Have you heard of that well-known spelling rule yet? When spelling words that have an ie combination, always position the i before the e — unless, of course, the letters i and e come after a c. This might be the most famous spelling rule ever because it's so easy to remember and because it really does work! Words that have the combination of letters i and e together usually do go in that order. Here are some examples: tie, thief, brief, and shriek.

Exceptions, Exceptions

Not every word wants to follow the rules. The i before e rule works most of the time — but not all the time. There are several words that do not contain the letter c but do have an e that comes before an i. Here are two crazy sayings that pretty much incorporate all the words that have e before i.

• Neither leisured foreigner seized the weird height.

• Eight counterfeit steins deceived the deity.

Whew! Some of those words are pretty fancy and might be unfamiliar to you. You almost need to get out the dictionary just to understand the exceptions!

You know the famous spelling rule: i before e except after c. It's catchy, but there's a little more to it. When e and i combine to make the sound ay as in neighbor and weigh, the e comes before the i. Can you think of four exceptional words to add to neighbor and weigh?