##  [Spelling: Words with “ei” and “ie”](/writing-tips-plus/spelling-words-with-ei-and-ie)

##  Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

## On this page

- [The basic rule for spelling words with “ei” and “ie”](#basic-rule)
- [Exceptions to the basic rule](#exceptions)
- [Group 1: Words with “ei” after a letter other than “c”](#group1)
- [Group 2: Words with “ie” after “c”](#group2)
- [Additional information](#additional-information)

## The basic rule for spelling words with “ei” and “ie”

The well-known “rule” learned by generations of schoolchildren is stated in the jingle “**i** before **e** except after **c**.”

Now, it’s true that putting **i** before **e** will give us the correct spelling for many words: belief, believe, chief, field, piece, thief, yield, etc. And remembering to reverse those letters after **c** will help us spell several other words correctly: ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive.

But this rule works only when the vowel combination makes the sound “ee”; and even then, it’s not accurate all of the time! As a result, it’s important to be aware of the many exceptions to this guideline.

## Exceptions to the basic rule

The examples listed below show some of the most common exceptions to the basic guideline “**i** before **e** except after **c**.” (Note that the lists don’t contain all possible examples.)

### Group 1: Words with “ei” after a letter other than “c”

There are several categories of words in which the vowel combination **ei** follows a letter other than **c**, as indicated below.

#### Words with “ei” pronounced as “ee”

- caffeine
- protein
- seize
- weird

#### Words with “ei” pronounced as “ay”

- eight, eighteen, eighty
- freight
- neighbour
- reign
- sleigh
- vein
- weigh, weight

#### Words with “ei” pronounced as “eye”

- either, neither
- feisty
- height
- heist
- sleight
- stein

#### Words with “ei” pronounced as short “e”

- heifer
- heir
- leisure
- their

#### Words with “ei” pronounced as “ǝ”

- foreign
- forfeit
- sovereign

#### Present participles of some verbs ending in “-e”

- agreeing, fleeing, seeing, etc.
- being
- bingeing, singeing, etc.
- canoeing, hoeing, snowshoeing, tiptoeing, etc.
- dyeing, eyeing

### Group 2: Words with “ie” after “c”

There are a few categories of words in which the letter **c** may be followed by the vowel combination **ie**, as indicated below.

#### Words with the letter “c” pronounced as “sh”

- ancient
- conscience, conscientious
- deficiency, deficient; efficiency, efficient; etc.
- glacier
- species

#### Words with the letters “ci” pronounced as “sigh”

- science, scientific, scientist
- society, societal

#### Plural, comparative and superlative forms of words ending in “-cy”

- fancies; fancier, fanciest
- icier, iciest
- juicier, juiciest
- mercies

As the above examples show, the words that follow the basic rule are far outnumbered by the exceptions. Therefore, when you’re in doubt about whether to write **ei** or **ie**, we recommend relying on a good dictionary rather than on that hallowed spelling rule!

## Additional information

### Blog posts

- [“I” before “e” except after “c” … or maybe not](/en/blogue-blog/i-before-e-except-after-c-eng)

### Quizzes

- [“I” before “e” except after “c”: Maybe, maybe not!](/en/quiz/i-before-e-except-after-c-eng)

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Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada

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## Liens connexes

- [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil)
- [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra)
- [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques)
- [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)