Reblogged from 2010 post, now that school is back in session and spelling tests will be forthcoming. This rule is of little help it seems..
Are you a good speller? Did this rule help?
Mr. Bob Cummingham makes a case that the rule is of little use in his article
“Examples of exceptions to the rule: Sticking for the moment to the basic rule, “i before e except after c”… here are some exceptions…..beige, cleidoic, codeine, conscience, deify, deity, deign,
dreidel, eider, eight, either, feign, feint, feisty,
foreign, forfeit, freight, gleization, gneiss, greige,
greisen, heifer, heigh-ho, height, heinous, heir, heist,
leitmotiv, neigh, neighbor, neither, peignoir, prescient,
rein, science, seiche, seidel, seine, seismic, seize, sheik,
society, sovereign, surfeit, veil, vein, weight, weird”
WOW! Lots of exceptions. No wonder spelling is hard.
Another exception – Reinfeld. And it is often mispronounced.
“weird” grammar we have….
I always liked this rule and found it helpful.
English is a language that has oodles of exceptions to every “rule” – I can’t imagine how difficult it is to learn as a non-native language.