I Before E Except After C: When the Rule Works and When It Doesn't

I before E except after C is a spelling rhyme that helps you choose between ie and ei. It works best for words where the letters make a long ee sound: write ie as in believe and field, but ei after c as in receive and ceiling. The rule fails for a long list of common words, such as weird, seize, either and science, so the smart approach is to learn the rule, learn its limits and memorize the exceptions. This guide does all three.

You will find the full version of the rhyme, a sorted list of exception words, and simpler patterns that are more reliable than the rhyme on its own. For other spelling traps, see our lists of commonly misspelled words and silent letter words.

What does "I before E except after C" mean?

The rhyme gives you a default and one exception:

• Default: when i and e sit together and make the ee sound, put the i first: believe, chief, field, niece, piece, shield, thief, yield.
• Exception: right after the letter c, put the e first: ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive.

Many people learn a longer version:

I before E, except after C, or when sounded like A, as in neighbor and weigh.

That extra line covers words where ei makes a long a sound: eight, freight, neighbor, reign, sleigh, vein, weigh, weight.

When the rule works

The rule is reliable in one narrow situation: when the vowel sound is a clear long ee. Here are examples that follow it.

ie for the ee sound (no c before it):

• achieve, belief, believe, brief, chief, field, fierce, grief, niece, piece, priest, relief, shield, siege, thief, wield, yield

ei for the ee sound after c:

• ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive

The second list is short. That is one reason teachers often suggest learning those eight words directly instead of relying on the rhyme.

ei for the long a sound:

• beige, eight, feign, freight, heir (silent h), neighbor, reign, rein, sleigh, veil, vein, weigh, weight

Why the rule gets criticized

The rhyme is easy to remember, but it is often taught without the "ee sound" condition. Without that condition, a huge number of words look like exceptions. Words such as sufficient (where ie follows c but makes a sh-uh sound) and their (where ei makes an air sound) confuse students who were never told the rule only covers the ee sound.

In 2009, the UK government's Support for Spelling guidance for primary schools went further. As reported by the BBC, it called the rule "not worth teaching," noting that it applies only to words where ie or ei stands for a clear ee sound, and that so few cei words exist that it is easier to learn them one by one. The linguist Geoffrey Pullum replied on Language Log that the rule is a helpful guide when it is taught correctly, with the ee condition.

Both sides agree on the practical point: the rule only helps if you know when it applies, and you still need to learn the exceptions.

I before E exceptions: the words to memorize

These words break the rule even when the vowel sounds like ee, or they use ei without a c and without a long a sound. They are the ones that show up in spelling tests.

ei words with no c (rule-breakers)

• caffeine, codeine, either, leisure, neither, protein, seize, seizure, weird

Either and neither can be said with an ee sound or an eye sound, and both pronunciations are standard in American English. Either way, the spelling is ei.

ie after c (rule-breakers)

• ancient, conscience, deficient, efficient, financier, glacier, proficient, science, society, species, sufficient

Many of these contain -cient or -cience, where ci makes a sh sound. A handy pattern: "after c, if the sound is sh, use ie."

ei with an eye sound

• eiderdown, feisty, height, kaleidoscope, seismic, sleight, stein

ei with other sounds

• counterfeit, foreign, forfeit, heifer, sovereign, surfeit, their

Plurals and verb forms

The rule also seems to break when -ies, -ied or -ier is added to a word ending in y: fancies, fancier, policies, agencies, frequencies. Here the ie comes from changing y to i and adding a suffix, not from the rule. For more on how endings change spellings, see our guide to spelling bee prefixes and suffixes.

Quick reference table

Better ways to learn ie and ei words

The rhyme is a start, not a finish. These habits work better.

1. Learn the eight cei words as a set. Ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive. If you know these eight, the "after c" part of the rule is covered.
2. Use a sentence for the weird words. One popular memory line: "Neither weird foreign sovereign seized leisure." Make up your own silly sentence with the exceptions you keep missing.
3. Listen for the sound first. Before you spell, say the word. If the sound is not a clear ee, the rhyme does not apply, so do not use it.
4. Group by word family. Receive, receipt and reception share a root. Believe, belief and disbelief share another. Learning families is easier than learning single words. Our guide to Greek and Latin root words shows how roots keep spellings consistent.
5. Keep a personal error list. When you miss an ie/ei word, write it down. Review the list for two minutes a day.

Practice: ie or ei?

Fill in the blank with ie or ei, then check the answers.

1. rec__ve
2. bel__f
3. w__rd
4. n__ce
5. sc__nce
6. s__ze
7. w__gh
8. fr__nd
9. h__ght
10. ach__ve

Answers: 1) receive (ei after c); 2) belief (ie, ee sound); 3) weird (exception); 4) niece (ie, ee sound); 5) science (ie after c, rule-breaker); 6) seize (exception); 7) weigh (ei, long a); 8) friend (ie, short e sound, memorize it); 9) height (ei, eye sound); 10) achieve (ie, ee sound).

Common ie and ei mistakes

These are the slips teachers and bee coaches see most often, and a quick fix for each.

• recieve instead of receive. This is the classic mistake. The c comes right before the vowels, so it is ei. Remember it with its relative receipt.
• wierd instead of weird. Weird is one of the best-known rule-breakers. Some people remember it with the line "weird is weird," because it breaks the rule.
• beleive instead of believe. No c before the vowels and a clear ee sound, so the rule works: ie. Try the memory line "never believe a lie."
• freind instead of friend. Friend has a short e sound, so the rhyme does not cover it. A common memory line: "a friend to the end," since friend ends in end.
• seige instead of siege. Siege follows the rule (ie, ee sound), but it is easily confused with seize, which breaks it. Learn the two as a pair.
• concieve and percieve. Both follow the "after c" part of the rule. If you know receive, you know these two.
• theif and peice. Both follow the rule. Piece has its own memory line: "a piece of pie."

A good test for a tricky word is to write it both ways on scrap paper. Often one version will simply look wrong, especially for words you read often. If both look fine, fall back on the sound check: is it a clear ee, and is there a c right before it?

How this helps in a spelling bee

In competition, a speller who hesitates between ie and ei can use the tools the rules allow. You can ask the pronouncer for the definition, the part of speech, a sentence and the language of origin. The language of origin helps: many -cient and -cience words come from Latin, and words like stein and kaleidoscope come from German and Greek. Our guide to how to prepare for a spelling bee explains how to use those questions on stage.

Looking for a fun way to practice? Try today's puzzle tools and hints on the Spelling Bee Hub home page.

Spelling variety matters too; see how British vs American spelling treats words like colour and center.

Another pattern worth drilling is the double consonant rule, which tells you when to write running instead of runing.

Frequently Asked Questions