EI words don’t conform to that rhyme, either. (Case in point:

either.) There are even more versions of the rhyme, each trying to include a

different group of exceptions, but not one covers the whole problem.
My advice is: Don’t use any “I before E” rhyme. Instead, memorize those IE

or EI words that give you the most trouble.

4.3.2 ADDING A SUFFIX AND DROPPING THE E