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Word Study · Verb endings

Adding -ed and -ing: Double, Drop the e or Change y

Learn when to just add -ed or -ing, when to drop the silent e, when to double the last letter, and why cry becomes cried but crying keeps its y.

Grades 3–5 · 15 practice questions · Original material
Learning objectiveAdd -ed and -ing to verbs with four spelling patterns (just add, drop the silent e, double the last consonant in one-syllable words that end in one vowel and one consonant, and change y to i for -ed but keep y for -ing), and recognise common exceptions such as words ending in w, x or a vowel + y.

The idea

The ending -ed often shows that something already happened: Yesterday we jumped. The ending -ing often shows something happening right now or over time: We are jumping. In the plurals and comparing-words lessons you saw that an ending can change the spelling of the base word. The same four patterns come back here.

Pattern 1: most of the time, just add. Jump, jumped, jumping; rain, rained, raining. If a word already ends in two consonants (jump) or has two vowels before its last consonant (rain), nothing changes.

Pattern 2: drop the silent e. Many words end in an e you cannot hear, such as bake and ride. Before -ing, drop that e: baking, riding. With -ed, the e is already there, so add only -d: baked. A few words ending in ee keep both e's: see, seeing; agree, agreeing.

Pattern 3: double the last consonant. If a one-syllable word ends in one vowel followed by one consonant, double that consonant: stop, stopped, stopping; run, running. This keeps the vowel short, and it is why hopped (hop) and hoped (hope) are different words. Never double w, x or y: snowed, fixing, played. For longer words, whether you double depends on which part of the word is stressed (begin, beginning, but visit, visited), so check a dictionary when you are unsure.

Pattern 4: change y to i, but only for -ed. If a word ends in a consonant + y, change y to i before -ed: cry, cried; carry, carried. Keep the y before -ing, because English spelling usually avoids two i's in a row: crying, carrying. If a vowel comes before the y, just add: play, played. Watch for a few irregular words such as say, said and pay, paid, and remember that some verbs do not use -ed for the past at all: run becomes ran, and write becomes wrote.

Word bank

jumped

verb (past) · JUMPT

jump + -ed; ends in two consonants (m, p), so just add

Example: We jumped over the puddle.

jumping

verb (-ing form) · JUMP-ing

jump + -ing; just add

Example: The kids are jumping rope.

rained

verb (past) · RAYND

rain + -ed; two vowels (ai) before the n, so just add

Example: It rained all morning.

baked

verb (past) · BAYKT

bake + -ed; bake already ends in e, so add only -d

Example: We baked muffins for the bake sale.

baking

verb (-ing form) · BAY-king

bake + -ing; drop the silent e, then add -ing

Example: Grandma is baking bread.

smiled

verb (past) · SMYLD

smile + -ed; add only -d

Example: The crossing guard smiled and waved.

riding

verb (-ing form) · RY-ding

ride + -ing; drop the silent e

Example: I am riding my bike to school.

stopped

verb (past) · STOPT

stop + -ed; one vowel and one consonant at the end, so double the p

Example: The bus stopped at the corner.

stopping

verb (-ing form) · STOP-ing

stop + -ing; double the p

Example: The rain is stopping at last.

running

verb (-ing form) · RUN-ing

run + -ing; double the n

Example: We are running laps in gym.

hopped

verb (past) · HOPT

hop + -ed; double the p so it does not look like hoped

Example: The rabbit hopped across the lawn.

hoped

verb (past) · HOHPT

hope + -ed; hope ends in e, so add only -d

Example: We hoped for snow on Saturday.

snowed

verb (past) · SNOHD

snow + -ed; words ending in w are not doubled

Example: It snowed overnight.

fixing

verb (-ing form) · FIK-sing

fix + -ing; words ending in x are not doubled

Example: Dad is fixing the fence.

cried

verb (past) · KRYD

cry + -ed; consonant + y, so change y to i, then add -ed

Example: The baby cried when the music stopped.

crying

verb (-ing form) · KRY-ing

cry + -ing; keep the y, because English spelling usually avoids ii

Example: The baby is crying.

carried

verb (past) · KAIR-eed

carry + -ed; change y to i

Example: She carried the pumpkin to the car.

carrying

verb (-ing form) · KAIR-ee-ing

carry + -ing; keep the y

Example: He is carrying two bags.

played

verb (past) · PLAYD

play + -ed; vowel + y, so keep the y and just add

Example: We played tag at recess.

studying

verb (-ing form) · STUD-ee-ing

study + -ing; keep the y

Example: My brother is studying for a test.

Worked examples

Example 1 · Just add

Add -ed and -ing to clean.

  1. Look at the end of clean: two vowels (ea) and then n.
  2. Two vowels before the last consonant means no doubling.
  3. Clean does not end in e or y, so just add the endings.

cleaned, cleaning

Example 2 · Drop the silent e

Add -ing to skate.

  1. Skate ends in a silent e.
  2. Drop the e before an ending that starts with a vowel, such as -ing.
  3. skat + ing.

skating

Example 3 · Double the consonant

Add -ed to plan.

  1. Plan has one syllable.
  2. It ends in one vowel (a) and one consonant (n), and n is not w, x or y.
  3. Double the n, then add -ed: plann + ed.

planned

Example 4 · Change y to i, or keep it?

Add -ed and -ing to hurry.

  1. Hurry ends in a consonant (r) + y.
  2. For -ed, change y to i: hurried.
  3. For -ing, keep the y so there are not two i's: hurrying.

hurried, hurrying

Example 5 · Check for exceptions

Add -ed to stay and to mix.

  1. Stay ends in a vowel (a) + y, so do not change the y. Just add: stayed.
  2. Mix ends in one vowel and x. We never double x, so just add: mixed.

stayed, mixed

Common mistakes

Keeping the silent e before -ing: "bakeing", "rideing".

Why this fails: Drop the silent e before -ing: baking, riding.

Forgetting to double: "stoped", "runing".

Why this fails: Stop and run end in one vowel and one consonant, so double the last letter: stopped, running. Stoped looks like it should rhyme with hoped.

Doubling when the word ends in w, x or y: "snowwed", "fixxing", "playyed".

Why this fails: W, x and y are never doubled. Just add: snowed, fixing, played.

Changing y to i before -ing: "criing", "carriing".

Why this fails: Keep the y before -ing: crying, carrying. Change y to i only before -ed: cried, carried.

Changing y to i after a vowel: "plaied", "enjoied".

Why this fails: When a vowel comes before the y, keep the y and just add: played, enjoyed.

Foundation

Foundation practice

Spell the new word with the right pattern.

Spell it

1. Add -ing to make.

  1. makeing
  2. makking
  3. making
  4. makin
Spell it

2. Add -ed to stop.

  1. stopped
  2. stoped
  3. stopt
  4. stopd
Spell it

3. Add -ed to cry.

  1. cryed
  2. crid
  3. criyed
  4. cried
Spell it

4. Add -ing to cry.

  1. criing
  2. crying
  3. cring
  4. cryying
Spell it

5. Add -ed to play.

  1. plaied
  2. playd
  3. played
  4. playyed

Practice

Practice practice

Decide which pattern fits, including the exceptions.

Choose

6. Which word is spelled correctly?

  1. snowwed
  2. snowed
  3. snoed
  4. snowd
Choose

7. "Yesterday we ___ that the field trip would not be cancelled."

  1. hoped
  2. hopped
  3. hopeed
  4. hopping
Fix it

8. Which sentence is spelled correctly?

  1. The dog is diging in the garden.
  2. The dog is digging in the garden.
  3. The dog is digeing in the garden.
  4. The dog is diggin in the garden.
Spell it

9. Write the -ed and -ing forms of smile.

Spell it

10. Write the -ed and -ing forms of carry.

Spell it

11. Write the -ed and -ing forms of shop.

Think

Think practice

Explain the rule, not just the answer.

Explain

12. Why does hop become hopped, but hope becomes hoped?

Spot the error

13. Which word breaks a spelling rule?

  1. jumping
  2. mixed
  3. studying
  4. smileing
Sort it

14. Which group of words all double the last consonant before -ing?

  1. sit, run, swim
  2. rain, jump, look
  3. bake, ride, hope
  4. snow, fix, play
Build it

15. Write one sentence that uses an -ed word with y changed to i and one sentence that uses an -ing word that keeps its y.

Answer key

  1. 1. making
    Make ends in a silent e, so drop the e and add -ing. Makeing keeps the e, makking doubles a letter that should not be doubled, and makin drops the g of -ing.
  2. 2. stopped
    Stop ends in one vowel and one consonant, so double the p before -ed. Stoped would look like it rhymes with hoped, and stopt and stopd spell the sound you hear instead of the -ed ending.
  3. 3. cried
    Cry ends in a consonant + y, so change y to i and add -ed. Cryed keeps the y, and crid drops the e.
  4. 4. crying
    Keep the y before -ing, because English spelling usually avoids two i's in a row. Criing changes the y, which is only done before -ed, cring loses the y altogether, and cryying doubles the y.
  5. 5. played
    A vowel (a) comes before the y, so keep the y and just add -ed. Plaied changes the y as if a consonant came before it, playd leaves out the e of -ed, and y is never doubled.
  6. 6. snowed
    Snow ends in w, and w is never doubled, so just add -ed. Snowwed doubles the w, snoed drops the w from the base word, and snowd leaves out the e of -ed.
  7. 7. hoped
    Hope ends in e, so add only -d: hoped. Hopped is the past of hop (to jump), which changes the meaning, hopeed adds an extra e, and hopping is not a past form.
  8. 8. The dog is digging in the garden.
    Dig ends in one vowel and one consonant, so double the g: digging. Diging keeps one g, digeing adds an e that is not in dig, and diggin drops the g of -ing.
  9. 9. smiled, smiling
    Smile ends in a silent e. Add only -d for smiled, and drop the e before -ing for smiling.
  10. 10. carried, carrying
    Carry ends in a consonant + y. Change y to i before -ed (carried) but keep the y before -ing (carrying).
  11. 11. shopped, shopping
    Shop ends in one vowel and one consonant, so double the p before both endings.
  12. 12. Hop ends in one vowel and one consonant, so the p doubles to keep the o short: hopped. Hope already ends in e, so you add only -d: hoped.
    The double letter tells the reader the vowel is short. Without it, hopped and hoped would look the same.
  13. 13. smileing
    Smile ends in a silent e, which drops before -ing: smiling. Jumping just adds, mixed does not double the x, and studying keeps the y.
  14. 14. sit, run, swim
    Sit, run and swim each have one syllable and end in one vowel and one consonant: sitting, running, swimming. Rain, jump and look just add; bake, ride and hope drop the e; snow, fix and play end in w, x or y, which are never doubled.
  15. 15. Example: The puppy hurried to its bowl. The puppy is hurrying to its bowl.
    Consonant + y changes to i before -ed (hurried) but keeps the y before -ing (hurrying).

Related practice

Comparing words: -er, -est, more and mostPlurals: -s, -es or y to iEnglish hub