Appendix 2: The spelling of endings

A Plural nouns

We add s to a noun to form the plural.

a car —> two cars a name —> some names

1 After s, sh, ch and x we add es /iz/.

glass —> glasses dish —> dishes match —> matches box —> boxes

2 A few nouns ending in o have es.

heroes potatoes tomatoes But most have s.

discos kilos photos pianos radios stereos studios zoos

3 When a noun ends in a consonant + y, the y
changes to ies.

penny —> pennies story —> stories We do not change y after a vowel. day —> days journey —> journeys

B The present simple s ending

In the third person singular, a present simple verb ends in s. (See Unit 5B.)

I know —> he knows I work —> she works

1 After s, sh, ch and x we add es /iz/.

pass —> passes wash —> washes catch —> catches mix —> mixes

2 Some verbs ending in o have es.

go —> goes do —> does

3 When a verb ends in a consonant + y,
the y changes to ies.

hurry --> hurries copy —> copies We do not change y after a vowel. stay —> stays enjoy —> enjoys

C The ed ending

Most verbs have ed in the past tense.

(See Unit 8B.) Most past participles also end

in ed. (See Unit 1 IB.)

look --> looked call -> called

1 If the verb ends in e, we add d.

hope —> hoped save —>saved

2 When a verb ends in a consonant + y, the y
changes to ied.

hurry —> hurried copy —> copied

3 Sometimes we double a final consonant. This happens when a one-syllable verb ends with one vowel and one consonant, e.g. beg, plan.

beg —> begged plan —> planned For more details about doubling, see G.

D The ing-form

1 We normally leave out e when we add ing
to a verb.

take —> taking drive —> driving But we keep a double e before ing.

see —> seeing agree —> agreeing

2 When a verb ends in ie, it changes to ying.

die —> dying lie —> lying But y does not change.

hurry —> hurrying

3 Sometimes we double a final consonant. This
happens when a one-syllable verb ends with one
vowel and one consonant, e.g. win, put.

win —> winning put --> putting For more details about doubling, see G.

E Adverbs

We form many adverbs from an adjective + ly. slow —> slowly calm —> calmly

1 We do not leave out e before ly.

safe —> safely strange --> strangely But there are a few exceptions.

due —> duly true —> truly whole —> wholly

2 When an adjective ends in a consonant + y, the
y changes to ily.

angry —> angrily happy —> happily An exception is shy --> shyly.

3 When an adjective ends in a consonant + le, the
e changes to y.

probable —> probably sensible —> sensibly

4 When an adjective ends in ic, we add ally.

automatic —> automatically romantic --> romantically But there is one exception. public —> publicly

F The comparison of adjectives

We form the comparative and superlative of short adjectives with er and est. See Unit 110.

old —> older, oldest

quick —> quicker, quickest

1 If the adjective ends in e, we add r and st.

late —> later, latest fine —> finer, finest

2 When an adjective ends in a consonant + y, the
y changes to ier or iest.

heavy —> heavier, heaviest lucky —> luckier, luckiest

3 Sometimes we double a final consonant. This
happens when a one-syllable adjective ends with
one vowel and one consonant, e.g. big, flat.

big —> bigger, biggest flat —> flatter, flattest For more details about doubling, see G.

G The doubling of consonants

1 When we add ed, ing, er or est to a word, we
sometimes double a final consonant. This
happens when a one-syllable word ends with
one vowel and one consonant, e.g. stop, get,
thin, sad.

stop —> stopped get —> getting thin —> thinner sad —> saddest

2 We do not double y, w or x.

play —> played new —> newest

fax —> faxing

We do not double when there are two consonants.

ask —> asking short —> shortest

rich —> richer

And we do not double when there are two vowels.

seem —> seemed shout—> shouting

fair —> fairest

3 The rule about doubling is also true for words of more than one syllable (e.g. permit = per + mit), but only if the last syllable is stressed.

per'mit —> per'mitted

prefer —> preferring

We do not usually double a consonant when the syllable is unstressed.

'open —> opened 'enter—> entering An exception is that in British English 1 is usually doubled, even if the syllable is unstressed.

travel ~> travelled (US: traveled)

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1153