Spelling & punctuation Essential spelling rules
Von: Talitha Linehan
Stand: 14.11.2016 |Bildnachweis
Words ending with -y turn into -ies in the plural form:
duty - duties
If the word ends in a vowel + y, just add -s:
boy - boys
Nouns that end in a sibilant sound, add -es:
witch - witches
For nouns ending with -f or -fe there is no fixed rule. Some form the plural by changing the final -f form to -ves, like:
knife - knives
Some form the plural by adding the letter -s:
chief - chiefs
If the verb ends with an -e that isn't pronounced, then you need to drop this final -e before adding -ing or -ed:
smile - smiling - smiled
If the verb ends with a vowel + l, then you need to double the l before adding -ing:
travel - travelling
→ only in British, not in American English!
If the verb ends with a single vowel plus consonant and the stress is at the end of the word, you need to double the final consonant before adding -ing or -ed:
commit - committing - committed
Same if the word just consists of one syllable with a short vowel:
stop - stopping - stopped
You use a capital letter in the names of people, places and related words:
Britain, British, North, South, January, Monday, ...
Exception:
Some names have become common expressions, and now take a lowercase letter - like:
chinaware
You also use a capital letter when words contain a single letter or capitonyms:
T-shirt, TV-show, ...