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  • Hello! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

  • Spelling mistakes can be

  • anything from a minor embarrassment

  • to a failed exam.

  • And actually, spelling is one area where

  • native English speakers commonly make mistakes too.

  • They can definitely make improvements!

  • Since English is not phonetic, it takes years and years

  • for native English speakers to learn how to

  • spell words correctly

  • and even when we finish school,

  • there are often a few words that keep confusing us

  • all the way through adulthood.

  • In this lesson, we'll look carefully

  • at the spelling of words that include ie and ei.

  • But before we do, I want to introduce you to the

  • mmmEnglish Imitation Technique,

  • lessons designed to improve your English pronunciation

  • and expression to help you build your confidence

  • as an English speaker.

  • Lesson packs are available right here,

  • so if you want to improve your spoken English with me,

  • you can do it just by clicking that button.

  • Okay, let's take a look at these words

  • achieve, believe and peace.

  • Now these words are sometimes misspelled like this,

  • with E before I.

  • And it's an easy mistake to make.

  • In fact, phonetically, it kind of makes more sense.

  • Words with I and E or E and I

  • often cause spelling headaches.

  • Still to this day, I remember the little rhyme

  • that my grade two teacher taught me,

  • "I before E except after C"

  • which is a really handy way of remembering the spelling

  • of these words.

  • The letter combination, ie, is more common than ei.

  • It just appears more. In fact, ei is quite rare really.

  • But there are some very common everyday words

  • that use ei.

  • And many of them follow a C, like the verb receive.

  • It's a perfect example of I before E except after C.

  • Receipt is another, ceiling, deceive, preconceive.

  • So that little rhyme, it's useful

  • ... sometimes.

  • But if you live your life by this rule,

  • you'll make spelling mistakes for sure!

  • So as always, there are exceptions.

  • I feel like English is the language of exceptions.

  • In actual fact, the rule "I before E, except after C"

  • usually is only relevant when the vowel sound

  • represented by the ie is the long E sound.

  • Receive.

  • Receipt.

  • Ceiling.

  • Deceive.

  • Preconceive.

  • Okay, now are you ready for the exceptions?

  • Words like ancient, efficient and science,

  • sufficient are exceptions to the rule.

  • "I before E except after C" doesn't work here.

  • And that's because the vowel sound represented by ie

  • is not E.

  • Ancient.

  • Efficient.

  • Science.

  • Sufficient.

  • And the ei combination can follow other consonants,

  • not just C.

  • Their.

  • Foreign.

  • Weird.

  • Leisure.

  • Height.

  • Neighbour.

  • Weigh.

  • Vein.

  • And feisty.

  • How is it possible that this little combination of letters

  • is so difficult?

  • ie or ei - it's the source of confusion for English learners

  • and many, many native English speakers too.

  • So if you're having trouble with these spelling rules

  • keep this lesson in mind.

  • The "I before E, except after C" rule

  • is a really, really helpful rule to remember.

  • But it only really applies when the ie is pronounced as E.

  • Well I hope that you got some handy tips

  • out of this lesson. I expect no more spelling mistakes

  • on my Facebook page

  • or here in the comments below this video.

  • Don't forget to check out

  • the mmmEnglish Imitation Lessons right up here.

  • You can definitely try out a free one

  • by clicking that link right there as well.

  • Or keep working on some grammar skills

  • with this lesson right here.

  • Thanks for watching and I will see you

  • next week for another lesson.

  • Bye for now!

Hello! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

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