English Spelling Rules

Specific spelling rules for verb tenses

When dealing with tenses, we often need to change the spelling of the verb.

So here you have the commonly used English spelling rules for verbs:

1. How to add "ing" to a verb

2. How to add "s" to a verb

3. How to add "ed" to a verb

For general tips and advice read: How to Improve Your Spelling, a Guide for Students

Read the rules and make sure to practice them at the Exercises Section.

Another good way to improve your spelling is reading.

That way you see the words again and again and get familiar with their spelling. So visit the English Short

Stories section, too.

Now, let's go over to some more general spelling rules:

Spelling rule #1: S or ES? The normal rule to make regular plurals in English, or to change a regular verb to the he/she/it form

(also known as the third person singular), is to add S to the end of the word.

For example:

One dog --> Lots of dogs I work --> She works A car --> Some cars You like tea --> She likes coffee

But sometimes we need to add ES instead. When the word ends in: CH, SH, X, SS (and ZZ but this isn't

common), then we have to add ES.

For example:

I watch TV every night. --> He watches TV at the weekend. I have one wish. --> The genie gave him three wishes. Can you fix this? --> A mechanic fixes cars. Give me a kiss! --> She gave her daughter lots of kisses.

Spelling rule #1B: the problem with Y Students are often confused by the letter Y.

Sometimes it is removed from the end of the word before the word is changed into a plural or third

person singular form, and sometimes it isn't.

So what's the rule?

There are two types of letters in English. Vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and consonants (all the other letters)

If a word ends in Y, and before the Y there is a consonant (for example, fly, try, spy) then the Y is

removed, and IES is added.

For example:

I want to fly a kite. --> A pilot flies a plane. He was a spy. --> The spies were caught. Try this exercise. --> Sarah tries very hard in her lessons.

If the word ends with a vowel then Y (for example, play, tray, toy) then simply an S is added.

For example:

I used to play with dolls. --> She plays with other children. He has a new toy. --> The dog has lots of toys.

Spelling rule #2: doubling consonants Some words which end in consonants double the last letter when suffixes (extra letters) are added to

the end of the word.

For example:

hot --> hotter swim --> swimming

However, this doesn't always happen.

So what's the rule?

If a word ends in a consonant that has one vowel before it, then the last consonant is doubled.

For example:

travel --> traveller (British English spelling) big --> biggest

This does not usually happen with words with more than one syllable ending in ER, or OR. (Of course,

there are exceptions!)

For example:

fur / furry / furred / furring plot / plotted /plotter

But

miser / misery / miserly target / targeted bigot / bigoted travel / traveler (American English spelling)

Be careful!

If a word has two vowels before the last consonant, or there are two consonants at the end, the last

letter isn't doubled.

For example:

old --> oldest shoot --> shooter

Spelling rule #3: the disappearing E If a verb ends in E, then the E is removed before adding ING to the end of the word.

For example:

make --> making come --> coming

Click here for the complete list of rules on English plural nouns.

Students often make mistakes with spelling in English. There are other English spelling rules, but these

are the most basic ones.

What's Next?

1. Practice, practice, practice with the Exercises 2. Improve your spelling by reading Short Stories

1 - Spelling Rules for Adding "ing"

Introduction

Vowel = a sound we make when the breath flows out through the mouth freely, without being

blocked. The English letters a, e, i, o, u are called vowels, because they represent such sounds.

Some verbs change their spelling when "ing" is added to them.

1.1 - Verbs ending with

"consonant-vowel-consonant" When a verb ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant, and we put STRESS on this sound in speech, we

double the last consonant. Then we add ing.

In the following examples the consonant is in blue, the vowel is in green, and ing is in red. The STRESS is

underlined.

run => runn + ing => running

stop => stopp + ing => stopping

plan => plann + ing => planning

begin => beginn + ing => beginning

But if we don't put STRESS on this sound in speech, then we simply add ing.

open => open + ing => opening

visit => visit + ing => visiting

listen => listen + ing => listening

happen => happen + ing => happening

Verbs ending with "e" When a verb ends with the letter e, we first remove it, and then add ing.

In the following examples the letter e is in purple, and ing is in red.

take => tak + ing => taking

make => mak + ing => making

dance => danc + ing => dancing

write => writ + ing => writing

Verbs ending with "ie" When a verb ends with the letters ie, we change them into y, and add ing.

In the following examples the letters ie are in brown, the letter y is in brown too, and ing is in red.

lie => ly + ing => lying

die => dy + ing => dying

So these were the spelling rules for adding "ing".

2 - Spelling Rules for Adding "s"

Introduction Vowel = a sound we make when the breath flows out through the mouth freely, without being

blocked. The English letters a, e, i, o, u are called vowels, because they represent such sounds.

Consonant = a sound we make that is not a vowel. The breath is somehow blocked on its way

out of the mouth. For example, the sound b is made when breath flow is stopped with the lips.

All the other English letters which are not vowels are called consonants. These

are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r,s, t, v, w, x, y, z.

Some verbs change their spelling when the letter "s" is added to them.

Verbs Ending with "s", "ch", "sh", "x" or "z" When a verb ends with s, ch, sh, x or z, we add the letter e, and then we add the letter s.

In the following examples the part before the letter s is in purple, and the letters es are in red.

miss => miss + es => misses

kiss => kiss + es => kisses

watch => watch + es => watches

teach => teach + es => teaches

wash => wash + es => washes

push => push + es => pushes

mix => mix + es => mixes

fix => fix + es => fixes

buzz => buzz + es => buzzes

Verbs Ending with "o" When a verb ends with o, we add the letter e, and then we add the letter s.

In the following examples the letter o is in purple, and the letters es are inred.

go => go + es => goes

do => do + es => does

Verbs Ending with "y" When a verb ends with y, and there is a consonant before it, the y changes intoie. Then the letter s is

added.

In the following examples the consonant is in blue, the part before the letter sis in green, and the

letter s is in red.

fly => flie + s => flies

try => trie + s => tries

cry => crie + s => cries

study => studie + s => studies

When a verb ends with y, and there is a vowel before it, we simply add the letter s to the verb.

In the following examples the vowel is in orange, the part before the letter sis in green, and the

letter s is in red.

buy => buy + s => buys

say => say + s => says

pay => pay + s => pays

play => play + s => plays

enjoy => enjoy + s => enjoys

So these were the spelling rules for adding "s" in the Simple Present.

Got it? Good! Let's practice it…

For spelling rules on other subject visit the Spelling Rules page.

http://www.really-learn-english.com/spelling-rules-add-s-verb.html

3 - Spelling Rules for Adding "ed"

Introduction

Vowel = a sound we make when the breath flows out through the mouth freely, without being blocked. The English letters a, e, i, o, u are called vowels, because they represent such sounds.

Some verbs change their spelling when "ed" is added to them.

3.1 - Verbs ending with

"consonant-vowel-consonant" When a verb ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant, and we put STRESS on this sound in speech, we

double the last consonant. Then we add ed.

In the following examples the consonant is in blue, the vowel is in green, and ed is in red. The STRESS is

underlined.

stop => stopp + ed => stopped

plan => plann + ed => planned

But if we don't put STRESS on this sound in speech, then we simply add ed.

open => open + ed => opened

visit => visit + ed => visited

listen => listen + ed => listened

happen => happen + ed => happened

3.2 - Verbs ending with "e" When a verb ends with the letter e, we add only the letter d.

In the following examples the letter e is in purple, and the letter d is in red.

dance => dance + d => danced

smile => smile + d => smiled

3.3 - Verbs Ending with "y"

When a verb ends with the letter y, and there is a consonant before it, the y changes into i. Then

we add ed.

In the following examples the consonant is in blue, the part before ed is in green, and ed is in

red.

try => tri + ed => tried

cry => cri + ed => cried

study => studi + ed => studied

When a verb ends with y, and there is a vowel before it, we simply add ed to the verb.

In the following examples the vowel is in orange, the part before ed is in green, and ed is in red.

stay => stay + ed => stayed

play => play + ed => plays

enjoy => enjoy + ed => enjoys

So these were the spelling rules for adding "ed".

4 - How to Improve Your Spelling

A Guide for Students Even if you have good speaking, listening, and reading skills, or even good grammar, your written English

can be badly affected by your spelling.

Bad spelling can leave a bad impression on the person reading your work, so it's good to get it right.

(Just think about how you feel when you encounter spelling errors in a piece of writing . . .)

In English sometimes the same groups of letters, such as ough, can have a number of different

pronunciations. That can make spelling more difficult to learn.

But there are some things you can do to help.

English spelling: learn the rules English spelling keeps to the spelling rules more than English grammar keeps to its grammar rules!

There are other articles on this site that detail some of the spelling rules, so it’s a good idea to learn as

many as you can:

English Spelling Rules

Practice makes perfect Practice difficult words. Write them over and over until you can remember them.

One technique that works well is "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check."

Using this method, you:

Look at the word Say it Say the letters Say the word again Cover it and try to write the word Check your spelling Repeat if you get it wrong

This works even better if you write some of the difficult words on cards and use them for your practice.

Read more Read as much as you can.

Read books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements . . . anything you can get your hands on.

The more you read, the more you will see words and will start to remember how they are spelled.

Make sure you always understand what you read and don't guess words "out of context."

Good English dictionaries will help you do just that.

Work together If you can get together with a friend or classmate to practice your spelling together, this can really help.

You may even enjoy having spelling competitions with each other, and by doing so you will be helping

each other.

Group words together If you have a vocabulary notebook, it is a good idea to have a page or two for words you find hard to

spell.

This is even better if you write the words in groups that use the same groups of letters.

For example:

ough words, such as thought, bought, fought

It also helps if you write one sentence or more using the word every time you enter a new word into

your notebook.

Other tips and tricks

If you come across a new word that you think may be difficult to spell, highlight the difficult letters. For example, in the word daughter, the letters augh are not obvious, so you can write it in your notebook as daughter.

Write words you find difficult to spell on sticky notes and put them around your home so you see them more often.

Ask your teacher to give you spelling quizzes and play spelling games in class.

Find online spelling tests. There are some for ESL students and some designed for native English speakers.

Play games such as Scrabble or other word games online. Online or computer versions of word games are great because they will tell you if you don't have the right spelling.

Here is one final point you should keep in mind:

Don't rely too much on a spell-checker Don't rely too much on a spell-checker when you are typing work on a computer.

Why?

1. This will make you a lazy speller!

2. Your spell-checker may not always inform you about your spelling errors.

For example, lets say you type in the following sentence:

"The temperature should not go bellow 15 degrees."

Well, are there any typos inside?

All words are indeed correctly spelled, but this sentence is still incorrect.

The word "bellow" (double L) is actually a verb meaning, "to shout in a loud deep voice."

The word "below" (single L), on the other hand, means "lower than something."

So the correct sentence is:

"The temperature should not go below 15 degrees."

Not all spell-checkers would notice this type of error, since it requires considering the context of words.

So I hope that these tips will help you learn how to improve your spelling.

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