English Spelling: ‘i’ Before ‘e’
Whether to spell any given word with “ie” or “ei” can often stump native English speakers.In school many of us were taught the mnemonic device “I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh.” This is a fairly good rule, but it has a lot of exceptions.
| I before e (with a long e sound) | Exceptions |
|---|---|
| belief | sheik |
| thieves | either |
| piece | leisure |
| shield | seize |
| lien | protein |
| hurried | caffeine |
| Except after c | Exceptions |
|---|---|
| receive | sufficient |
| receipt | science |
| ceiling | deficient |
| deceive | species |
| conceit | science |
| Or when sounding like a |
|---|
| neighbor |
| weigh |
| vein |
| eight |
| veil |
| rein |
So much for the rule… here are some other exceptions.
| Long I sound | Other sounds |
|---|---|
| height | heifer |
| seismic | forfeit |
| heist | their |
| weird | |
| deity |
| Re + verb beginning with i | Verbs that end in e + ing |
|---|---|
| reintroduce | being |
| reinforce | seeing |
| reinvigorate | agreeing |
| fleeing |
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