ED spelling rules
Spelling of words ending in ED
In English there are many words that end in ED.
There are regular past simple tense verbs,
regular past participles,
they usually have the same form as their past simple tense form like played,
and there are adjectives ending in ED.
In this English lesson we're going to learn the correct spelling rules of these words ending in ED
Let's have a look.
In general you just add ED to the end of a regular verb or word.
For example, with the verb rain we just add ED to the end and it becomes rain.
Look at these regular verbs:
rain, cook, wait,
We just add ED to the end of them.
Rain becomes rained
cook becomes cooked
wait becomes waited
But, since this is English, there are some exceptions.
Verbs ending in a consonant plus E
When a word ends in a consonant plus E, we just add D to the end of it.
For example, LIVE ends in the consonant V followed by the letter E.
What do we do?
We just add the letter D to the end,
not the E part of ED as it already appears in the original word.
So now it is written as LIVED.
Let's see some examples of words ending in a consonant plus E.
live, dance, smile, love.
We add D to the end of them.
As we have seen, live becomes lived.
dance becomes danced
smile becomes smiled
love becomes loved
Words ending in a consonant plus vowel plus consonant
When a word ends in a consonant plus vowel plus consonant and that final syllable is stressed,
we double or make two of the final consonant and then add ED.
For example: stop is a verb that has one syllable... stop.
Stop ends in a consonant T, a vowel O and a consonant P.
What do we do?
We double the final consonant P, which now gives us two Ps, then we add the ED
so now stop becomes stopped with two p's in the middle.
Let's see some examples of words ending in a consonant plus vowel plus consonant.
Stop, plan and admit.
We double the final consonant and add ED to the end of them.
As we have seen, we double the final consonant P of stop and it becomes stopped.
With plan we double the final consonant N of plan and it becomes planned with two Ns.
Admit has two syllables though the last syllable is stressed... adMIT.
So what do we do?
We double the final consonant T of admit and it becomes admitted with two Ts.
There is an exception to this rule.
We don't double the final consonant when it is W, X or Y.
Let's look at what happens in this case.
Words ending in W, X or Y.
We do not double that final letter at the end of a word when it is W, X or Y.
We just add ED to the end.
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 ED to the end
so play becomes played.
We do not write two Ys.
Let's see examples of words that end in W or X or Y.
Play, fix, snow.
We have already seen that play ends in a Y so we just add ED.
Play becomes played.
Fix ends in a consonant plus vowel plus consonant
but since the final consonant is an X we just add ED.
Fix becomes fixed.
Snow ends in a consonant, vowel and consonant
but since the final consonant is a W, we just add ED.
Snow becomes snowed.
These words end in a consonant, a vowel and a consonant
but they also end in W, X or Y so we do not double the final letter.
Last syllable not stressed
When a word has two or more syllables and the last syllable is not stressed,
we do not double the final consonant before adding ED.
The verb open has two syllables... O-PEN.
The first syllable is stressed... Open
The last syllable PEN is not stressed, so we just add ED to the end.
Now open becomes opened.
Here are some more examples.
Listen to how the last syllable of each word is NOT stressed.
Happen, open, visit.
Listen to where the stress is again.
The first syllables of these words are stressed.
Happen, open, visit.
The first syllable is stressed so we just add ED to the end of each.
Happen becomes happened.
Open becomes opened.
Visit becomes visited.
There are a couple of exceptions to this rule like the word kidnap.
More information about that appears on our website.
Words ending in a vowel plus the letter L.
There are two ways of spelling a word ending in a vowel plus the letter 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 is a verb that ends in a 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 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 ED.
In British English this becomes travelled with two Ls
In American English just add ED because the final consonant with L is not stressed.
In American English this becomes traveled with one L.
Look at these 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.
We have seen with travel that 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 ED?
Equal becomes equalled with two Ls in British English
and equaled with one L in American English.
Travel becomes travelled with two Ls in British English
and traveled with one L in American English.
The verb control is different because the stress is on the last syllable that has an L.
Listen again.
control ... control
In British English, it becomes controlled with two Ls like the normal rules
But in American English, it is also controlled with two Ls.
I recommend watching our video about the pronunciation of ED at the end of words.
I hope you found this lesson about the spelling of words ending in ED useful.
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