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Appendix 5
-ing
Verbs that end in -e (m ake/ w rite/ d rive etc.) —> -Xing:
m ake —> m aking w rit e —> w rit in g co m e —» co m ing d ance —> d ancing
Verbs that end in -ie —> -ying:
lie —> lying die —> dying tie —> tying
stop —> st o p p ed big —> bigger et c
Vowels and consonants:
Vow el letters: a e i o u
Co n so n a n t letters: b c d f g k l m n p r s t w y
Som etim es a w ord ends in a vow el + a co n so n a n t . For exam ple: stop, big get.
Before -ing/ -ed/ -er/ -est, p/ g/ t etc. becom e pp/ gg/ tt etc.
For exam ple:
stop ST
V+ C
O P P - > PP stopping sto p p ed
run R U N n —> n n running
get G E T t - » tt getting
swim SW 1 M m —» m m sw im m ing
big B 1 G g ^ g g bigger biggest
hot H O T t tt h o tter ho ttest
thin TH 1 N n —> nn thin n er t hinnest
V = vow el
C = co n so n a n t
This does n o t happen
(1) if the word ends in t w o co nso nant letters (C + C):
C+ C
help HE L P help ing helped
w o rk W O R K w orking , w o rked
fast FA S T faster fastest
(2) if the word ends in t w o vowel letters + a conso nant letter (V + V + C):
V+ V+ C
need N E E D needing needed
w ait W A I T w aiting w aited
cheap CH E A P cheaper cheap est
(3) in longer word s (t w o syllables or m ore) if the last part o f the w ord is n o t stressed:
stress
happen H AP- p en —> hap p ening / hap p ened (n o t hap p enned )
visit VIS- it —> visiting/ visited
rem em ber re- M EM - b er —> rem em b ering / rem em b ered
b u t
prefer p re- FER (stress a t th e en d ) —> preferring / p referred
begin b e- GIN (stress a t th e en d ) —> beginning
(4) if the w ord ends in - y or -w. (A t the end o f words, y and w are not consonants.)
enjoy —> enjoying/ enjoyed sno w —» sno w ing / sno w ed few fewer/ fewest