How to Spell English Sounds
You know how to say the word. Now how do you write it? This guide is organized by sound: find the sound you want to spell, and it shows the letter patterns that can spell it and when to use each one.
English often has several ways to spell the same sound. The choice isn't random. It follows patterns based on where the sound falls in the word and which letters surround it, and this guide covers those patterns.
For the other direction (you see a word and want to pronounce it), see How to Read English.
The patterns here draw on Ingglish's grapheme-to-phoneme (G2P) engine, the part of Ingglish that turns spellings into sounds. It uses ~960 letter-to-sound rules that each depend on the surrounding letters, based on the NRL/Elovitz system (1976). Word counts come from 126,000 words in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary.
Sounds are written between slashes in the International Phonetic Alphabet, so /Κ/ is the "sh" sound. Every sound comes with example words, so you don't need to know the symbols.
Short Vowels
Short vowels are the easiest to spell: each has one main spelling, plus at most a few less common ones.
Short A (as in cat)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| a | Almost always | cat, hand, map, black, fast, back, plan, class, happy, matter |
This is the easiest vowel to spell. The only real difficulty is telling it apart from the other sounds a can make (long a, or the weak "uh" sound called schwa).
Short E (as in bed)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| e | Almost always | bed, red, get, set, left, best, help, next, step, well, check |
| ea | Some common words | head, bread, dead, health, weather, heavy, ready, spread, thread, breath |
When to use ea: No reliable rule; the words that spell short e with ea have to be memorized one by one. They tend to cluster before d (head, bread, dead, read as past tense, thread, spread) and before th (health, wealth, breath, death, weather, leather, feather).
Short I (as in sit)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| i | Almost always | sit, big, hit, fish, did, win, gift, miss, still, fill, list, trip |
| y | In some positions | gym, myth, system, symbol, mystery, crystal, rhythm, symptom, typical |
When to use y: Mainly in words from Greek, especially those built on common roots like gym-, syn-, sym-, sys-, crypt-, myst-, phys-, myth-, rhythm.
Short O (as in hot)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| o | Almost always | hot, dog, not, stop, top, lot, drop, box, rock, clock, job |
| a | After w, qu | want, was, wash, watch, what, quality, quantity, squad, swat, swan |
When to use a: After w and qu, the letter a often sounds like short o. Rounding the lips for /w/ shifts the vowel that follows.
Short U (as in cup)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| u | Most of the time | but, cut, run, bus, cup, sun, fun, jump, just, luck, much, must |
| o | In common words | come, some, done, love, money, month, mother, brother, other, son, won, none, nothing, monkey, front, color, comfort, company, cover, dozen, oven, above |
| ou | In some words | touch, young, country, trouble, double, enough, rough, tough, cousin, southern, courage |
When to use o: Many of the most common English words spell this sound with o. Most are Old English words whose spelling was changed by Norman scribes, who wrote o instead of u next to letters like m, n, v, and w, because those letters were easy to confuse with u in handwriting. There's no rule to predict them, so they must be memorized, but they cluster in endings like -ove, -ome, -one, -other, -onth, -oney, and -over.
Long Vowels
Long vowels are where English spelling gets interesting. Each long vowel sound has several possible spellings, and the right one depends on where the sound falls in the word.
A few terms used below: an open syllable ends in its vowel (the ba in baby); a_e means a, then a consonant, then a silent e (as in cake); i_e, o_e, u_e, and e_e work the same way.
Long A (as in cake)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| a_e | Middle of one-syllable words | make, cake, late, name, place, safe, wave, state, face, grade, game, take |
| ai | Middle of a word | rain, wait, paint, main, train, brain, chain, plain, claim, explain |
| ay | End of a word or syllable | day, play, say, away, way, stay, may, pay, today, always, birthday, essay |
| a | Open syllable (longer words) | baby, table, able, paper, later, nation, major, label, basic, station |
| eigh | Before t or silent gh | eight, weight, neighbor, freight, sleigh, weigh |
| ey | End of a word (uncommon) | they, grey, hey, prey, survey, obey, convey, whey |
| ea | Rare | steak, break, great |
How to choose:
- End of a word? Use ay: play, day, say, stay
- One-syllable word, sound in the middle? Use a_e (cake, make) or ai (rain, wait). No rule decides between them: main and mane, pain and pane sound the same, so memorize which one a word uses.
- Longer word, open syllable? Just a: baby, table, paper
Long E (as in see)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ee | Reliable default | see, free, tree, green, sleep, deep, keep, feet, meet, need, speed, week, feel |
| ea | Very common | eat, read, speak, clean, team, sea, meat, dream, heat, leave, please, reach |
| e | Open syllable | be, me, he, she, we, equal, legal, recent, evil, even, meter, secret |
| ie | After consonants (mid-word) | field, piece, believe, achieve, grief, chief, relief, shield, brief, thief |
| ei | After c | receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive, perceive, receipt |
| ey | End of longer words | money, honey, key, journey, valley, turkey, monkey, hockey, kidney, donkey |
| e_e | Rare | these, complete, extreme, concrete, athlete |
| y | End of longer words | happy, city, very, family, early, body, heavy, study, every, country, party |
How to choose:
- End of a short word? ee (see, free, tree, bee) or e (be, me, he, she, we)
- End of a longer word? y (happy, city, family) or ey (money, honey, turkey)
- Middle of a word? ee and ea are both very common, and often you just have to memorize which one a word uses. If unsure, ee is the safer guess.
- After c? Use ei: receive, ceiling
- After another consonant, and before ld, f, ve, or ce? Try ie: field, belief, achieve, piece
Long I (as in time)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| i_e | Middle of one-syllable words | time, like, five, life, line, write, drive, while, side, wide, smile, white |
| igh | Before t or at the end of a word | light, night, right, high, sight, fight, might, bright, flight, tight, sigh |
| y | End of a word | my, by, try, fly, cry, dry, sky, why, apply, supply, reply, deny, rely, July |
| i | Open syllable (longer words) | idea, item, iron, island, final, pilot, tiny, climate, silent, private |
| ie | End of one-syllable words | die, tie, pie, lie, vie |
| ye | End of a word (rare) | bye, dye, eye, rye |
| eigh | Rare | height, sleight |
| ei | Rare | feisty, seismic, either, neither (the last two in some dialects) |
How to choose:
- End of a word? Use y (my, try, fly) or ie (die, tie, pie)
- Before t? Use igh: light, night, right, sight, fight, might, tight, flight, bright
- One-syllable word, sound in the middle? Use i_e: time, like, five, life, drive
- Longer word, open syllable? Just i: final, pilot, tiny
Long O (as in home)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| o_e | Middle of one-syllable words | home, note, hope, close, those, alone, phone, stone, bone, nose, rose, joke |
| oa | Middle of a word | boat, coat, road, goal, toast, load, foam, soap, roast, coach, groan, oak |
| ow | End of a word or syllable | low, show, know, grow, own, snow, slow, blow, follow, window, borrow, yellow |
| o | Open syllable or end of a word | go, no, so, open, over, only, total, local, moment, notice, ocean, most, both |
| oe | End of a word (rare) | toe, foe, hoe, doe, woe, Joe, aloe |
| ough | Rare | though, although, dough |
How to choose:
- End of a word? Use ow (show, know, grow) or o (go, no, so)
- One-syllable word, sound in the middle? Use o_e (home, note, hope) or oa (boat, coat, road). Use o_e before a single final consonant; oa also works when another consonant or a vowel follows.
- Longer word, open syllable? Just o: open, over, moment
Long U (as in use)
Long u comes in two versions: /juΛ/, with a "y" sound in front ("yoo", as in use), and /uΛ/ without it ("oo", as in rule).
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| u_e | Middle of a word | use, cute, huge, pure, tube, abuse, excuse, refuse, fume, mute, fuse |
| u | Open syllable | unit, union, universe, unique, usual, music, human, student, future, humor |
| ew | End of a word | new, few, dew, hew, stew, brew, drew, chew, flew, grew, crew, blew |
| ue | End of a word | blue, true, due, clue, glue, argue, continue, issue, value, statue, rescue |
| oo | Common (no "y" sound) | moon, food, school, room, cool, pool, tool, choose, proof, tooth, roof, goose |
After r, l, ch, j, and s, the "y" sound drops out: rule, June, chew, juice, super say /uΛ/, not /juΛ/.
How to choose:
- After r, l, j, ch, or s, where you only need /uΛ/? oo (moon, room, school), ue (blue, true, rule), or ew (drew, brew, chew)
- Need /juΛ/? u_e (use, cute, fume), ew (new, few), or u in an open syllable (music, human, unit)
The "OO" Sounds
OO as in moon (tense /uΛ/)
| Spelling | Examples |
|---|---|
| oo | moon, food, school, room, cool, pool, tool, soon, proof, tooth, roof, spoon |
| ue | blue, true, clue, glue, due, sue, pursue, continue, avenue |
| ew | blew, drew, chew, brew, flew, grew, crew, jewel, stew, screw, threw |
| u_e | rule, June, rude, crude, prune, flute, include, assume, costume |
| ou | soup, group, you, through, wound (the injury), route, routine, youth |
| o | do, to, who, move, prove, lose, tomb, womb |
| oe | shoe, canoe |
OO as in book (lax /Κ/)
| Spelling | Examples |
|---|---|
| oo | book, look, cook, took, good, wood, stood, foot, hook, brook, wool, shook |
| u | put, push, pull, full, bull, bush, sugar, pudding, butcher, cushion |
| ou | could, would, should |
Pattern: Before k, use oo (book, look, cook, took, hook, shook, brook). The u spelling clusters after p, b, and f: put, push, pull, full, bull, bush.
Diphthongs
A diphthong is a vowel that glides from one sound to another within a single syllable, like the "ow" in now.
OW sound (as in now)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ou | Middle of a word | out, house, about, around, found, sound, ground, count, mouth, cloud, mountain |
| ow | End of a word, or before n, l, er | now, how, cow, town, down, brown, crowd, power, flower, tower, allow, eyebrow |
How to choose:
- End of a word or syllable? Use ow: now, how, cow, allow, eyebrow, powder, tower
- Before n? Use ow: town, down, brown, gown, crown, drown, frown, clown
- Anywhere else in the middle of a word? Use ou: house, about, found, sound, count, mountain
OY sound (as in boy)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| oi | Middle of a word | oil, join, point, voice, choice, noise, coin, avoid, moisture, poison, soil |
| oy | End of a word, or before a vowel | boy, joy, toy, enjoy, destroy, employ, annoy, royal, loyal, voyage |
A simple rule: oi before a consonant, oy at the end of a word or before a vowel. The exceptions are rare: oyster, boycott.
AW sound (as in law)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| au | Middle of a word | cause, August, author, fault, launch, sauce, audience, autumn, haunt, vault |
| aw | End of a word or syllable | draw, law, saw, awful, raw, crawl, dawn, lawn, jaw, yawn, straw, shawl, hawk |
| ough | Before t | bought, thought, ought, brought, fought, sought |
| augh | Before t | caught, taught, daughter, naughty, slaughter |
| al | Before k, l | walk, talk, all, ball, call, fall, small, tall, wall, always, also, salt, halt |
How to choose:
- End of a word? Use aw: law, draw, saw, raw, jaw, claw, straw
- Before a final t? ought or aught for common words (bought, caught, thought, taught); otherwise au (fault, vault, haunt, astronaut)
- Before k or l? Use al: walk, talk, all, ball, call, fall
- Anywhere else in the middle of a word? Use au: cause, author, audience, launch
R-Colored Vowels
An r-colored vowel is a vowel whose sound changes because an r follows it, as in her, car, and for.
ER sound (as in her)
Three main spellings share one sound, which makes this one of the trickiest choices in English.
| Spelling | Frequency | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| er | Most common (21,052 words) | her, water, teacher, under, never, after, over, number, better, mother |
| ur | Second (3,815 words) | burn, turn, nurse, church, hurt, return, purpose, further, surface, Saturday |
| ir | Third (2,241 words) | bird, first, girl, third, sir, firm, birth, dirt, stir, shirt, circle, thirty |
| ear | Rare for this sound | learn, earth, search, early, earn, heard, pearl, rehearse |
| or | After w | work, word, world, worm, worse, worth, worship, worry |
Guidelines (imperfect but helpful):
- er is the default. When in doubt, guess er.
- ur often follows b, ch, n, p, or t: burn, church, nurse, purse, turn
- ir often appears in common short words: bird, girl, first, third, sir, stir, dirt
- After w, use or: work, word, world, worm, worse, worth
- Before n, all three are possible: ear (learn, earn), ur (burn, turn), or er (fern).
AR sound (as in car)
| Spelling | Examples |
|---|---|
| ar | car, star, garden, market, part, start, hard, large, park, farm, dark, smart, bar |
| ear | heart, hearth |
Almost always ar. The only ear words with this sound are heart and hearth.
OR sound (as in for)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| or | Default | for, born, sport, morning, short, north, form, force, sort, horse, order |
| ore | End of a word | more, store, before, explore, ignore, restore, shore, core, score, bore |
| oar | Less common | board, roar, soar, hoard, coarse |
| our | In some words | four, pour, course, court, source, mourn, your |
| oor | Rare | door, floor, poor |
| ar | After w | war, warm, ward, warn, award, reward, toward, swarm, quarter, warp |
How to choose:
- End of a word, with a silent e? Use ore: more, store, before, core, score
- After w? Use ar: war, warm, ward, warn, reward
- Otherwise? Use or: born, sport, morning, form, horse, corn
Consonant Spelling Choices
A "soft" c or g says /s/ or /dΚ/ (as in city and gem); a "hard" c or g says /k/ or /g/ (as in cat and go).
The K Sound
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| k | Before e, i, y; after long vowels | keep, kind, key, make, like, take, bake, broke, smoke, sky |
| c | Before a, o, u, or a consonant | cat, come, cup, class, cold, car, call, close, claim, cloud, create |
| ck | After short vowels | back, black, kick, clock, neck, rock, duck, truck, stick, pocket, check |
| ch | Words from Greek | school, chrome, character, stomach, ache, chaos, anchor, echo, orchestra |
| que | End of a word (from French) | unique, technique, antique, boutique, critique, physique, mystique |
How to choose:
- Right after a short vowel, at the end of a syllable? Use ck: back, kick, duck, neck, rock
- Before e, i, or y? Use k: keep, kind, key, skill, skeleton
- Before a, o, u, or a consonant? Use c: cat, come, cup, class, crisp
- At the end of a word from French? Use que: unique, technique
The S Sound
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| s | Default | sit, stop, sun, best, last, most, yes, this, gas, bus |
| ss | After short vowels (doubling) | class, less, miss, cross, dress, loss, press, mass, pass, boss, mess |
| c | Before e, i, y (soft c) | city, center, cycle, face, ice, place, peace, science, circle, ceiling |
| sc | Before e, i (from Latin) | science, scene, scent, scissors, muscle, fascinate, descend, discipline |
| ce | End of a word | place, face, race, space, voice, choice, dance, chance, prince, since, once |
| se | End of a word (less common) | house, mouse, goose, moose, pulse, rinse, tense, dense, immense, sense |
The Z Sound
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| z | Start of a word | zero, zone, zoo, zip, zoom, zeal |
| zz | After short vowels | jazz, buzz, fizz, fuzzy, puzzle, pizza, dizzy, drizzle, blizzard, muzzle |
| s | Between vowels; end of a word | music, reason, please, choose, use, his, is, was, has, these, those, because |
| se | End of many words | choose, raise, praise, cause, pause, close (verb), noise, phrase, ease |
| ze | End of a word | freeze, breeze, sneeze, squeeze, organize, recognize, realize, analyze |
The s/z confusion: At the end of a word and between vowels, s very often spells /z/. Words ending in -se after a vowel often say /z/: choose, raise, close (verb), nose, rose. But many say /s/ (house, mouse, goose, loose), and no rule separates the two groups. After a consonant, -se is usually /s/: pulse, rinse, tense, sense. Some words switch between noun and verb: the noun house has /s/, the verb has /z/.
The J Sound (/dΚ/)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| j | Start of a word | just, jump, join, job, judge, joy, journey, jam, jet, jeans |
| g | Before e, i, y (soft g) | gem, giant, gym, page, large, age, change, general, magic, engine, huge |
| ge | End of a word | page, large, age, change, stage, village, bridge, edge, judge, knowledge |
| dge | After short vowels | bridge, edge, judge, badge, ledger, ridge, fridge, wedge, hedge, lodge |
How to choose:
- Start of a word? Use j: jump, just, join, job, joy
- End of a word, after a short vowel? Use dge: bridge, edge, badge, ridge, fudge
- End of a word, after a long vowel or a consonant? Use ge: page, huge, change, large, range
- Middle of a word, before e or i? Use g: magic, engine, imagine, region, giant
The F Sound
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| f | Default | fish, five, fast, from, first, after, often, before, off, if |
| ff | After short vowels | off, staff, cliff, stiff, stuff, offer, effect, different, office, coffee |
| ph | Words from Greek | phone, photo, physical, philosophy, pharmacy, graph, triumph, elephant |
| gh | End of some words | enough, rough, tough, laugh, cough |
The SH Sound (/Κ/)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| sh | Default | she, ship, fish, push, fashion, wash, shop, show, share, shine, shy |
| ti | Before -on, -al, -ous (Latin suffix) | nation, action, patient, partial, ambitious, initial, essential |
| ci | Before -al, -ous, -an (Latin suffix) | special, social, official, ancient, delicious, musician, facial |
| ssi | Before -on (Latin suffix) | mission, passion, session, permission, admission, impression |
| ch | Words from French | machine, chef, champagne, charade, brochure, chauffeur, mustache |
| s/ss | Before u (in some words) | sure, sugar, issue, tissue, pressure, insurance |
How to choose:
- Start of a word? Always sh: she, ship, shop, show
- End of a word? Always sh: fish, push, wash, wish, rush, crash
- Part of a Latin suffix (-tion, -cial, -tial, and so on)? Use the suffix's spelling: ti, ci, or ssi
- A word you recognize as French? Use ch: machine, chef, champagne
- Anywhere else? sh
The CH Sound (/tΚ/)
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ch | Default | child, much, church, teacher, chance, change, chapter, each, rich, such |
| tch | After short vowels | match, catch, watch, kitchen, stretch, witch, sketch, patch, ditch, stitch |
| t | Before -ure, -ual (Latin suffix) | nature, culture, future, picture, mixture, actual, virtual, mutual |
How to choose:
- After a short vowel? Use tch: match, catch, watch, kitchen, ditch, stitch, hatch
- After a long vowel or a consonant, or at the start of a word? Use ch: teach, reach, church, child, lunch, bench
The N Sound
| Spelling | Where it's used | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| n | Default | run, can, man, fun, ten, in, on, sun, pen, win, begin, thin, plan |
| nn | After short vowels (doubling) | dinner, connect, announce, innocent, beginning, funny, channel, manner |
| kn | Start of a word (k silent) | know, knee, knife, knock, knight, knot, knit, kneel, knowledge, knuckle |
| gn | Start of a word (g silent) | gnat, gnaw, gnome, gnarl, gnu |
| mn | End of a word (from Latin/Greek) | autumn, column, condemn, hymn, solemn, damn |
When to Double a Consonant
This is one of the most common spelling questions, and the rules are quite consistent.
Double the consonant when:
- Adding a suffix to a one-syllable word with a short vowel: run β running, sit β sitting, hop β hopping, big β bigger, hot β hottest, stop β stopped
- Adding a suffix to a longer word stressed on its last syllable (the stressed syllable is the one said loudest: in begin, it's gin): begin β beginning, occur β occurred, refer β referring, admit β admitting, prefer β preferred
- The word already has a doubled consonant: bell, miss, add, buzz, fall, less
Don't double when:
- The vowel is long: hope β hoping (not hopping), dine β dining (not dinning)
- The word ends in two consonants: jump β jumping, fast β faster, help β helping
- The last syllable is NOT stressed: open β opening, happen β happened, visit β visiting, listen β listening
- The word ends in w, x, or y: play β playing, box β boxing, show β showing
Tricky Sound-Spelling Pairs
When to Use -TION vs -SION
Both endings say "shun", but:
| Spelling | When to use it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -tion | Default (most words) | nation, action, education, information, question, attention, collection |
| -sion | After l, n, r | expansion, tension, dimension, pension, version, conversion, excursion |
| -sion | When the root ends in -de, -d, or -se | decide β decision, explode β explosion, conclude β conclusion, revise β revision |
| -ssion | When the root ends in -ss or -mit | discuss β discussion, express β expression, permit β permission, admit β admission |
Quick test: If the root word ends in -de or -d, use -sion (decide β decision). If it ends in -ss or -mit, use -ssion (permit β permission). If it ends in any other -te or -t, use -tion (educate β education). When in doubt, -tion is far more common.
-ANCE vs -ENCE
Both sound the same. The choice depends on the root:
| Spelling | Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ance | Often pairs with -ant | importance/important, distance/distant, performance, appearance, insurance |
| -ence | Often pairs with -ent | difference/different, experience, confidence/confident, evidence, patience/patient |
Tip: If the adjective ends in -ant, the noun ends in -ance. If the adjective ends in -ent, the noun ends in -ence.
-ABLE vs -IBLE
Both sound the same (/ΙbΙl/, "uh-bul"):
| Spelling | When to use it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -able | Added to whole English words | comfortable, reasonable, enjoyable, readable, breakable, washable |
| -ible | Added to Latin stems (not words on their own) | possible, terrible, visible, horrible, incredible, responsible, flexible |
Quick test: Remove the suffix. If what's left is an English word, use -able (enjoy β enjoyable). If not, use -ible (poss- is not a word, so possible).
IE vs EI
The old rhyme: "I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh."
It works fairly well:
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| ie (default for /iΛ/) | believe, field, piece, achieve, relief, chief, brief, grief, shield, thief |
| ei (after c) | receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive, perceive, receipt |
| ei (for /eΙͺ/ sound) | eight, weight, neighbor, vein, rein, reign, freight, beige, veil, sleigh |
Common exceptions to memorize: weird, seize, either, neither, protein, caffeine, their, leisure, foreign, sovereign
Silent Letters: When Not to Write What You Hear
In several letter combinations, one letter is silent. These follow patterns too:
| You hear | But you write | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| /n/ | kn | Start of a word | know, knee, knife, knock, knight, knot, knit, kneel |
| /r/ | wr | Start of a word | write, wrong, wrap, wrist, wreck, wrestle, wrinkle |
| /n/ | gn | Start of a word | gnat, gnaw, gnome, gnarl, gnu |
| /m/ | mb | End of a word | climb, lamb, bomb, thumb, comb, dumb, limb, numb, tomb |
| /m/ | mn | End of a word | autumn, column, condemn, hymn, solemn, damn |
| /t/ | bt | In a few words | doubt, debt, subtle |
| /s/ | ps | Start of a word (from Greek) | psychology, psalm, pseudo, psyche, psychiatry |
| /n/ | pn | Start of a word (from Greek) | pneumonia, pneumatic |
Summary: The Most Common Spelling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
| Problem | Why it's confusing | How to remember |
|---|---|---|
| ee vs ea for /iΛ/ | Both very common | No great rule; ee is safer when unsure |
| er vs ir vs ur | All sound the same | er is most common; ir in short common words; ur after b, ch, n, p, t |
| -tion vs -sion | Both say "shun" | -tion is the default; -sion when the root ends in -de/-d |
| -ance vs -ence | Both sound the same | Match the adjective: -antβ-ance, -entβ-ence |
| -able vs -ible | Both sound the same | Whole English word + -able; Latin stem + -ible |
| o vs u for /Κ/ | come, love, some use o | Memorize the common o words; they cluster near m, n, v |
| c vs k for /k/ | When to use which? | c before a/o/u; k before e/i/y; ck after short vowels |
| Single vs double consonant | hopping vs hoping | Double after short vowels when adding suffixes |
| ie vs ei | Which order? | I before E except after C (with exceptions) |
For a writing system with none of these ambiguities, where every sound has exactly one spelling, see Ingglish.