So here we go:
This is great time to introduce (or reinforce) that when we don’t know how to spell a word, we need to think of the following questions:
- What does the word mean?
- How is it built? What are its relatives?
- What letters can we use (in which positions) to represent its pronunciation?
So, back to <full> vs <helpful>. Why the difference?
The first thing to know is that there is a convention whereby certain letters are doubled at the end of certain BASES. This convention applies to free bases only, not to suffixes/prefixes, and not to bound bases (more about what those are later).
<Full> is a free base. It’s a word on its own. So it’s going to follow this convention. In <helpful>, the <-ful> is a suffix, so the convention doesn’t apply.
So, what’s the convention?
At the end of a free base, the letter <l> will double if it is straight after a single vowel letter that is the only vowel letter in the whole word. Here’s a diagram that illustrates the convention.
This diagram is based on the one in the Real Spelling Toolbox. (Which you can purchase from www.realspelling.fr if you ask very nicely and prove that you’re really interested in how spelling works).
So, these words need <ll> because they have just one vowel right before the /l/ sound:
All (and ball, call, tall, etc.)
Bell
Will
Doll
Full
But these do not need the double <l>:
Snarl (has a consonant before the <l>)
Feel (has two vowels)
Pencil (has two vowels in the word)
School (has two vowels)
Scowl (has a consonant before the <l>)
Annul (has two vowels in the word)
So, do a little practice if you like. Decide whether these words need one or two <l>s, and make sure you understand why.
Ma_
Coo_
Whee_
Whir_
Counci_
Fe_
Bi_
Nai_
Fou_
A commonly misspelled word, until…
A word like <till> needs <ll>, because it only has one vowel. But <until> has two vowels in the word – so it only requires one <l>. This word is commonly misspelled as <*untill>, because people think if <till> needs the double <l>, then <until> should have a double <l> too! Once you know what the real convention is, however, it’s easy to understand why <until> only has one <l>.
So what about the suffix <-ful>?
The convention only applies to BASES, not suffixes, so the <-ful> suffix only has one <l>. In the case of –ful though, there would always be more than one vowel in the word, anyway.
And also…
This is also why <always>, <also> and <altogether> are not spelled *allways, *allso, and *alltogether. In these words, the <-al> is a prefix, not a base, and so there doesn’t need to a double <l>.
But there’s more!
Yes, in case you’re wondering, this is the same pattern that is in my c/k PowerPoint! The same pattern applies to when to use a <<k> or a <ck> at the end of a word (e.g. <look> has a <k> because of its two vowels, <think> has a <k> because of the consonant just before the /k/ sound, and <duck> has a <ck> because you need to insert a <c> after that single vowel, before you write the <k>.
This is just one example of how one spelling convention applies to many circumstances.
Look at this – there are even more uses for this new piece of knowledge you’ve just learned. All of these diagrams apply to bases that are free (Meaning they can be stand-alone whole words by themselves) and lexical. (As opposed to function words. Function words are things like prepositions, conjunctions, etc. Lexical words are usually longer and less frequently used. They do more than just ‘grammatical’ jobs).
Here are some more practice examples, if you feel like doing some. Can you now explain WHY they have either one or two <l>s?
<f>
Sta__
Shel_
Cli__
o__
Roo_
Gru__
<s>
Cla__
Me__
Ki__
Bo__
Fu__
<z>
Ja__
Bu__
Fi__
Fu__
But wait – look at all these ‘exceptions’ I’ve found!
One of the biggest complaints levelled against English spelling is that it is ‘full of exceptions’. So let’s deal with the elephant in the room and mention some of them here. Whenever there is something that ‘seems’ to be a random exception, it is possible to investigate the word and find a reason! They aren’t really exceptions at all!
As, Was, Has, Is, Us
These don’t double as they are function words – also, the <s> in the first four is pronounced as a /z/. Historically, so was the <s> in <us> - in fact in some parts of England, people still pronounce it like /uz/.
Chef
This is a French loanword. Loan words follow the patterns and conventions of the original language they came from. We can also tell <chef> is a loan word because the <ch> represents /sh/, as in the other French loanwords <champagne>, <cliché>, <chic>
Bus
This is a ‘clip’, or shortening, of the original word <omnibus>. That has more than one vowel in it, so the <s> didn’t double.
Yes
This is a compressed phrase. Originally, people said ‘Yea’. The word <yes> could be said to be a contraction of Yea it is.
Gas
This is another loanword, coined by the scientist who first started to investigate the production of gases. He took the word <chaos> from Greek and transcribed it into his native Flemish as <gas>. It then became a loan word in English.
Plus
This is a Latin loan word that came into English quite late, through its use in mathematical writings.
Pal
This is another loan word. It comes from the Shelta language, used by Irish Travellers, where it means ‘brother/mate’.
Of
This is a preposition – it’s a function word, not a lexical word. In addition, the <f> is representing the <v> sound.
If
This a conjunction - it’s also a function word, rather than a lexical word.
This has been (I think) my longest blogpost yet – so congratulations (and thanks) for getting this far. I hope my very wordy explanation is clear enough to understand.
If you’re starting to have your eyes opened to the regularity and ‘tidiness’ of English spelling, and you want to know more, please check out www.realspelling.fr for the original materials that taught me all this! Real Spelling rocks!
Happy spelling!