• 2-minute read
• 4th September 2017

Spelling Tips: ‘I’ Before ‘E’ Except After ‘C’

One of the first spelling ‘rules’ we learn at school in the UK is a rhyme: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. This can help with some words that contain ‘-ie-’ or ‘-ei-’, such as ‘believe’ or ‘conceive’.

In practice, though, this is quite a loose a rule as there are many exceptions. To help you avoid errors in your work, then, we’ve prepared this quick guide.

The ‘I’ Before ‘E’ Rule

The ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ rule is meant to help us get the letters ‘e’ and ‘i’ in the right order when they occur together (particularly in words that contain a long ‘ee’ sound).

For instance, as above, ‘believe’ is spelled with an ‘-ie-’, while ‘conceive’ is spelled with an ‘-ei-’ because the letters follow a ‘c’. Other examples include:

As this shows, with some words, the ‘i’ before ‘e’ rule is a handy spelling guideline.

Here Comes the ‘But’…

But while the ‘i’ before ‘e’ rule works sometimes, many words don’t follow this pattern. This includes words that contain ‘-ie-’ or ‘-ei-’, but which aren’t pronounced with an ‘ee’ sound:

Some words that feature a vowel suffix, such as ‘fanciest’ or ‘agreeing’, are also exceptions to the rule. In these cases, the ‘i’ and ‘e’ belong to separate syllables.

There are even words that have a long ‘ee’ sound, but which don’t fit the ‘i’ before ‘e’ rule. Common examples include ‘caffeine’, ‘seize’, ‘weird’ and ‘species’.

And to top it all off, there are words that do follow the ‘i’ before ‘e’ spelling pattern despite not containing an ‘ee’ sound, such as ‘friend’, ‘die’ or ‘ceilidh’.

How Useful Is the Rule?

Some people say that we shouldn’t use the ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ because there are so many exceptions. However, it’s still a good guideline for spelling some common words.

The key thing is remembering that it doesn’t always apply. As such, you should check a dictionary (or ask a proofreader!) if you’re unsure how to spell a word.