ɪər ɛər inveigle mullock wordlist peignoir eɪ iː ceilidh 5898 eː ɛː ier nonpareil obeisance simpkin cei diphthong pullum heigh neigh inveigh mongan speller burchfield ɜ fancier quinion tallant heifer
what are the exceptions to the rule of i before e except after c
I before e except after c - wikipedia I before e except after c Jump to : navigation , search For other uses , see I before E except after C ( disambiguation ) . This article contains IPA phonetic symbols . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks , boxes , or other symbols instead of Unicode characters . For an introductory guide on IPA symbols , see Help : IPA . `` I before E , except after C '' is a mnemonic rule of thumb for English spelling . If one is unsure whether a word is spelled with the sequence ei or ie , the rhyme suggests that the correct order is ie unless the preceding letter is c , in which case it is ei . For example : ie in believe , fierce , collie , die , friend ei after c in receive , ceiling , receipt , ceilidh The rule is very well known ; Edward Carney calls it `` this supreme , and for many people solitary , spelling rule '' . However , the short form quoted above has many common exceptions ; for example : ie after c : species , science , sufficient ei not preceded by c : seize , vein , weird , their , feisty , foreign Many more exceptions are listed below . The proportion of exceptions can be reduced by restricting application of the rule based on the sound represented by the spelling . Two common restrictions are : excluding cases where the spelling represents the `` long a '' sound ( the lexical sets of FACE / eɪ / and perhaps SQUARE / ɛər / ) . This is commonly expressed by continuing the rhyme `` or when sounding like A , as in neighbor or weigh '' including only cases where the spelling represents the `` long e '' sound ( the lexical sets of FLEECE / iː / and perhaps NEAR / ɪər / and happY / i / ) . Some authorities deprecate the rule as having too many exceptions to be worth learning . Contents ( hide ) 1 History 1.1 History of the spellings 1.2 History of the mnemonic 2 Modern views 3 Exceptions 3.1 cie 3.1. 1 With the `` long e '' vowel 3.1. 2 With other sounds 3.2 ei not preceded by c 3.2. 1 With the `` long e '' vowel 3.2. 2 With the `` long a '' vowel 3.2. 3 Words with other sounds 4 Popular culture 5 Footnote 6 References 6.1 Sources 6.2 Citations History ( edit ) History of the spellings ( edit ) The Middle English language evolved from Old English after the Norman conquest , adding many loanwords from Norman French , whose sounds and spellings changed and were changed by the older English customs . In French loanwords , the digraph generally represented the sound ( eː ) , while represented ( ɛː ) . However , Early Modern English spelling was not fixed ; many words were spelled with and interchangeably , in printed works of the seventeenth century and private correspondence of educated people into the nineteenth century . In the Great Vowel Shift , sounds ( eː ) and ( ɛː ) were raised to ( iː ) and ( eː ) respectively , with the latter subsequently becoming the diphthong ( eɪ ) . Exceptionally , words in - ceive and their derivatives evolved from ( eː ) to ( iː ) rather than ( eɪ ) . History of the mnemonic ( edit ) The mnemonic ( in its short form ) is found as early as 1866 , as a footnote in Manual of English Spelling , edited by schools inspector James Stuart Laurie from the work of a Tavistock schoolmaster named Marshall . Michael Quinion surmises the rhyme was already established before this date . An 1834 manual states a similar rule in prose ; others in 1855 and 1862 use different rhymes . Many textbooks from the 1870s on use the same rhyme as Laurie 's book . The restriction to the `` long e '' sound is explicitly made in the 1855 and 1862 books , and applied to the `` I before E except after C '' rhyme in an 1871 manual . Mark Wainwright 's FAQ posting on the alt. usage. English newsgroup characterises this restricted version as British . The restriction may be implicit , or may be explicitly included as an extra line such as `` when the sound is e '' placed before or after the main part of the rhyme . A longer form excluding the `` long a '' sound is found in Rule 37 of Ebenezer Cobham Brewer 's 1880 Rules for English Spelling , along with a list of the `` chief exceptions '' : The following rhymes contain the substance of the last three rules : -- i before e , Except after c , Or when sounded as `` a , '' As in neighbour and weigh . `` Dr Brewer '' is credited as the author by subsequent writers quoting this form of the rhyme , which became common in American schools . A Dictionary of Modern English Usage discusses `` i before e except after c '' . Henry Watson Fowler 's original 1926 edition called the rule `` very useful '' , restricting it to words with the `` long e '' sound , stating further that `` words in which that sound is not invariable , as either , neither , inveigle , do not come under it '' , and calling seize `` an important exception '' . The entry was retained in Ernest Gowers 's 1965 revision . Robert Burchfield rewrote it for the 1996 edition , stating ' the rule can helpfully be extended `` except when the word is pronounced with / eɪ / '' ' , and giving a longer list of exceptions , including words excluded from Fowler 's interpretation . Robert Allen 's 2008 pocket edition states , `` The traditional spelling rule ' i before e except after c ' should be extended to include the statement ' when the combination is pronounced - ee - ' '' . In 1932 Leonard B. Wheat examined the rules and word lists found in various American elementary school spelling books . He calculated that , of the 3,876 words listed , 128 had ei or ie in the spelling ; of these , 83 conformed to I - before - E , 6 to except - after - C , and 12 to sounded - like - A. He found 14 words with i-e in separate syllables , and 2 with e-i in separate syllables . This left 11 `` irregular '' words : 3 with cie ( ancient , conscience , efficiency ) and 8 with ei ( either , foreign , foreigner , height , leisure , neither , seize , their ) . Wheat concluded , `` If it were not for the fact that the jingle of the rule makes it easy to remember ( although not necessarily easy to apply ) , the writer would recommend that the rule be reduced to ' I usually comes before e , ' or that it be discarded entirely '' . Modern views ( edit ) Sandra Wilde in 1990 claimed the sounded - like - E version of the rule was one of only two sound -- letter correspondence rules worth teaching in elementary schools . The rule was covered by five of nine software programs for spelling education studied by Barbara Mullock in 2012 . Edward Carney 's 1994 Survey of English Spelling describes the ( `` long - e '' version of the ) rule as `` peculiar '' : Its practical use is ... simply deciding between two correspondences for / iː / that are a visual metathesis of each other . It is not a general graphotactic rule applicable to other phonemes . So , although seize and heinous ( if you pronounce it with / iː / rather than / eɪ / ) are exceptions , heifer , leisure with / e / ≡ or rein , vein with / eɪ / ≡ are not exceptions ; is not a usual spelling of / e / or / eɪ / . As to the usefulness of the rule , he says : Such rules are warnings against common pitfalls for the unwary . Nevertheless , selection among competing correspondences has never been , and could never be , covered by such aids to memory . The converse of the `` except after c '' part is Carney 's spelling - to - sound rule E. 16 : in the sequence , the is pronounced / iː / . In Carney 's test wordlist , all eight words with conform to this rule , which he thus describes as being a `` marginal '' rule with an `` efficiency '' of 100 % . Rarer loanwords not in the wordlist may not conform ; e.g. the Gaelic word ceilidh is pronounced / keɪliː / . Mark Wainwright 's FAQ posting interprets the rule as applying only to the FLEECE vowel , not the NEAR vowel ; he regards it as useful if `` a little common sense '' is used for the exceptions . The FAQ includes a 1996 response to Wainwright by an American , listing variations on the rule and their exceptions , contending that even the restricted version has too many exceptions , and concluding `` Instead of trying to defend the ' rule ' or ' guideline ' , `` ' i ' before ' e ' except after ' c ' '' , why do n't we all just agree that it is dumb and useless , and be content just to laugh at it ? '' Kory Stamper of Merriam - Webster has said the neighbor - and - weigh version is `` chocked with tons of exceptions '' , listing several types . On Language Log in 2006 , Mark Liberman suggested that the alternative `` i before e , no matter what '' was more reliable than the basic rule . On the same blog in 2009 , Geoff Pullum wrote , ' The rule is always taught , by anyone who knows what they are doing , as `` i before e except after c when the sound is ' ee ' . '' ' The 2009 edition of Support for Spelling , by the English Department for Education , suggests an `` Extension activity '' for Year Five ( ten - year - olds ) : Children investigate the rule i before e except after c . Does this always apply ? What sound does ie make in these words ? In the Appendix , after a list of nine `` useful spelling guidelines '' , there is a note : The i before e except after c rule is not worth teaching . It applies only to words in which the ie or ei stands for a clear / ee / sound and unless this is known , words such as sufficient , veil and their look like exceptions . There are so few words where the ei spelling for the / ee / sound follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words : receive , conceive , deceive ( + the related words receipt , conceit , deceit ) , perceive and ceiling . There were widespread media reports of this recommendation , which generated some controversy . The Oxford Dictionaries website of Oxford University Press states `` The rule only applies when the sound represented is ' ee ' , though . It does n't apply to words like science or efficient , in which the -- ie - combination does follow the letter c but is n't pronounced ' ee ' . '' David Crystal discusses the rule in his 2012 history of English spelling . He first restricts it to the / iː / vowel , then accounts for several classes of exception . He states that , while the exceptions are fewer and rarer than the words that follow the rule , there are too many to learn by heart ; the factors are `` too great to reduce to a simple rule '' , but `` a basic knowledge of grammar and word - history '' can handle them . Exceptions ( edit ) The following sections list exceptions to the basic form ; many are not exceptions to the augmented forms . Words which break both the `` I before E '' part and the `` except after C '' part of the rule include cheiromancies , cleidomancies , eigenfrequencies , obeisancies , oneiromancies . Cie ( edit ) Some large groups of words have cie in the spelling . Few common words have the cei spelling handled by the rule : verbs ending - ceive and their derivatives ( perceive , deceit , transceiver , receipts , etc . ) , and ceiling . The BBC trivia show QI claimed there were 923 words spelled cie , 21 times the number of words which conform to the rule 's stated exception by being written with cei . These figures were generated by a QI fan from a Scrabble wordlist . The statistic was repeated by UberFacts . With the `` long e '' vowel ( edit ) The vowel represented by ie in words spelled cie is rarely the `` long e '' vowel of FLEECE ( / iː / ) , so few words are exceptions to the version of the rule restricted to that sound . Among them are specie , species . For those with happy - tensing accents , the final y in words ending - cy has the FLEECE vowel , and therefore so do inflected forms ending - cies or - cied ( fancied , policies , etc . ) . If the vowel of NEAR ( / ɪər / ) is considered as `` long e '' , then words ending - cier may also be exceptions . Possible examples include : fancier , if pronounced with two rather than three syllables ; or financier , if stressed on the final syllable or pronounced with a happy - tensing accent . With other sounds ( edit ) These are exceptions to the basic and `` long a '' versions of the rhyme , but not to the `` long e '' version . Types include : Adding suffix - er to root in - cy , giving a two - syllable ending - cier ; For example , fancier ( adjective `` more fancy '' , or noun `` one who fancies '' ) Words of Latin origin with a root ending in c ( i ) followed by a suffix or inflexion starting in ( i ) e ; such as fac or fic `` do ; make '' ( efficient , stupefacient , etc . ) soc `` sharing ; kin '' ( society ) sci `` know '' ( science , prescient , etc . ) Others : ancient , concierge , glacier Ei not preceded by c ( edit ) Many words have ei not preceded by c . In the sections which follow , most derived forms are omitted ; for example , as well as seize , there exist disseize and seizure . Words are grouped by the phonemes ( sounds ) corresponding to ei or ie in the spelling ; each phoneme is represented phonetically as at Help : IPA / English and , where applicable , by the keyword in John C. Wells ' lexical sets . An asterisk * after a word indicates the pronunciation implied is one of several found . Some have an / iː / variant more common in America than Britain ( e.g. sheikh , leisure , either have / eɪ / , / ɛ / , / aɪ / respectively ) . With the `` long e '' vowel ( edit ) Words where ei , not preceded by c , represents the vowel of FLEECE ( / iː / ) , are the only exceptions to the strictest British interpretation of the `` long e '' version of the rhyme . Less strict interpretations admit as exceptions those words where eir , not preceded by c , represents the vowel of NEAR ( / ɪər / ) . Some categories of exception : Many proper names , often because they are adopted from other languages . Fowler says the rule `` is useless with proper names '' ; Carney says `` As one might expect of any rule , there are likely to be even more exceptions in names , many of which are Scottish '' : forenames and surnames Keith , Neil , Sheila , Stein , etc . placenames Leith , Keighley , Rheims , Raleigh , etc . Eid in the names of Muslim holidays ( Eid ul - Fitr , Eid al - Adha , etc . ) others like Cassiopeia Chemical names ending in - ein or - eine ( caffeine , casein , codeine , phthalein , protein , etc . ) . Here - ein ( e ) was originally pronounced as two syllables / iː. ɪn / Scottish English words ( deil , deid , weill , etc . ) Mark Wainwright writes `` There are many exceptions in Scots , so speakers with a large Scots vocabulary may as well give up on this rule . '' Other exceptions : / iː / FLEECE either * , heinous * , inveigle * , keister , leisure * , monteith , neither * , obeisance * , seize , seizin , sheikh * , teiid / ɪər / NEAR madeira , weir , weird . ( This sound may also be spelled ier , as in pierce . ) With the `` long a '' vowel ( edit ) There are many words where ei , not preceded by c , represents the vowel of FACE ( / eɪ / ) . There are a few where eir , not preceded by c , represents the vowel of SQUARE ( / ɛər / ) . These groups of words are exceptions only to the basic form of the rhyme ; they are excluded from both of the common restricted forms . / eɪ / FACE With eigh spelling : eight , freight , heigh - ho * , inveigh , neigh , neighbo ( u ) r , sleigh , weigh Others : abseil , beige , capoeira , cleidoic , deign , dreidel , feign , feint , geisha , glei , greige , greisen , heinous * , inveigle * , nonpareil * , obeisance * , peignoir * , reign , rein , seiche , seidel , seine , sheikh * , skein , surveillance , veil , vein . ( While Carney says this sound is never spelled ie , the last vowel in lingerie * is often the FACE vowel . ) . / ɛər / SQUARE heir , their . ( This sound is never spelled ier ) Words with other sounds ( edit ) These are exceptions to the basic and `` long a '' versions of the rhyme , but not to the `` long e '' version . This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness . You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries . / aɪ / PRICE eider , either * , einsteinium , feisty , gneiss , heigh - ho * , height , heist , kaleidoscope , leitmotiv , neither * , Rottweiler , seismic , sleight , stein , zeitgeist . ( This sound may also be spelled ie , but only at the end of a morpheme as in die , pies , cried . ) / ɪ / or / ə / ( see weak - vowel merger ) counterfeit , foreign , forfeit , reveille * , sovereign , surfeit / ɛ / DRESS heifer , leisure * , nonpareil * , peignoir * . ( This sound is spelled ie in the word friend . ) / æ / TRAP reveille * / ɜ / NURSE O'Beirne e and i in separate segments ( and often separate syllables or morphemes ) Prefixes de - or re - before words starting with i ( deindustrialize , reignite , etc . ) Inflection - ing of those verbs with roots ending in - e which do not drop the e ( being , seeing , swingeing , etc . ) Others : albeit , atheism , deify , deity , herein , nuclei , onomatopoeia Popular culture ( edit ) The rhyme is mentioned in several films and TV episodes about spelling bees , including A Boy Named Charlie Brown , The Simpsons episode `` I 'm Spelling as Fast as I Can '' , and an episode of Arthur ; and also in the musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , when Huck Finn is being taught how to read . The rhyme was used as a climactic plot device in the 1990 TaleSpin episode `` Vowel Play '' when Kit corrects Baloo 's spelling by reciting the second half ( `` or when sounding like A , as in neighbour or weigh '' ) of the mnemonic . I Before E ( Except After C ) : Old - School Ways To Remember Stuff was a miscellany released in the UK for the Christmas 2007 `` stocking filler '' market , which sold well . `` I Before E Except After C '' is a song on Yazoo 's 1982 album Upstairs at Eric 's . The Jackson 5 's 1970 hit `` ABC '' has the lyric `` I before E except after C '' . `` I before E except after C '' was a 1963 episode of the TV series East Side / West Side . I Before E is the name of both a short - story collection by Sam Kieth and a music album by Carissa 's Wierd , in each case alluding to the unusual spelling of the creator 's name . Until the 1930s , Pierce City , Missouri was named `` Peirce City '' , after Andrew Peirce . A 1982 attempt to revert to the original spelling was rejected by the United States Census Bureau . Comedian Brian Regan employs the rule in a joke on his debut CD Live in the track Stupid in School . Footnote ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : The labels `` long a '' and `` long e '' , discredited among educators , are used here as umbrella terms for multiple lexical sets and diaphonemes . References ( edit ) Sources ( edit ) Carney , Edward ( 1994 ) . A survey of English spelling . Psychology Press . ISBN 978 - 0 - 415 - 09270 - 8 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . Upward , Christopher ; Davidson , George ( 2011 - 09 - 15 ) . The History of English Spelling . John Wiley & Sons . ISBN 9781444342970 . Retrieved 24 March 2016 . Citations ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : Carney 1994 , § 2.8. 2 pp. 67 -- 68 ^ Jump up to : Wheat , Leonard B. ( May 1932 ) . `` Four Spelling Rules '' . The Elementary School Journal . University of Chicago Press . 32 ( 9 ) : 697 -- 706 . doi : 10.1086 / 456796 . JSTOR 996052 . ^ Jump up to : Stamper , Kory . `` I before E '' ( Adobe Flash ) . Ask the Editor . Merriam - Webster . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : Liberman , Mark ( 18 November 2006 ) . `` Mrs. Olsen gets a D '' . Language Log . University of Pennsylvania . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : `` Support for Spelling '' ( PDF ) . The National Strategies : Primary Framework : Literacy Framework . Department for Education . February 2010 . Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 22 February 2011 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Scragg , D.G. ( 1974 ) . A History of English Spelling . Manchester University Press . pp. 49 ( text and fn. 1 ) . ISBN 9780719005534 . Retrieved 24 March 2016 . Jump up ^ Upward and Davidson 2011 , pp. 127 -- 8 Jump up ^ Laurie , James Stuart ( 1866 ) . Manual of English spelling . London : Simpkin , Marshall & Co. p. 59 . OCLC 266992241 . Retrieved 4 April 2013 . Laurie 's book erroneously lists conscience , seine , seize , and seizure under `` ei '' rather than under `` exceptions '' . Jump up ^ `` Laurie 's Manual of English Spelling '' . The Bookseller . J. Whitaker ( 109 ) : 15 . 31 January 1867 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : Quinion , Michael ( 4 July 2009 ) . `` I before E except after C '' . World Wide Words . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Tallant , Anne ( 1834 ) . The practice book ; containing lessons in dictating , with questions , intended to remove difficulties in English instruction , and to communicate interesting historical and natural facts ( 2nd ed . ) . London : J. Hatchard & Son . p. 68 , fn . Retrieved 27 February 2011 . As a little confusion is experienced by scholars , when spelling dissyllable verbs ending in ie , it is well to remember that when the diphthong is preceded by c , it is invariably ei , -- ex : perceive , deceive , conceive , &c , and when preceded by any other consonant , ie , ex : -- believe , reprieve , retrieve , &c . Jump up ^ Michôd , John ( 1855 ) . `` Vowels : Rule 5 '' . Orthographic aids ; or , Mnemonics for spelling and exercises in derivation . London : Longman . p. 9 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . The Diphthong ei when it sounds like long e , Most frequently follows the consonant c ; Reverse it , and then if it still sound the same , It follows a consonant not c by name , Except in such words as -- counterfeit , seizure , Plebeian and Proper Names such as Madeira . Jump up ^ Mongan , James Roscoe ( 1862 ) . The practical spelling book ( 2nd ed . ) . London : Simpkin , Marshall & Co. pp. 13 , fn . Retrieved 27 February 2011 . Unless preceded by a c , / The i is placed before the e . Jump up ^ Colquhoun , John Stuart ( 1871 ) . `` Rules for Spelling English Words '' . A compendious grammar and philological hand - book of the English language . Griffith & Farran . p. 15 . Retrieved 27 November 2014 . ^ Jump up to : Wainwright , Mark ( September 1997 ) . `` I before E except after C '' . alt. english. usage . Archived from the original on 14 May 2011 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : Pullum , Geoff ( 22 June 2009 ) . `` I before E '' . Language Log . University of Pennsylvania . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Brewer , Ebenezer Cobham ( 1880 ) . Rules for English spelling . p. 48 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Reed , Alonzo ( 1884 ) . Word lessons : A complete speller adapted for use in the higher primary , intermediate , and grammar grades . Clark & Maynard . pp. 101 -- 102 : § § 143 -- 146 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ California State Board of Education ( 1886 ) . Speller . State Printing Office . p. 127 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Gillingham , Anna ; Stillman , Bessie Whitmore ( 1970 ) . Remedial training for children with specific disability in reading , spelling , and penmanship . Educators Publishing Service . p. 173 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : Fowler , Henry Watson ( 1926 ) . `` Spelling points ; § 4 : Miscellaneous '' . A Dictionary of Modern English Usage ( 1st ed . ) . Oxford : Clarendon Press . OCLC 318492 . Jump up ^ Fowler , Henry Watson ( 1965 ) . `` Spelling points ; § 4 : Miscellaneous '' . Fowler 's Modern English Usage . Edited by Sir Ernest Gowers ( 2nd ed . ) . Great Britain : Oxford University Press . OCLC 318483 . Jump up ^ Burchfield , Robert William ( 1996 ) . `` i before e except after c '' . The New Fowler 's Modern English Usage ( 3rd ed . ) . Oxford University Press . ISBN 0 - 19 - 869126 - 2 . OCLC 36063311 . Jump up ^ Allen , Robert ( 2008 - 06 - 26 ) . `` i before e '' . Pocket Fowler 's Modern English Usage . OUP Oxford . p. 348 . ISBN 9780199232581 . Retrieved 24 March 2016 . ^ Jump up to : Mullock , Barbara ( 2012 ) . `` An Examination of Commercial Spelling Programs for Upper Primary Level students '' . Australasian Journal of Special Education . 36 ( 2 ) : 172 -- 195 . doi : 10.1017 / jse. 2012.14 . ISSN 1030 - 0112 . Jump up ^ Wilde , Sandra ( 1990 ) . `` Spelling textbooks : A critical review '' . Linguistics and Education . 2 ( 3 ) : 259 -- 280 . doi : 10.1016 / S0898 - 5898 ( 05 ) 80022 - 1 . ISSN 0898 - 5898 . cited in Mullock . Jump up ^ Carney 1994 , p. 74 ^ Jump up to : Carney 1994 , p. 314 Jump up ^ Cunningham , Bob ( 23 February 2002 ) . `` Exceptions to the rule ' I before E except after C ' '' . FAQ . alt. usage. english . Archived from the original on 23 December 2010 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . Jump up ^ `` i before e except after c '' . Oxford Dictionaries Online . Oxford University Press . 2010 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . ^ Jump up to : Crystal , David ( 2012 - 09 - 06 ) . `` Ch. 24 : Spelling ' rules ' '' . Spell It Out : The singular story of English spelling . Profile Books . pp. 177 -- 186 . ISBN 1846685680 . Retrieved 31 May 2014 . Jump up ^ `` I Before E Except After C '' . QI Series 8 Ep 14 Hocus Pocus Preview . YouTube . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ `` Series H , Episode 14 : Hocus Pocus '' . QI Talk Forum. 21 December 2010 . Retrieved 24 February 2011 . Jump up ^ UberFacts ( 6 July 2014 ) . `` Tweet 485804692292009985 '' . Twitter . Retrieved 9 November 2016 . There are 923 words in the English language that break the `` I before E '' rule . Only 44 words actually follow that rule . Jump up ^ Carney 1994 , § 3.3. 2.2 p. 161 Jump up ^ `` Definition of capoeira '' . Collins English Dictionary . Collins . Retrieved 4 April 2013 . Jump up ^ Carney 1994 , p. 168 Jump up ^ Carney 1994 , § 3.3. 2.1 pp. 151 -- 2 Jump up ^ `` Mnemony clever ways to remember stuff '' . The Daily Telegraph . 12 December 2007 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . Jump up ^ `` BA book prize lists 20 '' . The Bookseller. 26 August 2008 . Retrieved 25 February 2011 . Jump up ^ United Press International ( 1 September 1982 ) . `` Bureau sticks with ' i ' before ' e ' '' . The Bulletin . Bend , Oregon . p. 15 . Retrieved 28 February 2011 . Jump up ^ Wikiquote : Brian Regan Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_before_E_except_after_C&oldid=823988586 '' Categories : English spelling Mnemonics Rules of thumb Hidden categories : Dynamic lists Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 4 February 2018 , at 17 : 39 . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply . By using this site , you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . 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