Doubling The Consonant

If a word ends in a single consonant and you wish to add a suffix beginning with a vowel, you will usually need to double the consonant before adding it if there is only one syllable or if the stress falls on the last syllable.

annul	annulled	annulling
bat	batted	batting
bit	bitter	bitten
cancel	cancelled	cancelling
compel	compelled	compelling
counsel	counselled	counselling
drop	dropped	dropping
enrol	enrolled	enrolling
hop	hopped	hopping
intial	initialled	initialling
label	labelled	labelling
libel	libelled	libelling
propel	propelled	propelling

Looking at the exceptions

Where the stress in a multi-syllable word does not fall on the last syllable, it is not usually necessary to double the consonant:

benefit	benefited	benefiting
bias	biased	biasing
blanket	blanketed	blanketing
carpet	carpeted	carpeting
cricket	cricketer	cricketing
docket	docketed	docketing
fillet	filleted	filleting
focus	focused	focusing
gallop	galloped	galloping
market	marketed	marketing
offer	offered	offering
picket	picketed	picketing
target	targeted	targeting

Some consonants are not doubled before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. These are: w, x and y:

cox	coxed	coxing
cloy	cloyed	cloying
fray	frayed	fraying
stay	frayed	fraying
stay	stayed	staying
tax	taxed	taxing
tow	towed	towing
toy	toyed	toying
vex	vexed	vexing

If the consonant is preceded by two vowels, it is not doubled when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:

beat	beaten	beating
break		breaking
creak	creaked	creaking
creep		creeping
droop	drooped	drooping
fail	failed	failing
flail	flailed	flailing
greet	greeted	greeting
group	grouped	grouping
hail	hailed	hailing
heap	heaped	heaping
hoot	hooted	hooting
sail	sailed	sailing
seat	seated	seating
soar	soared	soaring
sleep		sleeping
trail	trailed	trailing
treat	treated	treating

If the root word ends with two consonants, it is obviously unnecessary to double the last one before adding the suffix.

bang	banged	banging
clock	clocked	clocking
crash	crashed	crashing
dash	dashed	dashing
fast	fasted	fasting
fault	faulted	faulting
fight		fighting
light	lighted	lighting
lack	lacked	lacking
lurch	lurched	lurching
prick	pricked	pricking
sack	sacked	sacking
search	searched	searching
sight	sighted	sighting
track	tracked	tracking
turn	turned	turning

Adding a suffix starting with a consonant

A suffix starting with a consonant usually changes the meaning of the word and converts it into a different part of speech. In most cases you can leave the root word as it is and just add the suffix:

annul	annulment	allot	allotment
abridge	abridgement	advertise	advertisement
amaze	amazement	bitter	bitterness
brother	brotherhood	child	childhood
commit	commitment	companion	companionship
court	courtship	coy	coyness
doubt	doubtless	duke	dukedom
earl	earldom	false	falsehood
fellow	fellowship	free	freedom
friend	friendship	hard	hardship
odd	oddment	member	membership
official	officialdom	power	powerless
scholar	scholarship	sister	sisterhood

COPING WITH THE ‘E’

Many words end with a silent ‘e’ and in single syllable words the preceding vowel is usually a ‘long’ one. When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, it is usually necessary to remove the ‘e’:

bite	biting	brake	braking
date	dating	dupe	duping
flake	flaking	flame	flaming
grate	grating	grope	groping
hate	hating	hike	hiking
hope	hoping	tape	taping

Looking at the exceptions

When a word ends in a ‘soft’ ‘g’ sound instead of a ‘hard’ one, the ‘e’ is retained as in the following:

age	ageing	courage	courageous
singe	singeing

Occasionally the ‘e’ at the end of a word is pronounced as an extra syllable:

anemone

apostrophe

catastrophe

simile

CHANGING THE TENSE

Verbs (’doing’ or ‘being’ words) can be used in the past, present or future and letters are often added to change the tense. To change a ‘doing’ verb from the present to the past, it is usually necessary to add ‘d’ or ‘ed’ to the end. Remember that you may have to double the consonant at the end.

Present	Past	Past participle
I dance	I danced	(have) danced
you play	you played	(have) played
he travels	he travelled	(has) travelled
she criticises	she criticised	(has) criticised
it chases	it chased	(has) chased
we plan	we planned	(have) planned
they move	they moved	(have) moved

Notice that in the above examples, the past participle is the same word as the past tense. This is not so in all cases.

Looking at the exceptions

The verb ‘to be’ changes the word in the past tense (refer to Chapter 3). Some ‘doing’ words also change the word instead of adding ‘ed’ and the past participle is sometimes different again. Look at the following examples:

Present	Past	Past participle
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
light	lit	lit
ride	rode	ridden
rise	rose	risen
see	saw	seen
shake	shook	shaken
shine	shone	shone
sit	sat	sat
speak	spoke	spoken
spend	spent	spent
steal	stole	stolen
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
throw	threw	thrown
wear	wore	worn
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
write	wrote	written

Keeping the same word

The verbs ‘to read’ and ‘to beat’ retain the same word for both present and the past tenses but ‘read’ (present tense) is pronounced with a long ‘ee’ sound while the past tense is a short ‘e’ as in ‘red’.

Changing the vowels

In the following verbs the ‘a’ in the past tense is changed to ‘u’ for the past participle:

Present	Past	Past participle
begin	began	began
drink	drank	drunk
run	ran	run
shrink	shrank	shrunk
spring	sprang	sprung
stink	stank	stunk
swim	swam	swum

Using ‘t’ instead of ‘ed’

The following verbs use ‘t’ instead of ‘ed’ to form the past tense and the past participle:

Present	Past	Past participle
build	built	built
burn	burnt	burnt
creep	crept	crept
deal	dealt	dealt
feel	felt	felt
learn	learnt	learnt
lean	leant	leant
sleep	slept	slept
sweep	swept	swept
weep	wept	wept

LOOKING AT ENDINGS

The endings of some words are confusing and you may not know which is the correct one to use. Unfortunately there are few rules to help you so the words have to be learnt or you will have to use a dictionary.

Is it ‘-able’ or ‘-ible’?

The endings ‘-able’ and ‘-ible’ usually form adjectives. It may help you to find the correct ending if you think of the noun that relates to the adjective. If the last syllable contains an ‘a’ towards the end, the word will usually end in ‘-able’. Similarly if there is an ‘i’, the ending is likely to be ‘-ible’.

Noun	Adjective	Noun	Adjective
adoration	adorable	accession	accessible
admiration	admirable	admission	admissible
abomination	abominable	comprehension	comprehensible
inflation	inflatable	digestion	digestible
irritation	irritable	division	divisible

Other words with ‘-able’ endings

acceptable	adaptable	arguable	available
comfortable	considerable	inflammable	laughable
objectionable	perishable	pleasurable	regrettable
tolerable	undeniable	unmistakable	variable

Other words with ‘-ible’ endings

admissible	xaudible	collapsible	combustible
compatible	contemptible	convertible	corruptible
credible	edible	fallible	flexible
feasible	incomprehensible	indelible	infallible
intangible	invincible	legible	permissible

Exceptions

Some words retain the ‘e’ before adding ‘-able’. This is so if there is a soft ‘c’ or ‘g’ at the end of the root word:

notice	noticeable	peace	peaceable
pronounce	pronounceable	service	serviceable
trace	traceable	replace	replaceable
bridge	bridgeable	charge	chargeable
change	changeable	knowledge	knowledgeable
marriage	marriageable

Other exceptions

Other words that keep the ‘e’ before ‘-able’ are:

blame	blameable	give	giveable
like	likeable	name	nameable
rate	rateable	sale	saleable
share	shareable	size	sizeable
shake	shakeable	tame	tameable

Note that if ‘-ing’ is added to some of the above words the ‘e’ is removed:

blaming	giving	liking	naming	rating
sharing	sizing	shaking	taming	timing

Is it ‘-ce’ or ‘-se-?

In most cases the noun ends in ‘-ce’ and the verb ends in ‘-se’.

Noun	Verb
advice	advise
device	devise
licence	license
practice	practise

The following words end with ‘y’ instead of ‘e’ and both are pronounced as an extra syllable:

noun: prophecy (ee sound)

verb: prophesy (long ‘I’ sound)

Is it ‘a’ or ‘e’?

It is not always easy to decide whether an ‘a’ or an ‘e’ introduces the suffix. There are, unfortunately, no rules to help you so the words have to be learnt.

Some adjectives ending in ‘-ant’

abundant	adamant	arrogant	blatant
buoyant	constant	distant	dominant
elegant	extravagant	exuberant	flagrant
poignant	pregnant	redundant	repentant
relevant	reluctant	repugnant	resonant
significant	vacant	vibrant

Some nouns ending in ‘-ant’

assistant	celebrant	claimant	deodorant
dependant	descendant	emigrant	militant
peasant	pendant	pheasant	tenant
transplant	truant	tyrant	vagrant

Some adjectives ending in ‘-ent’

absent	apparent	ardent	belligerent
coherent	consistent	decadent	dependent
effluent	diligent	eminent	evident
expedient	fluorescent	frequent	independent
obedient	reminiscent

Some nouns ending in ‘-ent’

ascent	content	convent	delinquent
equivalent	extent	incumbent	patient
portent	president	recipient	superintendent
tangent

Is it ‘-ance’ or ‘-ence’?

Nouns often use the above suffix. If applicable the ‘a’ or ‘e’ will follow the same pattern as the previous examples.

Nouns ending in ‘-ance’

abundance	arrogance	appearance	assonance
assurance	defiance	distance	disturbance
elegance	entrance	extravagance	grievance
insurance	performance	perseverance	resistance
resonance	semblance	surveillance	temperance

Nouns ending in ‘-ence’

absence	commence	consequence	correspondence
eminence	essence	evidence	excellence
expedience	impudence	presence	pretence
reminiscence	reverence	sentence	sequence

Using ‘s’ or ‘z’

There is often confusion as to whether words should end with ‘-ise’ or ‘-ize’. If the ‘i’ is pronounced with either a short vowel sound as in ‘lip’ or a long ‘e’ sound as in ‘see’, the ending is usually ‘-ise’:

premise

promise

expertise

reprise

The problem often arises with words which end with a ‘long’ ‘i’ sound. The following words always take the ‘s’ ending.

Verbs

advertise	apprise	arise	chastise	circumcise
devise	emphasise	franchise	improvise	revise

Nouns

demise

enterprise

merchandise

The following words can be both nouns and verbs:

compromise	disguise	exercise (can also be an adjective)
surprise

The following words have traditionally been spelt with an ‘-ize’ ending but the alternative ‘-ise’ is now acceptable and is becoming increasingly popular:

agonize (-ise)	appetizer (-iser)	civilize (-ise)
colonize (-ise)	criticize (-ise)	fertilizer (-iser)
legalize (-ise)	recognize (-ise)	standardize (-ise)

Note the following words:

apprise (verb)	to inform	apprize (verb)	to value
prise (verb)	to open	prize (noun)	a reward

Ending with ‘-le’

If two consonants follow a short vowel sound, the ending is usually ‘-le’:

angle	battle	bramble	bristle	brittle	cattle
crumple	cuddle	dazzle	fiddle	handle	humble
hurtle	mantle	middle	muscle	nestle	nettle
nimble	paddle	prattle	raffle	rattle	riddle
ruffle	saddle	simple	single	thimble	thistle
twiddle	wrestle	wriggle

Words whose root ends in ‘c’ or ‘k’ also usually take the ‘-le’ ending:

ankle	article	barnacle	buckle	bicycle	castle
chuckle	crackle	fickle	icicle	miracle	obstacle
rankle	sparkle	spectacle	sprinkle	suckle	twinkle
uncle	vehicle	winkle	wrinkle

Other words which have an ‘-le’ ending are:

beetle	beadle	bible	bridle	girdle	liable
needle	stable	table

Other endings

Other words might end with ‘-el’ ‘-il’ or ‘-ol’ but unfortunately there is no rule to help you to decide on the correct ending. However the following letters are never followed by ‘-le’: m, n, v, w.

The spelling of the following words may have to be learnt:

angel	camel	cannibal	chisel	crystal	hospital
hotel	label	marvel	model	novel	original
parallel	pedal	peril	petal	pistol	pupil
rascal	royal	sandal	tunnel	usual	visual
vowel

Ending words with ‘-ous’

A number of words end in ‘-ous’ and many are preceded by a consonant. They are usually adjectives:

ambidextrous	anonymous	blasphemous
callous	credulous	dangerous
enormous	fabulous	famous
garrulous	grievous	humorous
infamous	jealous	marvellous
murderous	nervous	perilous
preposterous	rapturous	ridiculous
scurrilous	solicitous	sonorous
treacherous

Some words have an ‘i’ before the ‘-ous’ and the following words are pronounced with a ‘sh’ sound:

anxious	atrocious	conscious	ferocious
gracious	luscious	obnoxious	precious
spacious	superstitious	suspicious	tenacious
voracious	vicious

In other cases the ‘i’ is pronounced as ‘ee’ thus creating another syllable:

curious	delirious	fastidious	furious
glorious	hilarious	illustrious	impervious
luxurious	previous	salubrious	sanctimonious
serious	spacious	supercilious	various
vicarious	victorious

There are also words which have an ‘e’ before the ‘-ous’ and in this case the vowel is pronounced as ‘ee’:

beauteous	bounteous	courteous	erroneous
hideous	miscellaneous	nauseous	piteous
simultaneous	spontaneous

In the following words the ‘e’ or the ‘i’ is retained because the ‘g’ is soft:

advantageous	courageous	gorgeous	outrageous
contagious	religious	sacrilegious

Ending with ‘-ion’

Words ending with ‘-ion’ are invariably nouns and whatever the preceding consonant the suffix is usually pronounced ‘sh’.

Words ending in ‘-tion’

action	addiction	administration	attention
civilisation	communication	competition	conception
condition	description	diction	education
fraction	generation	genuflection	graduation
identification	imagination	imagination	installation
matriculation	motion	nation	obstruction
occupation	partition	personification	prescription
position	promotion	pronunciation	punctuation
radiation	reception	rejection	remuneration
restitution	resurrection	revolution	sanction
solution	station	suggestion	termination
transportation	transcription	translation	tribulation
vacation	vaccination	veneration	vocation

Words ending with ‘-sion’

There are fewer words ending with ‘-sion’:

collision	comprehension	condescension	derision
mansion	mission	pension	permission
persuasion	profusion	suspension	transfusion

Words ending with ‘-xion’

A few words end with ‘-xion’ but some may also use ‘ct’ instead of ‘x’:

crucifixion	deflexion (deflection)	fluxion
genuflexion (genuflection)	inflexion (inflection)

Ending with ‘-ian’

Some words end with ‘ian’ and the preceding consonant is usually a ‘c’ and it is pronounced ‘sh’. These are usually job titles.

Words ending ‘-cian’

beautician	electrician	magician	mathematician
musician	optician	paediatrician	politician
statistician	technician

CHECKLIST

Retain the ‘e’ at the end of word before adding ‘ly’.
Change the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ before adding ‘ly’.
Add ‘ally’ after ‘ic’.
Apart from w, x and y, double the consonant before adding a suffix unless two vowels precede it.
Remove the ‘e’ at the end when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.

PRACTISING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNT

Correct the spelling mistakes in the following passage:

She was so beautifull that he was allmost in love with her. He knew she was a dutyful daughter but he was hopefull that she would finaly agree to go out with him. He knew she usualy walked in the park in the morning. When she appeared, he immediatly went towards her and asked if he could join her. She shook her head gentley and went on her way. He was terribley hurt but realised that she would not automaticly become his friend. His brain was racing franticly as he planed his next move and hopped she would speak to him.

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Spell Well

Doubling The Consonant