Help with Spelling Problems for ESL Classes

Here are the most common spelling rules in English. For exceptions to the rules take a look at Common Spelling Problems.

Capital Letters

Use Capital (T, S, B, etc.) letters for the following types of words:

·                        Days, Months and Public Holidays

Monday, January, Christmas

·                         

·                        Proper names of People and Places

Jack, Maria, New York, Germany

·                        Titles for People

Ms, Dr, General

·                        Nationalities and Regions (both nouns and adjectives)

Dutch, Swedish, Basque

·                        Titles of Works of Art (content words only)

The Last Day of Summmer, American Journal of Medicine

When to Double Final Consonants

The final consonant of a word is often doubled when adding -ed, -ing, -er, -est in the following