We have learnt that spellings are just as important as parts of speech. The English language has many spelling conventions. For instance, while LOCATION and INVASION have a different set of four letters at their endings, their end pronunciation is similar. The peculiarity of English is that the pronunciation is not entirely dependent on the spellings. Though the letters have specific sounds, their pronunciations are different in certain combinations.
One of the common occurrences in English is the presence of silent letters. THISTLE is a word that has the second T silent. Similarly, KNICKKNACK has two out of the four Ks silent and BENIGN has G silent.
There are several conventions which are followed in respect of specific spellings. For instance, one of the conventions is E follows I in words such as FRIEND. However, when they are preceded by C the order changes in words such as PERCEIVE. Unfortunately, the conventions have exceptions and this fact makes it more difficult for us to remember the correct spellings.
Spellings become more difficult when you hear a word rather than read it. For example, if the word is EVASION or CONVENTION, which are the correct spellings, we may get confused and write them as EVATION or CONVENSION because both are pronounced the same as far as the last four letters are concerned in each of the words.
The best way to learn spellings is to practise and use words regularly. Whenever we have a doubt it is better to consult a dictionary and firm up the correct spellings. There are many such conventions and by taking the following quiz you will learn some of them.