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Spelling Rules Simple Past Tense

The document outlines 5 spelling rules for regular verbs in the simple past tense in English: 1. Most regular verbs take -ed, such as cooked, asked, needed. 2. Verbs ending in a silent e take just -d, such as arrived, baked, smiled. 3. Verbs ending in a consonant + y change the y to i and add -ed, such as applied, cried, worried. 4. One-syllable verbs ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant cluster double the final consonant, such as hopped, begged, pinned. 5. Two-syllable stressed verbs ending in a consonant-vow

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2K views

Spelling Rules Simple Past Tense

The document outlines 5 spelling rules for regular verbs in the simple past tense in English: 1. Most regular verbs take -ed, such as cooked, asked, needed. 2. Verbs ending in a silent e take just -d, such as arrived, baked, smiled. 3. Verbs ending in a consonant + y change the y to i and add -ed, such as applied, cried, worried. 4. One-syllable verbs ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant cluster double the final consonant, such as hopped, begged, pinned. 5. Two-syllable stressed verbs ending in a consonant-vow

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Simple Past Tense

Spelling Rules of Regular Verbs (5)

Rule 1: Most regular verbs take –ed in the simple past and past participle.
cook cooked ask ________ need ________ view ________
paint painted dial ________ pull ________ wash ________
play played guess ________ reach ________ yawn ________
visit visited look ________ start ________ yell ________

Rule 2: Add –d to the verbs ending in e (silent e)


arrive arrived bake ________ hate ________ smile ________
confuse confused care ________ like ________ type ________
dance danced ease ________ pile ________ die ________
hope hoped file ________ race ________ close ________
smoke smoked grease ________ save ________ phone ________

Rule 3: If the verb ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and then add –ed.
apply applied bury ________ spy ________ bully ________
carry carried cry ________ vary ________ dry ________
hurry hurried fry ________ worry ________ ferry ________
study studied marry ________ copy ________ query ________
try tried pry ________ rely ________ tidy ________

Rule 4: When the last three letters of a verb are consonant + vowel + consonant
(CVC, a vowel sandwich), double the last consonant in one-syllable verbs. Don't double if the verb
finishes with an "x" or "w" e.g. fix fixed mix mixed bow bowed endow endowed
hop hopped beg ________ pin ________ zip ________
hug hugged clap ________ rip ________ ban ________
plan planned fan ________ slam ________ swap ________
rob robbed jog ________ tan ________ rub ________
stop stopped chop ________ whip ________ tap ________
dub dubbed bin ________ slip ________ knit ________
Rule 5: When the last three letters of a verb are consonant + vowel + consonant (CVC, a vowel
sandwich), double the last consonant in two-syllable verbs if the final syllable is stressed.
permit permitted refer ________ reship ________ commit ________
prefer preferred occur ________ control ________ deter ________
program programmed emit ________ parallel________ *kidnap ________
regret regretted defer ________ excel ________ *handicap ________
transfer transferred compel________ admit ________ (*exceptions)

If the vowel sandwich is not stressed, we do not double the final consonant:
benefit benefited
visit visited
listen listened
develop developed
remember remembered
*travel traveled
*In British English we double the last I even though the last vowel is not stressed. Here are some examples:
*travel – travelled level – levelled marvel – marvelled
cancel – cancelled label –labelled
Special Exceptions: picnic, panic, traffic all add K before the suffix to keep the hard K sound in
front of the vowel which begins the suffix; picnicked, panicked, trafficked, trafficker, trafficking.

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