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The Complete I Before E Rule -
With Explanations
Each part of the rule.
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Explanations
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Use
i before e
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Use
ie as in thief, believe, priest, etc.
Grief, thief, relief, chief, mischief,
priest,, grieve,
thieve, relieve,
achieve, sieve, niece, piece, apiece, centrepiece,
siege, besiege, pier, bier, tier, frieze, field,
battlefield, yield, shield, shriek, friend,
fiend, view, review, preview,
patient, impatient,
patience,
fielder, wield.
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Except
after c
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Use cei as in receive, deceive, ceiling, etc.
Receipt, receiver, deceit, deceive, deceitful, ceiling, conceivable,
inconceivable, receipts,
conceited conceivably.
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Or
when sounded as "EYE" as in Einstein
or
"AY"as in weigh.
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Use
ei in "EYE" words
such as Einstein, Eileen, Heidi, stein, Steinbrenner, etc. These
words are generally regarded as being imported from other languages after
the rules of English spelling were set.
Ein,
Einstein, Eileen, Holstein, eider, eidetic, feisty, heist, Eisenhower,
Eiffel, height,
Heidi, Heidelburg, farenheit, heigh-ho, Weissmuller, Poseidon, Rottweiler,
apartheid.
Use
ei in "AY" words
such as weigh, eight, vein, veil.
Weigh, weight, eight, freight, freighter,
neigh,
neighbour, sheik, sheikh,
heinous, lei
skein, vermeil, inveigle, feint, sleigh, deign,
reign,
rein, Pompeii, feign, veil, unveiled, vein,
Seine, reindeer.
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Exceptions
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Neither, weird,
foreign,
leisure,
seize,
forfeit,
and height, protein and caffeine forfeiture, codeine, heifer.
Neither, weird, foreign, leisure, seize, forfeit, height, weirdo, foreigner, leisurely, seizure, forfeiture,
protein, caffeine, codeine, heifer, surfeit, counterfeit.
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Do
not let the C-I-E-N words get you uptight!
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As in efficient, ancient, conscience, and sufficient etc.
Science,
conscience, ancient, efficient, sufficient, scientist, conscientious,
inefficient, efficiency, proficient, omniscient,
scientific, prescience, inefficiency, coefficient,
proficiency, omniscience.
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Interesting
Homophones:
bier/beer, bier/beer,
ceiling/sealing, feint/faint,
lei/lay,
Eire/heir/air,
neigh/nay, piece/peace,
pier/peer. reign/rein/rain,
seize/sees/seas, sleigh/slay,
they’re/there/their,
vein/vain/vane,
weigh/way, weighed/wade,
weight/wait,
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