How to Write Great Essays

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Word Choice
CHAPTER 3 
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
33
S
P E L L I N G
College admissions essays and essays that are not timed must not contain a single spelling
error. Even if the errors are slight, they can add up to an impression that is decidedly against
the one you are trying to convey. In fact, essay readers have described spelling mistakes as
making the writer seem “sloppy,”“unprofessional,”“not as smart,”“lazy,” and even “foolish.”
Putting in a little time will improve your spelling quickly. You can learn and use the fol-
lowing simple spelling rules that cover the few dozen mistakes which account for the major-
ity of errors. These rules will help you no matter what type of essay you are writing, because
once you know them, you can use them at any time. In addition, you can become a more
proficient user of your computer’s spell check feature. Last, give your essay to at least two
good readers who will check for any spelling errors you may have missed.
BASIC SPELLING RULES—I BEFORE E
I before E except after C, or when sounding like A as in 
neighbor 
or 
weigh.
Though it has a few exceptions, this simple rule is worth remembering. The majority of
the time, it works. Some examples of the exceptions:
After C:
ceiling, conceive, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive, deceit, conceit
When sounding like A:
neighbor, freight, beige, sleigh, weight, vein, weigh
Others:
either, neither, feint, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, weird, seize,
and
seizure
BASIC SPELLING RULES—DOUBLING FINAL CONSONANTS
When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant, you double the consonant if:
■
the ending begins with a vowel (such as
-ing, -ed, -age, -er, -ence, -ance,
and
-al
)
■
the last syllable of the word is accented and that syllable ends in a single vowel
followed by a single consonant (words with only one syllable are always
accented).
Stop 
becomes 
stopping, stopped, stoppage,
or 
stopper 
because 
stop
has only one syllable (so it is accented), and it ends in a single consonant pre-
ceded by a single vowel.
Here are some other examples of words that meet the doubling requirements:
run
—
running, runner
slam—slamming, slammed
nag
—
nagged, nagging
incur—incurred, incurring
kid
—
kidding, kidder

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