2007-03-22 07:24:36 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Except for weird words like weird...and seize and foreign, etc. Yeah, it seems like a silly rule when so many words contradict it.
2007-03-22 07:26:59 · answer #1 · answered by sparkly_chrimsa 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This old spelling rule is supposed to help you remember
the spelling of vowels pronounced /i:/, the long "e" sound of "feed".
It has no value for words where the vowel is pronounced in any other way, the key fact which people bemused by many "exceptions" to the rule usually do not realize.
A version often cited in the U.K. makes the restriction clear:
When the sound is /i:/,
it's I before E
except after C.
There are plenty of exceptions ("ee" sound, but spelled "ei"):
codeine, either, Keith, leisure, neither, seize, weird, etc.
2007-03-22 07:33:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The saying that I learnt in school was, "I before E except after C and when sounding like A as in neighbour and weigh".
The rule is that if the word has the A sound when you say pronounce it, the E comes first. I can't believe I actually remembered that from school!
2007-03-22 07:35:24 · answer #3 · answered by star_lite57 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because this rule is a standard one, but not without its exceptions. The English language is loaded with words borrowed from other languages. This means that it is very difficult for any rule to apply consistently throughout the entire language. It's a good rule, just not completely accurate in all instances.
2007-03-22 07:32:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Another old rule: There is an exception to every rule, and the exception to this rule is that there is no exception.
Seize is an exception.
2007-03-22 08:36:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the rule goes "i before e except after c, most of the time"
2007-03-22 07:35:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because we are we have I D 10 T problem and we forgot about it. Or we just wanted to go against the rules. Hey! Rules are made for breaking, right?
2007-03-22 07:28:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I before e, Except after c, Or when sounding like ay, As in neighbor and weigh.
Not ALL words have i before e.
Neighbor, weigh and seize for example.
2007-03-22 07:32:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I before E except after C, or when sounding like A as in Neighbor and Weigh.
However, there are MANY exceptions such as science, sufficient, efficient, species, their, foreign, being, neither, weird, vein, seize, leisure......
2007-03-22 07:29:03 · answer #9 · answered by kja63 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Forget the rules and just memorize the spellings of individual words.
How do you find a rule for this pair? LOL.
Discreet
Discrete
2007-03-22 08:12:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋