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Tips, insights, and updates about English learning
-tion or -sion? A Simple Spelling Rule You Can Tell from Verb Endings
decide becomes decision, and act becomes action. Both are noun suffixes, but why does one use -sion and the other -tion? Actually, you can tell just by looking at how the original verb ends. This article gives you a handy rule to take away, plus a quick guide to common noun suffixes, so you can spell long words with confidence.
-ful means 'with', -less means 'without': The easiest way to learn adjective suffixes in pairs
By memorizing one root word, you can easily learn both the -ful and -less versions at the same time, with their meanings being exact opposites. This article will guide you through using the 'with/without' pairing method to master careful/careless and hopeful/hopeless—learning two words at once while reducing your spelling anxiety.
-er or -or? How to Choose the Right Suffix for 'Someone Who Does Something' Every Time
teacher, actor, and scientist all refer to 'someone who does something,' but they have different suffixes. This article shares three quick tips to help you figure out whether to use -er, -or, or -ist, complete with a high-frequency word list. It also teaches you how to tell er and ed apart during dictation, making you a much more confident speller.
-able or -ible? A simple drop-the-suffix rule to tell them apart
Why does comfortable use -able while visible uses -ible? What's the actual difference? Actually, there is a super simple trick to tell them apart: drop the suffix and see if what's left is still a complete word. Master this trick, and along with this list of high-frequency -ible words, you'll never have to guess spelling again.
Why is the k in know Silent? A List of Silent English Letters and How to Memorize Them in Groups
The k in know, the w in write, and the b in thumb are written out but not pronounced, which often makes people anxious when spelling. In fact, these 'silent letters' almost always appear in clusters, and there is a history behind them. This article organizes six groups—kn-, wr-, -mb, -ght, ps-, and gn-—into a list, teaching you how to memorize them all at once using grouped visual memory so you can spell with more confidence.
Stop Spelling Letter by Letter: Recognize High-Frequency Words at a Glance
The most common words like the, was, and said actually slow down your reading when sounded out letter by letter. They should be treated like a picture and recognized at a glance. This article teaches you how to replace "letter-by-letter decoding" with "whole-word recognition." Combined with flashcard and timed-test training methods, you will turn high-frequency words into a reflex and instantly boost your sentence reading speed.
ai in the Middle, ay at the End: How to Remember Homophonic Vowel Teams with Different Spellings and Never Misspell Them
rain and day are both pronounced /eɪ/, so why are their spellings different? Master this position rule: 'use ai/oi/ou in the middle of a word, and ay/oy/ow at the end of a word' to memorize these three common pairs of vowel teams all at once, and never write rain as raign or day as daiy again.
uni-, bi-, tri-, multi-: Learn 10 Words at Once with Number Prefixes (Word Decomposition Series)
English has a group of prefixes that "know how to count": uni- means one, bi- means two, tri- means three, and multi- means many. Remember these little switches, and words like bicycle, triangle, and multimedia will easily unlock in clusters. This article will help you memorize 10 words from the number prefix family in groups, and even includes tips so you'll never confuse bi- and semi- again.
un-, in-, im-, dis-: 4 Negative Prefixes to Master Antonyms in One Go (Word Breakdown Series)
Learn just one negative prefix, and you can instantly add a whole list of antonyms to your vocabulary. This article will help you understand how to use and spell un-, in- (including im-, il-, ir-), and dis-, plus give you a paired-memorization method so you can learn two at a time, like happy→unhappy and possible→impossible.