Spelling with ie and ei

Two letters that swap places

Some words have i and e next to each other. But which comes first? There is a famous little rhyme to help you remember!

The rhyme

i before e, except after c.

That means most words are spelled ie. But right after the letter c, you flip them to ei.

ie words

Write i before e in these everyday words:

• field 🌾
• piece 🧩
• chief 👮
• thief 🦹
• believe 💭
• friend 🙂

Say each word and picture the i sitting first, then the e.

ei after c

After the letter c, write ei:

• receive 📬
• ceiling 🏠
• deceive 🎭

See the c right before the ei? That is your clue.

A handy table

Word	Spelling	Rule
field	ie	i before e 🌾
piece	ie	i before e 🧩
receive	ei	after c 📬
ceiling	ei	after c 🏠

Tricky exceptions

A few words break the rule. Learn these special ones by heart:

• their 👨‍👩‍👧
• weird 👽
• science 🔬
• eight 8️⃣

When a word sounds like a long a (as in eight and weigh), it often uses ei too.

Practise

Cover the word and spell it out loud:

• f-i-e-l-d → field 🌾
• p-i-e-c-e → piece 🧩
• r-e-c-e-i-v-e → receive 📬

Wonderful work!

Now you have the i before e rule. Say the rhyme whenever you are unsure, and remember the few tricky words too.

Next, try Prefixes and Suffixes and Word Families: -at, -an, -ig.