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Spelling: IE/EI

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab


Rule

Write I before E
Except after C
Or when it sounds like an A
As in "neighbor" and "weigh"

 

i before e: relief, believe, niece, chief, sieve, frieze, field, yield

e before i: receive, deceive, ceiling, conceit, vein, sleigh, freight, eight

 

 

Exceptions

seize, either, weird, height, foreign, leisure, conscience, counterfeit, forfeit, leisure, neither, science, species, sufficient

 

We have four interactive exercises available for practicing these rules.

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This page is located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/spelie.html


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