Year 4 Term 2 Spelling objectives and tricky words
Week
Spelling
rule or
pattern
1
Adding il-, in-, imprefixes
im prefix – Use it
when the root
word begins with
‘m’ or ‘p’.
il prefix – Use it
when the root
word begins with
‘l’.
in prefix – Use it
when the root
word begins with
any other letter
(Except root
words beginning
with r).
2
Suffix –ed
If a regular verb already
ends with an ‘e’, make
sure it ends in ‘ed’
e.g. bake - baked.
If the verb ends in a
consonant and a ‘y’, the
‘y’ becomes an ‘i’
e.g. hurry – hurried
Don’t change the ‘y’ if the
word ends in a vowel and
a ‘y’ e.g. stay – stayed
If a regular verb with one
syllable ends with one
vowel and a consonant,
double the consonant
before adding ‘ed’
e.g. wrap – wrapped
If a regular verb with
more than one syllable
ends with a vowel and a
consonant and the last
syllable is stressed, double
the consonant before
adding ‘ed’
Here are some examples
(the stress is underlined):
prefer - preferred
admit - admitted
target - targeted
3
Suffix –ing
If the verb ends in ‘e’,
take it away before
adding ‘ing’
e.g. take – taking.
If the verb ends with
an ‘ie’, change it to a
‘y’ before adding ‘ing’
e.g. lie – lying.
If a regular verb with
more than one
syllable ends with a
vowel and a
consonant and the
last syllable is
stressed, double the
consonant before
adding ‘ing’
Here are some
examples (the stress is
underlined):
prefer - preferring
admit - admitting
target - targeting
Fort most other
words, just add ‘ing’
e.g. go – going
sail – sailing
talk – talking
4
Suffix –er
Change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’
before adding er
carry + er = carrier
The ‘y’ remains if the
word ends in
a vowel + y
e.g. buy – buyer.
Words ending in
silent 'e' + vowel suffix
e.g. make – maker.
Words of 1 syllable
ending in 1 vowel +
1 consonant - double
the last letter before
a vowel suffix
e.g. shop – shopper
Words of more than 1
syllable ending in
1 vowel + L always
double up the L before
adding –er.
e.g. travel - traveller,
Words ending
in vowels have no
change
with vowel suffix
e.g. ski - skier
5
Suffix –en
If a regular verb
already ends with an
‘e’, make sure it ends
in ‘en’.
e.g. chose - chosen.
If a regular verb with
one syllable ends with
one vowel and a
consonant, double the
consonant before
adding ‘en’
e.g. hid – hidden
If there are two or
more consonants at
the end of the root
word, just add –en.
6
Possessive
apostrophe with
plural words:
Singular The cat belonging to
the boy.
The boy’s cat.
Plural
The cat belonging to
the boys.
The boys’ cat.
Some plurals are
irregular, e.g. men,
children, so the
possessive
apostrophe is placed
like this:
The men’s car.
The children’s
classroom.
Examples
of words
following
the rule
(useful
exceptions
in
brackets)
illegible
illiterate
incapable
inconvenient
inattentive
incredible
immature
impossible
impatient
impractical
Weekly
tricky
words
woman
women
invented
dragged
explored
married
fizzed
cried
washed
grabbed
saved
carried
colouring
swimming
aching
relying
touching
playing
dragging
rising
speaker
passenger
register
laughter
remainder
writer
sweater
thunder
passenger
messenger
(dryer)
lengthen
straighten
forgotten
forgiven
rotten
hidden
chosen
toughen
frighten
promise
therefore
perhaps
pressure
opposite
ordinary
girls’
boys’
dogs’
witches’
babies’
fairies’
children’s
men’s
women’s