Here are a few rules for common misspellings that will help you improve your writing skills. Don't let them bog you down, they're quite simple once you get used to the mechanics.

Plurals.
Words ending in o. Words ending in o preceded by a vowel form the plural by adding s; i.e., trios, studios. Generally, words ending in o preceded by a consonant form the plural by adding es; i.e., potatoes, heroes; a very few form the plural by adding a s; i.e., solos, dynamos. Some have both forms; i.e., cargoes or cargos, mottoes or mottos.
Words ending in y. Words ending in y preceded by a vowel form the plural by adding s; i.e., attorneys, days; but words ending in y preceded by a consonant change the y to i and add es; i.e. ladies, berries, countries, counties.

Abbreviations. The plural of abbreviations, figures, and such are formed by the use of the apostrophe and an s, as in p’s and q’s, size 6's, Ph.D.’s.

Doubling the consonant.
One syllable words. Double the final consonant of one syllable words before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, if the final consonant is preceded by a single vowel.

sun, sunning
pin, pinning
plot, potted
bag, baggage

But, if the final consonant is preceded by another consonant or by two vowels, do not double the final consonant.

brief, briefer
act, acting
look, looked
loud, louder

Words of more than one syllable. Double the final consonant of a word of more than one syllable before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel if the final consonant is preceded by a vowel and the word is accented on the last syllable.

begin, beginning
transfer, transferring

But when the accent does not fall on the last syllable or the final consonant is preceded by another consonant, do not double the final consonant.

profit, profited
desert, deserting
travel, traveled
cancel, canceling

Combinations of i and e. Memorize the following rhyme and you are likely to get the combining of i and e correct every time.

The i before e
Except after c
Or when sounding like a
As in neighbor and weigh

Words ending in silent e.
Suffixes beginning with a vowel. Words ending in a silent e generally drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

bride, bridal
argue, arguable
guide, guidance
owe, owing
ice, icing
judge, judging
use, usable, using

Suffixes beginning with a consonant. Words ending in silent e generally retain the e before suffixes beginning with a consonant, unless another vowel precedes the final e.

pale, paleness
excite, excitement
hate, hateful
argue, argument

Words ending in ie. Words ending in ie drop the e and change the i to y before adding the ing.

die, dying
lie, lying

Words ending in c. When a word ends in c, insert a k before adding a suffix beginning with e, i or y.

picnic, picnicking, picnicked
traffic, trafficker, trafficking

Words ending in y, preceded by a consonant. Words ending in y preceded by a consonant generally change the y to i before any suffix, except on beginning with i

modify, modifying, modifier, modification
lonely, lonelier, loneliness
worry, worrisome, worried

Suffixes: -able, -ous. Words ending in e preceded by c or g do not drop the final e before the suffixes -able or -ous, but do drop the final e before the suffix -ible.

service, serviceable
manage, manageable
courage, courageous
advantage, advantageous
deduce, deducible
convince, convincible

If a word has the -ation form, it always takes the -able suffix instead of the -ible suffix.

application, applicable
reparation, reparable

However, there are many words that don not have an -ation form that also take the -able suffix. There is no rule for this group.

Suffixes: -ance, -ence. When the suffix is preced by c, having the sound of k, or g having a hard sound, use ance, ancy, or ant; when c has the sound of s, or the g has the sound of j, use ence, ency, or ent.

convalescence
indigent
significant
extravagant
negligence

Suffixes: -ise, -ize: There is no rule for the use of -ise or -ize. The words in the following list, and their derivatives and compounds, are spelled with -ise. The preferred spelling for all other words is -ize.

advertise
advise
apprise
arise
chastise
circumcise
comprise
compromise
demise
despise
devise
disguise
enterprise
excise
exercise
franchise
improvise
incise
merchandise
premise
reprise
revise
supervise
surmise
surprise

Words ending in -sede, -ceed, or -cede. Only one word in our language ends in -sede, supersede. Only three end in -ceed, proceed, exceed, succeed. All the others in -cede. Keep in mind that proceed changes its form to procedure.

The prefix dis-. Words formed by adding the prefix dis- are frequently misspelled because of doubt about whether the combined form has one s or two. The prefix is dis-. If the word to which the prefix is added begins with s, the combined form has two s’s; otherwise, the combined form only has one s.

dis- appoint = disappoint
dis- appear = disappear
dis- satisfy = dissatisfy

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