#I BEFORE E POEM BY JEF RASKIN HOW TO#

'Weird' and 'weir' are often listed as exceptions, though the pronunciation of '-eir' in Received Pronunciation is IPA| rather than IPA|. The most frequent everyday failures of the British form of the rule are 'seize', 'caffeine', 'protein' (here '-ein(e)' was originally pronounced IPA| ) and, for those who pronounce the initial vowel sound IPA|, 'either' and 'neither'. 'friend') which are correctly handled by the American version. ) This excludes most exceptions, as well as excluding some words (e.g. :'i' before 'e':except after 'c':but we live in a weird societyĪ British version is::when the sound is 'ee':it's 'i' before 'e':except after 'c'(Here 'ee' is IPA|. There is also a more sarcastic version, which points out a couple of exceptions: Various augmentations to the rhyme have been proposed to handle these exceptions.Īn augmented American version is::'i' before 'e':except after 'c':or when sounding like 'a':as in neighbor or weigh However, in its short form the rule has many common exceptions, such as 'species', 'science', 'sufficient' (where 'ie' follows 'c') or 'seize', 'weird', 'sovereignty', 'vein', 'feisty', 'kaleidoscope' and 'neighbor' (where 'ei' is not preceded by 'c'). It means that, in words where 'i' and 'e' fall together, the order is 'ie', except directly following 'c', when it is 'ei'.

#I BEFORE E POEM BY JEF RASKIN HOW TO#

Scientific (14.' I before e, except after c' is a mnemonic device used to help many students remember how to spell certain words in the English language. Scientist conscientious inefficient efficiency (19.80) proficient omniscient Protein caffeine codeine heifer surfeit counterfeit Height (12.45) weirdo foreigner leisurely seizure forfeiture Veil (16.20) unveiled vein (16.30) Chow mein seine reindeer (13.05) Sleigh (13.35) deign reign (16.75) rein Pompeii feign Weiss Weissmuller Poseidon Rottweiler apartheid Weisenheimer Heinlein Heinrich Heinz Heiss Heisenberg

Heidt Heifitz sholem aleichem stein heigh-ho Receipt (17.60) receiver (14.40) deceit deceive (15.70) deceitful ceiling (14.05)Ĭonceivable inconceivable receipts (17.95) conceited conceivablyĮin Einstein fraulein Eileen Holstein eiderĮidetic Pheiffer Feiffer feisty heist meisterĮisenhower Eiffel height (12.45) Heidi Heidelburg farenheit Preview patient (12.65) impatient patience (15.80) fielder wieldĮxcept after c Family (See p. Shield (13.25) shriek friend fiend view review (9.80) Piece (9.55) apiece (11.70) centerpiece siege besiege pier (11.90)īier tier frieze field (7.05) battlefield yield (13.90) Use i before e Family with difficulty levels on scale of 1.00 to 21.00 Memorize these!īut don’t let the C-I-E-N words get you uptight! Means: cien as in efficient, ancient, conscience, and sufficient etc. It also means use ei in « AY » words such as weigh, eight, vein, veil.Īre Exceptions spelled right And so are: protein and caffeine forfeiture, codeine, heifer, etc. Or when sounded as EYE or AY Means: use ei in « EYE » words such as Einstein, Eileen, Heidi, stein, Steinbrenner, etc. Use i before e Unless you have a reason not to, use ie as in thief, believe, priest, etc.Įxcept after c except after c Means: use cei as in receive, deceive, ceiling, etc.Īs in Einstein and weigh. Memorize the following poem and learn how to apply each part of the rule.

I before e poem by jef raskin