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THE “ I BEFORE E EX C E P T AF TER C ” RULE

Single syllable sounds
As mentioned in the rhyme, the sound of the ie or ei can Rule 2
be used to figure out which letter combination is right.
There are four main rules to remember if the ie/ei is If the “ee” sound follows the letter c, the e goes first.
pronounced as one syllable. However, most of the rules
have exceptions, which have to be learned. receive, receipt, deceit, ceiling

Rule 1
One exception to
If the sound is “ee,” the i goes before the e. this rule is when ancient, conscience,
the ci sounds
niece, belief, achieve, field like “sh.” species

There are numerous The rule also doesn’t
exceptions to this protein, seize, either, apply to words ending fancied, policies,
rule that have to in y that have been
be learned. leisure, caffeine modified. bouncier

Rule 3 Rule 4
The e goes before the i if the sound is “ay” or “eye.” The e goes before the i if the sound is “eh,” as in met.
eight, height, feisty heifer, their, heir

Sometimes, the “eye” exceptions
sound can also be to this rule friend, unfriendly
heard when the i die, pie, lie, cried
goes before e.

Double syllable sounds
If the i and e are pronounced as two different sounds,
it’s easy to figure out which letter comes first. If the
“i” sound is pronounced first, then the i comes first
in the spelling, and vice versa.

di-et, a-li-en, de-i-ty, see-ing, be-ing,
sci-ence, so-ci-e-ty re-ig-nite, here-in

Pronounced i then e Pronounced e then i
In these words, the i syllable is said first, In these words, the e syllable is said first,
so the i comes first in the spelling. so the e comes first in the spelling.