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English Spelling: I Before E

Whether to spell any given word with ie or ei can often stump native English speakers. In school many of us were taught the mnemonic device "I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh." This is a fairly good rule, but it has a lot of exceptions.

I before e (with a long e sound)	Exceptions
belief	sheik
thieves	either
piece	leisure
shield	seize
lien	protein
hurried	caffeine

Except after c	Exceptions
receive	sufficient
receipt	science
ceiling	deficient
deceive	species
conceit	science

Or when sounding like a
neighbor
weigh
vein
eight
veil
rein

So much for the rule... here are some other exceptions.
Long i sound
height
seismic
heist

Other sounds
heifer
forfeit
their
weird
deity

Re + verb beginning with i
reintroduce
reinforce
reinvigorate

Verbs that end in e + ing
being
seeing
agreeing
fleeing

English Spelling English Difficulties

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