You remember in the formation of plurals, we learned that words ending
in _y_ change _y_ to _i_ when _es_ is added; as, _lady, ladies_; _baby,
babies_; _dry, dries_, etc.
There are several rules concerning words ending in _y_, knowledge of
which will aid us greatly in spelling.
+1.+ +Words ending in _ie_ change the _ie_ to _y_ before _ing_
to prevent a confusing number of vowels.+ For example, _die, dying_;
_lie, lying_; _tie, tying_.
+2.+ +Words of more than one syllable ending in _y_ preceded by a
consonant, change _y_ into _i_ before all suffixes except those
beginning with _i_.+ For example:
happy, happily, happiness;
witty, wittier, wittiest;
satisfy, satisfied, satisfying;
envy, enviable, envying.
This exception is made for suffixes beginning with _i_, the most common
of which is _ing_, to avoid having a confusing number of _i's_.
+3.+ +Most words ending in _y_ preceded by a vowel retain the _y_
before a suffix.+ For example:
destroy, destroyer, destroying;
buy, buyer, buying;
essay, essayed, essayist.
The following words are exception to this rule:
laid,
paid,
said,
daily,
staid.
Make as many words as you can out of the words given in this week's
spelling lesson by adding one or more of the following suffixes: _er_,
_est_, _ed_, _es_, _ing_, _ly_, _ness_, _ful_, _ment_, _al_.
+Monday+
Beauty
Portray
Deny
Rare
Multiply
+Tuesday+
Mercy
Bury
Obey
Lovely
Envy
+Wednesday+
Tie
Defy
Study
Decry
Crazy
+Thursday+
Merry
Silly
Lusty
Imply
Day
+Friday+
Dismay
Duty
Employ
Satisfy
Pretty
+Saturday+
Pay
Joy
Journey
Qualify
Sorry