-ie- or -ei-

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Sometimes it is difficult to remember whether a word is spelled with -ie- or -ei-. There is a very simple rule about this:

I before E
except after C
or when sounding like AY
as in neighbor and weigh

Rule
 Examples
I before E
 achieve, believe, brief, chief, friend, grief, hygiene, patience, pierce, priest, thief
except after C
 ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive
or when sounding like AY
beige, feint, freight, inveigle, neighbor, sleigh, vein, weigh, weight

Here are some common exceptions to the above rule:
  • either, neither, caffeine, codeine, counterfeit, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, protein, their, weird, seize, seizure