The Surfeit of Weird Exceptions to the I-Before-E Rule

The Surfeit of Weird Exceptions to the I-Before-E Rule The Surfeit of Weird Exceptions to the I-Before-E Rule The Surfeit of Weird Exceptions to the I-Before-E Rule By Mark Nichol In the chaos of spelling of the English language, some rules provide comfort until you realize that the number of exceptions renders a rule nearly useless as a memory aid. Such is the case with the rule that in vowel pairs, i comes before e except when the pairing follows c. The pairing ie is the default setting: Believe, die, and friend are just a few of the many words that follow the rule. However, exceptions are numerous, as exemplified in the sentence â€Å"Seize their eight feisty neighbors being weird.† And although the order after c is often ei (ceiling, deceit, receive), the order is often inverted (science, species, sufficient). To be more useful, the rule should continue, â€Å"or when pronounced like a long a, as in weigh or like a long e.† The rule that i comes before e except after c is contradicted by the fact that more than twenty times as many words have the letter sequence cie as the sequence cei, so that’s not a very useful rule. Also, the sequence ei often does not follow c. This is true in many categories of words, including the following ten groups: proper names, such as Keith chemical names like caffeine words in which ei is pronounced like a long e, such as leisure (many exceptions, such as piece) words in which ei is pronounced like a schwa (a weak â€Å"uh†), such as forfeit words in which ei is pronounced like a long a, such as weigh (this sound is never spelled ie, except in the American English pronunciation of lingerie) words in which ei is pronounced like a long i, such as height (exceptions include die) rare cases of ei pronounced, for example, like a short a, such as heifer words in which the vowel-and-consonant sound rhyming with ear is pronounced, such as weird (exceptions include pierce) words in which the vowel-and-consonant sound rhyming with heir is pronounced, such as their (this sound is never spelled ier) words in which e and i are each part of a separate syllable (albeit, being, reignite) Ultimately, it may be wise to forget that such a rule exists and always check spelling of words that may have an ie or an ei combination. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:60 Synonyms for â€Å"Walk†Telling a Good Poem from a Bad OneMood vs. Tense