The ‘Y’ rule in spelling

The “Y rule” in English spelling primarily concerns how to handle words ending in “y” when adding suffixes. This English spelling rule primarily concerns how to handle words ending in “y” when adding suffixes.

The core rule

• Consonant before “y”
  • If a word ends in a “y” that is preceded by a consonant, change the “y” to an “i” before adding most suffixes.
  • Examples
    • “happy” + “-ness” = “happiness”
    • “cry” + “-ed” = “cried”
    • “baby” + “-es” = “babies”
• Vowel before “y”
  • If a word ends in a “y” that is preceded by a vowel, generally keep the “y” when adding a suffix.
  • Examples
    • “play” + “-ed” = “played”
    • “boy” + “-s” = “boys”
    • “enjoy” + “-ing” = “enjoying”

Important exceptions

• Suffix “-ing”
  • Even when there’s a consonant before the “y,” you keep the “y” when adding the “-ing” suffix.
  • Examples
    • “cry” + “-ing” = “crying”
    • “study” + “-ing” = “studying”
• Certain irregular words
  • Some words have irregular spellings that don’t follow the rule perfectly.
  • Example: “day” + “ly” = “daily”
• There are also some variances in how adverbs ending in “ly” are handled, and some differences between American and British English.

In essence

• The “Y rule” is primarily about changing “y” to “i” when adding suffixes, but only when a consonant precedes the “y,” and not when adding the suffix “-ing.”

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