4th Grade spelling
4th Grade IE and EI Words
Use the i before e rule with believe, receive, eight and weight. See the exceptions too. Play hangman or print a worksheet with answers.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: I before e except after c, when the sound is long e: believe, but receive. The rule has exceptions, and this list shows both groups.
The old rhyme says i before e, except after c. It works when the sound is long e: believe, field, piece, but receive, ceiling and perceive after c. Where it fails is when the vowel pair says long a, as in eight, weigh and neighbor, and in a handful of words such as science or weird. A good teacher presents it as a tendency with exceptions rather than a law.
The list is sorted into three groups that match the rule: ie saying long e, ei after c, and ei saying long a. The first group includes believe, field, piece and experience, the second has receive, ceiling, receipt, deceive and conceive, and the third has eight, weight, neighbor, reign and freight. Fourth grade is the right moment because students write enough that the mistakes show up in their own work, and they can now hold a rule and its exceptions at the same time.
36 entries. Our solver needed 1.5 wrong guesses on average: 20 easy, 15 medium and 1 hard. The toughest is weigh (6 misses), the quickest experience (0).
ie (long e)
- believe Easy · 1
- experience Easy · 0
- field Medium · 3
- piece Medium · 3
- achieve Easy · 0
- relief Medium · 2
- soviet Medium · 2
- brief Medium · 3
- studied Easy · 1
- belief Medium · 4
- anxiety Easy · 1
- buried Medium · 4
ei after c
- receive Easy · 0
- ceiling Easy · 1
- receiver Easy · 1
- receipt Medium · 3
- perceive Easy · 0
- conceive Easy · 0
- deceive Medium · 2
- deceit Medium · 2
- conceivable Easy · 0
- deceitful Medium · 2
- conceivably Easy · 0
- conceit Easy · 1
ei saying long a
- eight Medium · 2
- weight Medium · 3
- neighborhood Easy · 0
- eighth Easy · 0
- surveillance Easy · 0
- neighbor Easy · 0
- reign Medium · 2
- freight Easy · 0
- weigh Hard · 6
- eighteen Easy · 0
- lightweight Easy · 1
- unveiled Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- receiveAfter c, so ei. The most quoted example of the rule.
- believeThe mirror word: ie, not ei. Students often swap the pair.
- weightSounds like long a, so the rhyme does not apply. Compare with height, which is a different pattern again.
- neighborEi with the long a sound, plus a silent gh. Three silent or irregular spots in a row.
- ceilingFollows c, so ei. Many writers want to put ie because the sound is a long e.
Teaching it
Teach the rhyme in three parts: i before e, except after c, but only when it says ee. Then show that the rule gives no help when the sound is a long a. A common mistake is trusting the rhyme for words like weight and writing wieght. Groups are useful: put the c words together (receive, ceiling, deceive) and the long-a words together (eight, weigh, freight) so the exception patterns stay visible.
In hangman, ask players to guess the i and e first and then decide the order from the context of the word. After solving, say which group each word belongs to. Use the printable for a sort activity with three headings.
Print a 4th Grade IE and EI Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 4th Grade Words Ending in TionSpell the /shun/ ending with tion: information, education, position and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in SionWords ending in sion: decision, television, vision, session and mansion-type sounds. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words With the Prefix PreWords with the prefix pre: preview, prehistoric, prefix, precaution and more. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words With the Prefix MisWords with the prefix mis: mistake, misplaced, misuse, mistrust, misread. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in MentWords ending in ment: government, development, agreement, equipment and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in Able and IbleWords ending in able and ible: comfortable, reliable, possible, visible. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.