Doubling a Consonant
Doubling a Consonant
Harry from Suttons Bay,
Michigan, asked about doubling the consonant on a stem word when adding a
suffix. It gets a bit complicated (or tedious), but you should be OK if you
take the following steps.
(A) When you add a suffix to a word that ends
in two or more consonants side by side, there is no spelling change. [fill/filling, snarl/snarled,
world/worldly]
(B) When you add a suffix to a word that ends
in a single consonant, there may be a spelling change. Three determining questions
follow.
- If you get a YES answer to all three of these questions,
double the final consonant of the word before adding the suffix.
- If you get a NO answer to any of these questions, do not
double the final consonant of the word before adding the suffix.
(1) YES or NO: does the suffix begin with a vowel?
YES
–er/-ing [win/winner,
forget/forgetting, begin/beginning]
NO
–ful/-ment [wonderful,
discernment]
(2) YES or no: are
the last 3 letters of the word a consonant-vowel-consonant (in that exact order)?
YES
win, forget [win/winner,
forget/forgetting]
N O
greet, treat [greeting,
treated]
(3) YES or NO:
Does the accent of the word fall on the last syllable?
(One-syllable words get an automatic YES answer)
(One-syllable words get an automatic YES answer)
YES
[stop/stopping, begin/beginner]
NO
secret, furtive [secretive,
furtively]
Once again, if you get a
YES answer to all three of these questions, DOUBLE the final consonant of the
word before adding the suffix. If you get a NO answer to any of these questions,
do not double the final consonant of the word before adding the suffix.
Listen to Mike’s program in real
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