Some Spelling Rules بعض القواعد الإملائية
A. Adding –ing:
When you want to add -ing to the end of a verb, sometimes you need to double the last letter. I’m going to tell you when.
There are three rules in this regard, and ALL THREE should apply so the last letter is doubled.
1. The verb is ONLY one syllable.
2. The LAST letter is a consonant (i.e. letters other than a, e, I, o, u)
3. The ONE and ONLY ONE letter before last is a VOWEL (a, e, i, o, u)
Now, let’s look at some example:
• sit + ing: sitTING
• swim+ ing: swimMING
Note: in a verb like cheat, only TWO out of THREE rules apply: it IS one syllable, and the LAST letter IS a CONSONANT. However, there is no doubling, as there are TWO vowels before the last letter rather than ONE.
When the last letter of the verb is –e, you have to drop it if you want to add –ing:
Make: making
Skate: skating
• A tip for pronunciation:
You may happen to see a verb + ing like this:
Taping
Now, you wonder whether the original form is TAPE or TAP. The answer is simple: simply drop the –ing. Now you can see that the verb is ONE syllable, the LAST letter is a CONSONANT, and there is only ONE VOWEL before last. BUT there isn’t a second p in the end. So there must have been an e, which is dropped when the –ing is added. Thus, the original verb is TAPE, not tap.
B. Adding –d or –ed to make the past tense of regular verbs:
When you want to add –d or –ed to the end of a verb to make the past tense or past participle of it, if the same THREE rules mentioned above apply, you would double the last letter. Keep in mind that ALL THREE should apply.
Examples:
• Pat: patted
• Ban: banned
• Hug: hugged
If the verb ends in –y, there are two possible conditions:
1. The letter before last is a VOWEL. In this case, there is no change in the spelling of the past tense, and you simply need to add -ed:
• Play: played
• Relay: relayed
2. The letter before last is a consonant. The ending –y changes into –I, and you add –ed:
• Ply: plied
• rely: relied
• apply: applied
C. Adding third person –s in present simple tense:
The rules I mentioned above in the verbs ending in –y also applies to third person singular verbs of present simple tense, where you need to add –s to the end of the verb. That is, if the verb ends in –y with a VOWEL preceding, you merely add –s:
• play: plays
• stay: stays
But if there is a CONSONANT before the last letter, y changes to I, and you’ll add –es:
• study: studies
• ply: plies
Note: the same rules apply to adding of plural s, only here it is about nouns rather than verbs:
No change:
• key: keys
• toy: toys
Change:
• lady: ladies
Subject: Some Spelling Rules بعض القواعد الإملائية 
Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:05 pm
