MECHANICS ORTHOGRAPHY

INVOLVES SPELLING, FOCUSES ON THE

SPACING, THE USE OF STUDY OF THE
PUNCTUATION MARKS, WRITING SYSTEM OF
THE USE OF NUMBERS AS A LANGUAGE
WORDS AND FIGURES,
INDENTION OR
INDENTATION,
CAPITALIZATION AND
ABBREVIATION
SPELLING
 i before e, except after c

achieve, believe, bier, brief, chief,

fiend, friend, grief, grieve, hygiene,
patience, pierce, priest, thief

ceiling, conceive, conceit, deceive,

deceit, perceive, receipt, receive
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words that make the a sound
beige, freight, neighbor, sleigh, vein, weight, and
weigh
Exceptions that do not have a pattern
either, feint, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure,
neither, seize, weird

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 Change y to i when
adding an ending

supply supplies supplied supplying

worry worries worried worrying
merry merrier

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 When ing is added, keep y.
cry crying cries cried
study studying studies studied

When a vowel comes before the y , keep y

obey obeyed obeying obeys obeyer
say said saying says sayer
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 Add -s or es to
make words plural.

shoe + s =shoes
porch + es = porches
box + es =boxes
bush + es = bushes
blitz + es = blitzes

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Words with a consonant ending plus -y,
change the -y to -i and add -es.
company y + i + es = companies

Words with a vowel ending plus y, keep

y and add -s
toy + s = toys
For proper nouns, keep y and add -s.
Kennedy + s = Kennedys

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The plain truth is they just need to
be memorized.
child = children
foot = feet
goose = geese
louse = lice
man = men
mouse = mice
ox = oxen
tooth = teeth
woman = women

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Words that end in -ss, -sh, -ch or -x add -es.
switch = switches
Most nouns ending in f or fe add s.
Some change the f to v and add s or es.
belief = beliefs half = halves
Most nouns ending in o add s.
Some add -es.
studio = studios cargo = cargoes
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 Drop silent e if the ending
begins with a vowel.
advance + -ing = advancing
surprise + -ing = surprising

Keep silent e if the ending begins with a consonant

advance + ment = advancement
like + ness = likeness

If a vowel comes before silent e DROP silent e

argue + -ment = argument
true + -ly = truly
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 Doubling final consonant when
adding ed, -ing, or a suffix
1.Single final consonant
2.And follows a single vowel
3.And the suffix begins with a vowel
4.One syllable or is stressed on the last syllable: In the
examples the trol syllable in control is stressed, while
the en of enter is stressed.

Control controlling controlled controllable

enter entering entered

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 ADMIT + -ed = ADMITTED
1. ADMIT ends with a consonant
2. Follows a vowel
3. Accented on the last syllable
4. Therefore double the t before adding an -ing or ed
1. admitting
2. admitted

FLAP + -ed = FLAPPED

The word FLAP is a one syllable word

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When there are two syllables with the stress on the
first syllable, do not double the consonant before.

COUNSEL + -ing = COUNSELING

When there are two vowels together before the
consonant, do not double the consonant.

DESPAIR + -ed = DESPAIRED

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 Words that end in -c

Change the -c to -ck

panic panicking
picnic picnicking

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With some verbs ending in -l, -m, and p
you can either double the consonant or
not.

travel traveling or travelling

program programing or programming
worship worshiping or worshipping

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Some words have silent letter combinations. You
must memorize these patterns.

gn, pn, kn= n

gnome pneumonia knife
rh, wr = r
rhyme wrestle
pt, ght = t
ptomaine height
ps, sc = s
psalm science
wh = h
whole
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"When two vowels go walking, the first
one does the talking?"
team
coat
wait
NOTE: There are plenty of Exceptions!!

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Adding a prefix seldom changes the
spelling of a word.
misspelled
unnecessary
dissatisfied
disinterested
misinform
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SPACING
TEXT REPORTS ARE
DOUBLE-SPACED.
SINGLE-SPACE WITHIN
FOOTNOTE AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRIES
DOUBLE-SPACE BETWEEN
FOOTNOTES AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRIES
SINGLE-SPACE THE
PARAGRAPHS IN THE BODY OF
A LONG LETTER AND DOUBLE-
SPACE THE PARAGRAPHS IN
THE BODY OF A SHORT LETTER
DOUBLE-SPACE BETWEEN LETTER
ELEMENTS EXCEPT:
A. BETWEEN THE HEADING AND THE
INSIDE ADDRESS
B. BETWEEN THE COMPLIMENTARY
CLOSE AND SIGNATURE
QUADRUPLE-SPACE OR
QUINTUPLE-SPACE BETWEEN THE
HEADING AND THE INSIDE
ADDRESS AND BETWEEN THE
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE AND THE
TYPED SIGNATURE.
SINGLE-SPACE BETWEEN THE
LINES IN A STANZA AND DOUBLE-
SPACE BETWEEN STANZAS IN A
POEM.
SINGLE-SPACE BETWEEN
LINES IN A PARAGRAPH AND
DOUBLE- SPACE BETWEEN
PARAGRAPHS IN A
COMPOSITION.
DOUBLE-SPACE BETWEEN
THE SIDE HEADING AND THE
TEXT.
TRIPLE-SPACE BETWEEN THE
CENTER OR MAIN HEADING
AND THE TEXT.