A vowel before
spe + cial → specialAfter a vowel letter, -cial is usual.
official; social; artificialHomeSpelling guides-cial or -tial?
THE SPELLING NOTEBOOK · 07
-cial or -tial?
Check the letter before.
Both endings sound like “shul”. The letter just before the ending is the clue.
Try a little practice ↓THE RULES, ONE AT A TIME
Look at the word.
Then add the ending.
A consonant before
par + tial → partialAfter a consonant letter, -tial is usual.
essential; confidential; substantialKeep the c of the root
finance → financialSome words keep the c from the word they come from.
commerce → commercial; province → provincialThe odd ones out
initial, spatial, palatialA vowel comes before -tial here. Spatial and palatial come from space and palace, yet still use -tial.
initial; spatial; palatialExceptions to remember
Besides initial, financial, commercial and provincial, watch words that come from an -ence or -ent word: they take -tial (essence → essential, confident → confidential, influence → influential).
A LITTLE PRACTICE GOES A LONG WAY
Which spelling is right?
Use the rules above, then check your answers.
Teacher answer key
- official
- partial
- finance → financial
- essential
- special
- initial
A note for the grown-ups.
Rules summarised from the Department for Education’s English spelling appendix. Examples and practice are original site copy, checked against the ENABLE2K word list. Spelling rules have exceptions; check unfamiliar words in a dictionary.