Spelling rule
Words ending in -ous
-ous often means 'full of': famous means full of fame, dangerous means full of danger. The tricky part is what happens to the root word.
How it works
- 1
Often you just add -ous
- danger → dangerous
- poison → poisonous
- mountain → mountainous
- 2
Drop a final e
But keep it after a soft g, so the g still says 'j'.
- fame → famous
- nerve → nervous
- adventure → adventurous
- courage → courageous
- 3
Change y to i
- vary → various
- glory → glorious
- fury → furious
- 4
-our becomes -or
- humour → humorous
- glamour → glamorous
- vigour → vigorous
- 5
Some roots change more
- disaster → disastrous
- marvel → marvellous
- mischief → mischievous
- 6
An 'ee' sound before -ous is usually i, sometimes e
- curious
- obvious
- serious
- hideous
Watch out
- mischievous has three beats: mis-chie-vous. There's no i after the v.
- disastrous has no e: disaster loses it.
- curious → curiosity: the u disappears.
Words to practise
Years 3 and 4 statutory words
- famous
- various
Years 5 and 6 statutory words
- mischievous
- marvellous
- disastrous
- conscious
- curiosity
More everyday words
- dangerous
- nervous
- enormous
- jealous
- serious
Practise a few minutes a day
The daily spelling workout brings back the words your child finds tricky, and shows you which rules they need to revisit.