If It's I before E except after C, Why is "their" spelled that way?

Question

that really bugs me. I always try to spell it "thier", but that just doesn't look right, does it?

Answer 1

It's "their". That's because the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn. We have so many exceptions to our "rules". Once you learn a "rule" then you have to learn the "exceptions". I never understood why the person who came up with the language just couldn't do it one WAY!!!

Answer 2

I think it's because of the h, which is a consonant. Usually in English when two vowels follow one consonant, we want to pronounce the vowels separately. If it was spelled thier, we would probably say thi-er but e is a long letter so it overcomes the sound of the i. But really, that's just my guess.

Answer 3

That word "their" is just one example of an "exception" to a rule in the English language. There are many exceptions to the rules in English and this is one of them. English (linguistically speaking) is not very logical (at times).

Answer 4

The saying goes "I before E except after C and when sounded like A as in NEIGHBOR and WEIGH" "EI" in "their" has a long A sound.

Answer 5

I before E, except after C
or when sounding like "A" as in neighbor or weigh...

Answer 6

I cannot remember exactly what all the exceptions are but there are exceptions to every rule

Answer 7

Because the ie/ei combination in "their" makes a "long a" sound, as opposed to the ie/ei combination in the "i before e except after c" words where it makes a "long e" sound.

Answer 8

It is actually i before e except after c with the exception of.....

Answer 9

Because there are exceptions to every rule.

Answer 10

Lots of exceptions here: