When you add -ed or -ing to a verb, the spelling sometimes changes. You might double a letter (stop, stopped), drop a silent e (make, making) or change y to i (study, studied). A few simple rules cover almost every regular verb, and American English keeps one of them extra simple.
The pattern
We stopped for gas outside Tulsa.
I'm making dinner tonight.
She studied for the exam all weekend.
01Most verbs: just add -ed or -ing
For most verbs, nothing changes. Add -ed for the past and -ing for the continuous form: work, worked, working. This includes verbs that end in two consonants (help, helped) and verbs with two vowels before the last consonant (rain, rained).
If a verb already ends in e, add only -d: like, liked; arrive, arrived.
- I worked late on Tuesday.
- It rained all weekend in Seattle.
- We're watching the game at Mike's place.
- The package arrived this morning.
02Silent e and verbs ending in -ie
If a verb ends in a silent e, drop the e before -ing: make, making; write, writing; drive, driving. Keep a double ee, and keep the e in be: see, seeing; agree, agreeing; be, being.
Three common verbs end in -ie: die, lie (say something false) and tie. Change ie to y before -ing: dying, lying, tying. In the past, they just add -d: died, lied, tied.
- I'm writing a cover letter tonight.
- Are you coming to the barbecue?
- My phone is dying. Can I borrow your charger?
03Verbs ending in y
After a consonant, change y to i before -ed: study, studied; try, tried; carry, carried. Keep the y before -ing: studying, trying, carrying.
After a vowel (a, e, o, u), keep the y: play, played; stay, stayed; enjoy, enjoyed. Pay and say are irregular: paid, said.
- I studied English for two years before I moved here.
- He's carrying three boxes up the stairs.
- We stayed at a hotel near the airport.
04When to double the last letter
Double the last consonant when a verb ends in one vowel + one consonant and the last syllable is stressed: stop, stopped; plan, planning; shop, shopping. Longer verbs follow the same idea: preFER, preferred; beGIN, beginning; adMIT, admitted.
If the stress is not on the last syllable, don't double: VISit, visited; Open, opened; HAPpen, happened. Never double w, x or y: snowed, fixed, played.
- We planned the whole trip in one night.
- I'm shopping for a new couch.
- Nothing happened at the meeting.
- The mechanic fixed my brakes.
05American English: one l
Travel, cancel and label end in -el with the stress at the start: TRAVel, CANcel, LAbel. American English follows the normal rule and doesn't double: traveled, traveling, canceled, labeled. British English doubles the l (labelled), so you'll see both online, but use one l in the US.
When the stress is at the end, the l doubles in American English too: conTROL, controlled.
- We traveled to Denver for Thanksgiving.
- The airline canceled my flight.
- Are you traveling for work next week?
| base | -ed | -ing |
|---|---|---|
| work | worked | working |
| move | moved | moving |
| study | studied | studying |
| play | played | playing |
| tie | tied | tying |
| stop | stopped | stopping |
| visit | visited | visiting |
| travel | traveled | traveling |
06Common mistakes
We stoped at a gas station.
We stopped at a gas station.
Stop ends in one vowel + one consonant, so double the p.
I'm writting an email.
I'm writing an email.
Drop the silent e and add -ing. Write has a long i sound, so don't double the t.
She studyed all night.
She studied all night.
After a consonant, y changes to i before -ed.
We visitted my aunt in Ohio.
We visited my aunt in Ohio.
The stress is on VIS, not on the last syllable, so don't double the t.