You do not have to memorize every English spelling rule to spell well. Most rules come with so many exceptions that it is easier to read and write a lot, and to let a spell checker apply the rules for you when you are unsure.
Most trained writers do not need to remember spelling rules: they have absorbed the correct spelling of their language and use it automatically. Even so, they use spell checkers to catch the typos that slip in when they lose concentration or get distracted. But in most cases, they "know their rules".
What about people who are not professional writers, or not even native speakers? They worry about their spelling and grammar, and they always feel a little unsure about spelling rules. You know the situation: you are typing, and all of a sudden you start to doubt one word. Was it "ough" or "ouhg"? This is where a spell checker pays off. Whether it is the one built into your word processor or another checker, you don't have to worry about these questions if you rely on it, especially once you have taught it your own words.
For occasional writers, language students, and busy people who have to write in a language they are not completely sure of, there are two options.
Option 1: Learn and remember spelling rules
Option 1 is to learn all those "simple spelling rules" that can give you nightmares when you try to remember them. Search for "easy spelling rules to remember", and think about the time you would need, first to understand them and then to learn them by heart. Then add the time your brain spends looking for the right rule every time you are unsure how to spell a word.
Speaking of easy: what could be easier than letting software apply all those rules, so that your brain is free for the thinking? That is why this article argues for the second option.
Option 2: Use software
Option 2 is to hand the rules over to software. Developers and linguists turn spelling and grammar rules into a spell checker, so you don't have to. You would have a hard time remembering thousands of rules. Of course, you know most of them simply from using the language. But in those moments when doubt strikes while you write, you will often try to recall a rule you once learned by heart at school. A spell checker such as the Spell Checker answers that doubt in a second.
Who told you spelling rules were simple?
Search online for "spelling rules", and you will find plenty of "easy rules" that you would have to remember yourself if you did not rely on software. Some rules even have funny names that once helped students remember them; today they also help language teachers plan their lessons and fill the time with exercises.
Take the rule "Silent e helps a vowel say its name". It means that in a word ending in a vowel, a consonant, and a silent e, the vowel is long, as in cake or hope. But there is more to it. A word that ends in a silent e (an e you do not pronounce) drops the e before a suffix that begins with a vowel: make, making. As always, there is an exception: words that end in -ce or -ge keep the e before -able and -ous, so that the c or g stays soft: noticeable, courageous.
Or this one: "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." Even if you can work out what it means, you still have to apply it to your own spelling problem. Is that more or less effort than clicking a button? (The rule says that when two vowels stand side by side, the first one is usually long and the second one silent, as in team or wait. It also has plenty of exceptions.)
Tons of spelling rules
Language schools and dictionaries teach many more rules. It is fair to ask whether anyone really expects language students to learn them all:
- When you add -ly to an adjective that ends in -le, the -le becomes -ly: gentle, gently; simple, simply.
- A final consonant is doubled before a suffix that begins with a vowel when the last syllable is stressed: begin, beginning; occur, occurred. When the stress moves away from that syllable, it is not: refer, referred, but reference. In British English, a final l is doubled even when it is not stressed (travel, traveller); in American English, it is not (traveler). And a word that ends in c adds a k before -ing or -ed: panic, panicking; picnic, picnicked.
- The plural of a word that ends in a consonant plus y is formed by changing the y to i and adding -es: accessory, accessories; memory, memories; whisky, whiskies. But words that end in -ey, -ay, -uy, or -oy simply add -s: jersey, jerseys; journey, journeys; whiskey, whiskeys. If a word ends in s, x, z, sh, or ch, the plural adds -es: bus, buses; box, boxes; church, churches.
- Words that begin with al- plus another word, such as already or although, keep a single l. The suffix -ful has a single l too, as in grateful, faithful, and hopeful.
- A spell checker set to American English accepts emphasize, specialize, and standardize, and flags emphasise, specialise, and standardise. In British English, both spellings are correct. Many of these words take -ize because the ending comes from Greek, but some words are always spelled with -ise, such as advertise, advise, despise, devise, and supervise. (More on this in British or American English.)
- Names and geographical names (as on a map) begin with a capital letter: Britain, the US, Spain, the Atlantic Ocean, and California. (All right, that one is easy.)
- The rules for i and e: words with a long "ee" sound (as in bee) are written with ie, like believe, field, and relief. After a c, the long "ee" sound is written ei, as in ceiling, deceit, and receive. Words with an "ay" sound (as in day) are written with ei, like freight, reign, and sleigh. Then come the exceptions, such as either, foreign, height, leisure, protein, and weird, and the words with cien, like ancient, efficient, and science.
And there are many more. Reading through them once is tiring enough.
For most adults, it is hard to see why they should take the trouble to memorize rules with so many exceptions. Either you know how a word is spelled because you have read and written it a thousand times and no longer need to think about it, or you let software do the job.