I before e, except after c is a mnemonic used to help elementary school students remember how to spell certain words in the English language. In its short form it has many common exceptions, e.g.:

• <ie> after c: science, sufficient
• <ei> not after c: their, foreign, being

An augmented American version is:

i before e

except after c

or when it sounds like a

as in neighbour and weigh

which excludes some of the exceptions.

A British version is:

when the sound is ee

it's i before e

except after c

which excludes most exceptions, as well as excluding some words (e.g. friend) which are correctly handled by the American version.

Few common words have the <cei> spelling handled by the rule: verbs ending <ceive> and their derivatives (perceive, deceit, transceiver, receipts, etc), and ceiling. Many words spelled with <ei> are pronounced ee () in America but not Britain (e.g. sheikh, leisure, either have /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /aɪ/ respectively). In these cases, the British pronunciation is a corollary of the British rule (i.e. when spelt <ei>, the pronunciation cannot be /iː/).

The only word in the English language that breaks this rule twice is Oneiromancies, studies into the meaning of dreams.

External links

• alt.english.usage: A British defence of the mnemonic from the newsgroup's FAQ
• alt.english.usage: An American critique of the mnemonic