When to double the final consonant: When a one-syllable word has a single vowel followed by a single consonant at the end, the final consonant is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Confusing? Let's look at some examples.

• One-syllable words = run, hit, push, shoot, jump, fly, spin, eat
• One-syllable words with a single consonant at the end: run, hit, shoot, spin, 
• One-syllable words ending with a single vowel followed by a single consonant: run, hit, spin

Rule 1: Most English nouns form their plurals by adding S, including most words that end with F. 

When the letter S sounds like Z:  There are many situations in English in which the letter S will be pronounced as if it were a Z.  This usually happens at the end of a word in plurals or Third Person Singular forms of verbs.  The following chart will show you the S's that are pronounced as Z's, shown in RED.

Words that end in -s, -ss, -ch, -sh, -x, -z that need to add -ES to form the plural or the 3rd person singular form - the final S will sound like Z.

For words that end with the sounds of -b, -d, -g, -l, -ll, -m, -n, -r, -v , when S is added to form the plural or the 3rd-person singular, that final S will sound like Z.  Here are some examples:

This will get you started learning to spell English correctly.  As we have noted a few times, the final solution is to READ, STUDY, PRACTICE, WRITE, MEMORIZE.  If you are taking the time to read these pages, then you are motivated enough to learn on your own how to spell these strange English words.  Our suggestion is:

• Write all the Spelling Words from this site in a notebook.
• Arrange the words in a manner that is sensible to you - by spelling similarities, by sound similarities, whatever.
• Study  5 or 10 words at a time.
• Write a brief definition of the words you are studying.
• For the more difficult words, think of a clue, a key, a guide to help you remember them and to make them stand out from the other words.
• Use the word in a sentence, then write the sentence.  Read the sentence aloud.
• Close your eyes and picture each letter, in glowing colors if possible, as you spell it to yourself.
• Ask a friend or relative to drill you, to say the words to you so you can spell them.

We guarantee that if you follow this procedure, you will not only learn to spell the words, you will make these words a permanent part of your English vocabulary.  Good Luck!