Whenever "i" and "e" occur together in one syllable, and are pronounced as "[=e]" or "[)e]," it is always "i" before "e" except after "c" (see). When sounded like "[=a]" it is always "e" before "i." Some have used the following jingle to help fix the rule:

"i" before "e"
Except after "c"
Or when sounded like "a"
As in neighbor or weigh.

Four of the words most commonly used in writing letters are exceptions to these rules: neither, leisure, foreign, height.

Transcriber's Note