ING spelling
English spelling rules of verbs ending in ING
To write a verb ending in ING you need to know its correct spelling.
In general you just add ING to the end of a verb.
For example with the verb read.
Just add ING to the end and it becomes reading.
Look at these verbs: eat, go and read.
We just had ING to the end of them.
Eat becomes eating.
Go becomes going.
Read becomes reading.
But since this is English, there are some exceptions.
Verbs ending in a consonant + E
When a verb ends in consonant + E,
we remove the E from the end of the verb and add ING
For example: ride
Ride ends in a consonant D followed by the letter E.
What do we do?
We remove the E and add ING
so now it is written as riding.
Let's see some more examples of verbs ending in a consonant + E
Dance, ride and write.
We remove the final E and add ING to the end of them.
Dance becomes dancing.
Ride becomes riding.
Write becomes writing.
Verbs ending in IE
When a word ends in I + E,
we remove the IE from the end and add Y ING
For example LIE
Lie ends in the letter I and E.
What do we do?
We remove the IE and add YING,
so now it is written as lying.
Let's see some examples of verbs ending in IE.
Die, lie and tie.
We remove the final IE and add YING to the end of them.
Die becomes dying.
Lie becomes lying.
Tie becomes tying.
Verbs with one syllable ending in consonant plus vowel plus consonant.
When a verb with one syllable ends in consonant plus vowel plus consonant
we double, which means make two of,
the final consonant and add ING.
For example:
Cut is a verb that has one syllable.
cut
Cut ends in a consonant C, a vowel U, and a consonant T.
What do we do?
We double the final consonant T,
which now gives us two Ts.
Then we can add the ING.
So now cut becomes cutting with two T's in the middle.
Let's see some examples of one-syllable verbs ending in a consonant vowel plus consonant.
Cut, run and stop.
We double the final consonant and add ING to the end of them.
As we have seen, we double the final consonant T of cut and it becomes cutting.
Double the final consonant N of run and it becomes running.
We double the final consonant P of stop and it becomes stopping.
There is an exception to this rule.
We don't double the final consonant when it is W, X or Y.
Verbs ending in W, X or Y
Before adding the ING we do not double the final letter at the end of the verb when it is W, X or Y.
For example, the verb play
is a verb that ends in a consonant L, a vowel A, and a consonant Y.
But since the final consonant is a Y, we do not double that letter.
What do we do?
We just add ING to the end.
So play becomes playing.
We do not write two Ys.
Let's see an example of verbs that end in W, X or Y.
Snow, fix and play.
Snow ends in a W so we just add ING.
Snow becomes snowing.
Fix ends in an X so we just add ING.
Fix becomes fixing
Play ends in a Y so we just add ING.
Play becomes playing.
These three words end in a consonant, a vowel and a consonant
but they end in a W, X or Y so we do not double the final letter.
Last syllable not stressed.
When a verb has two or more syllables
and the last syllable is not stressed,
we do not double the final consonant before adding ING.
Let's have a look at this.
The verb OPEN has two syllables O-PEN
The first syllable is stressed Open.
Stressed means there is more emphasis on that syllable.
Listen to the verb again and pay attention to the part of the verb that has more emphasis when I say it.
Open
The O is stressed.
The syllable PEN is not stressed so we just add ING to the end.
Now open becomes opening.
Here are some more examples.
Listen to how the last syllable of each verb is NOT stressed.
The first syllable of these verbs are stressed.
Happen, open, visit.
Listen to where the stress is again.
Happen, open, visit.
The last syllables are not stressed
so we just add ING to the end of each.
Happen becomes happening.
Open becomes opening.
Visit becomes visiting.
There are a couple of exceptions to this rule like the word kidnap,
though more information about that appears on our website.
Last syllable is stressed.
When a verb has two or more syllables
and the final syllable or the last syllable is stressed,
we double the final letter before adding ING.
The verb forget has two syllables: FOR-GET
Notice how the last syllable is stressed FORGET. Get is stressed
What does forget mean? I don't remember! Anyway...
Since the last syllable is stressed
forGET
and not the first syllable,
we double the final T before adding ING.
Forget now becomes forgetting.
Look at how it now has two Ts or a double T.
Here are some more examples.
Listen to how the last syllable of each verb is stressed.
Begin, forget, submit.
Listen to where the stress is again.
Begin, forget, submit.
The last syllables are stressed so we have to double the final consonant and add an ING to the end of each.
Begin becomes beginning.
Forget becomes forgetting.
Submit becomes submitting.
Verbs ending in consonant + vowel + L.
There are two ways of spelling a verb ending in a consonant + vowel + L.
In British English you double the final L.
In American English you do not double the final L unless it is stressed.
For example the verb travel.
Travel is a verb that ends in a consonant V, the vowel E and the consonant L.
Which syllable is stressed when I say travel?
Yes, the first syllable is stressed the TRA
Travel the last syllable with L at the end is not stressed.
So what do we do?
There are two ways of spelling this word.
In British English we double the final L so now there are two Ls,
and then we add ING.
In British English this becomes travelling with two L's.
In American English, just add ING because
the final consonant with L is not stressed.
In American English this becomes traveling with one L.
Let's look at some more examples:
Equal, travel, control.
Where is the stress in each of these verbs?
Equal, travel, control.
With equal, the stress is on the first syllable... Equal. As we've seen with travel,
the stress is also on the first syllable TRAvel
With CONTROL, the stress is on the last syllable... control.
So how are these verbs written when we add ing?
Equal becomes equalling with two Ls in British English
and equaling with one L in American English.
Travel becomes travelling with two Ls in British English
and traveling with one L in American English.
The verb CONTROL is different
because the stress is on the last syllable that has an L
In British English it becomes controlling with two Ls.
In American English it is also controlling with two Ls
I hope you've found this lesson about the spelling of words ending in ing useful.
If you did, click like and subscribe to our channel
so you know when we create new lessons to help you improve your English.
Have an awesome day!