British government spells end of 'i before e' rule

Sunday 21st June, 04:49 AM JST

LONDON —

It’s a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned—“i before e, except after c.”

But new British government guidance tells teachers not to pass on the rule to students, because there are too many exceptions.

The “Support For Spelling” document, which is being sent to thousands of primary schools, says the rule “is not worth teaching” because it doesn’t account for words like ‘sufficient,’ ‘veil’ and ‘their.’

Jack Bovill of the Spelling Society, which advocates simplified spelling, said Saturday he agreed with the decision.

But supporters say the ditty has value because it is one of the few language rules that most people remember.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 20 Total Comments Show All

MildredRoper at 03:12 PM JST - 21st June

Why do they always have to change everything ? It makes me so cross. Half the kids these days can't even read or write when they finish school anyway.
Madverts at 05:10 PM JST - 21st June

Heh, this is sure to end the chronic British social problems. I'm glad to see elected officials putting their time into things such as these, rather than screwing the tax-payer for expenses.
kirakira25 at 05:35 PM JST - 21st June

Madverts - was just thinking exactly the same thing myself! I wonder how much money was sunk into this research and how many members of the "i before e rule" committee it took to come up with this little adjustment.

Immigration is out of control, all our politicians have their snouts in the trough, and towards the end of June the weather is STILL CRAP....but at least we've clarified the i before e rule!
Madverts at 06:03 PM JST - 21st June

KiraKira,

Move to France :) Few chav's here and the weather's been dandy...
realist at 07:35 PM JST - 21st June

More interference by Britain`s Big Brother Communist government. T Roll on the next election until we can rid ourselves of this shower of imbeciles. I will personally ask David Cameron to revoke this jackboot nonsense when he becomes Prime Minister.
Madverts at 07:46 PM JST - 21st June

Realist,

Cameron is no better. There is no one worth voting for, just like in France.

Moderator: Back on topic please.
bobobolinski at 07:56 PM JST - 21st June

The advice to teachers comes not from the "government" as in Mr Brown and his commie pals, but from a 120 page report prepared by the education ministry; ie, by education experts who are looking at ways in which elementary level children can learn to write better. One of the hundreds of recommendations in the report is that the "i before e" rule is confusing since there are so many exceptions. So, before condemning something out of hand, take the veil from your eyes, and weigh the evidence.
nandakandamanda at 08:22 PM JST - 21st June

Take the viel from my eyes and wiegh the evidence, you say? Iether that or lay seige, erm siege, to thier great seat of speis, Downing Street and demand another little ditty instead. Niether a tip nor a word of advice to help us? Erk, how do you tell how to spell these words, then? By rote learning perhaps? That must be it, a clever plan to take us all back to spelling bees and memory feats.

Anyway, even though there are many exceptions, you can usually work out the reason for them. Well, hundreds of millions of people have been able to so far, with pretty fair success.
nandakandamanda at 08:28 PM JST - 21st June

Take a look at this sentence:

The “Support For Spelling” document, which is being sent to thousands of primary schools, says the rule “is not worth teaching” because it doesn’t account for words like ‘sufficient,’ ‘veil’ and ‘their.’

It was never meant to account for the three words given above. They have not traditionally been a problem for people. 'Suffici-ent' you can get by the sound. 'Their' is of a family with They, Them, etc. and would look odd spelt any other way. Veil, perhaps, but again you can learn it by the sound it starts off with... Give us some decent examples, please! :headbang:
cleo at 08:36 PM JST - 21st June

nandakanda is right. When we learned it at school it was "i before e except after c, when the sound is double ee". Words like veil, their, weigh etc., follow the rule, they aren't exceptions at all.
bobobolinski at 09:13 PM JST - 21st June

Well, while I am at leisure, I could seize the opportunity to point out that the rule should be: i before e EXCEPT after c, EXCEPT for words which don't sound like "ee", EXCEPT for words of recent foreign importation, and EXCEPT for a few other exceptions. Nifty little rule that one.
Beerplease at 09:16 PM JST - 21st June

How 'bout: i before e except when the red line appears below it.
Pukey2 at 09:24 PM JST - 21st June

cleo:

When we learned it at school it was "i before e except after c, when the sound is double ee".

That's exactly what I was going to say. Hence, we have believe and receive. I've always found that rule useful. I also remember learning that there's a rat in separate.
steen at 10:20 PM JST - 21st June

Why not make spelling easier? Write it as you say it.
Informed at 10:45 PM JST - 21st June

'i' before 'e' except after 'c'... weird.