German is a favorite language for many spellers, both due to its cool-looking words and the fact that it has simpler spelling rules than other languages like French. Vowel sounds are more straightforward, and while the letters might not make the same sounds they do in English, the patterns tend to be more consistent. However,…
Category: Word Patterns
The /əbəl/ Ending
The /əbəl/ suffix is one of the most confusing for spelling bee participants. In the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, there are a whopping 2,900 words that end in -ible, -able, or -eable! Out of these, there are around 1,150 that every speller should know – or at least be able to guess correctly. While the majority…
French Language Patterns: the Long ‘I’ Sound
French is a language with lots of quirks, exceptions, and ways to spell every sound. The long ‘i’ (eye) sound is no exception. Here are some tips and tricks for tackling it. The long ‘i’ sound doesn’t appear at the beginning of any words derived purely from French. When it appears, it is generally because…
Geographical Words: US vs. British
When the American Revolutionary War officially ended (in 1783) and the British surrendered at the Battle of Yorktown, the colonists were determined to make the end of the war the end of all British influence in America. This is probably why our light switches turn on the other way, we drive on the other side…
Spelling Polish Words: Part 2
Just like in French, accents matter a lot in Polish. In the last post, we covered how this is true for some unusual consonant combinations that show up in Polish words. Today, however, we’ll be focusing more on vowels and accents. The first element that can cause some difficulty to spellers is the ogonek. This…
Spelling Polish Words: Part 1
Consider the word: BID-goh-sh-ch (\ˈbid-ˌgȯsh(ch)\). This is a geographical word, and refers to a city in central Poland. The correct spelling of this word is Bydgoszcz! That is probably not the first spelling that comes to mind when you hear the pronunciation. For many spellers, tackling Polish is a difficult and daunting task. The consonant…
French Suffixes: é vs. ée
One of the most difficult sounds in the French language is the long a sound \ā\, pronounced like the “ay” in “may”. There are many ways to spell it, including -ait, -et, and more. Two especially difficult suffixes to differentiate between that make this sound are é and ée. In French, -é is the masculine past participle. You…
Greek Patterns (Words of Champions 2021-22)
‘f’ sound: spell it ‘ph’ short ‘ee’ sound: spell it ‘i’ ‘k’ sound can go c, k, ch ‘you’ sound goes ‘u’ or ‘eu’ ‘r’ in the beginning goes ‘rh’ ‘z’ in the beginning goes ‘x’ ‘s’ in the beginning goes ‘ps’
Latin Patterns (Words of Champions 2021-22)
“ee” sound at the end: spell it ae: (algae) “eye” sound at the end: spell it as i, especially in plural nouns (alibi, stimuli, Gemini, cirri, Apostolici) “k” sound: spell it ‘c’ (Greek words have ‘k’ in them, but Latin words rarely do) “f” sound: spell it ‘f’ (Greek words can go ‘ph’, but Latin…
Words of Champions 2021-22 Part 3
ie vs ei We’ve all heard the rule “i before e except before c”. For spelling, we use an extended form of this rule: i before e except when: There are 151 words in Words of Champions 2021-22 that have “ei” or “ie” in them. After applying the rule above, we’re left with about 25…