When to put i before e

Sometimes it’s really difficult to know in what order to put the letters in a word. The letters i and e are often put in the wrong order.

The letter i goes before the letter e except after c – but only when the word sound is an ee sound.

ee sounds (i before e) achieve believe piece

receipt deceit receive

If you hear a or i, you need the letters ei.

a or i sounds (e before i) eight height weight

their weird feisty

Write some more examples here.

i before e

e before i

Ww/L1-2

Rw/L1.3

Putting i and e in the correct order

Each of these sentences has one or more words with letters missing.

Decide whether the missing letters are ‘ie’ or ‘ei’.

1 It was a great rel f to rec ve a phone call from her.

2 “How can I bel ve you? You’re always trying to dec ve me!”

3 From my window I could see across the f ld to the river.

4 She looked closely at his face and perc ved a tear drop running down his cheek. He might be a th f, but he could still feel gr f.

5 It was w rd; she felt she could really ach ve something.

6 He stepped on to the w ghing scales first and then had his h ght measured by the doctor.

7 At school, she really liked sc nce but hated her teacher.

8 She bought p ces of material for £2.99 and kept her rec pt in case it was the wrong colour.

9 He sat astride the horse and held its dark leather r gns tightly in his hands.

10 At the picnic, Jo and Gale ate th__r cheese sandwiches and drank _ght glasses of squash between them.

Ww/L1-2

Rw/L1.3