Doubling Consonants when Adding a Suffix

To double or not to double?
That's the question.

This is an area where lots of good spellers are unsure.
So, let's look at the problem.

If, for example, we want to write the word plan + ing,
is it planing or planning?
Do we leave the base word alone or do we double the n?
Are we planing a trip to China or planning a trip?

Luckily there's a very useful pattern to help us.
It might sound complicated at first but it's
one of the most useful patterns to know about.

If the base word has:
one syllable
one short vowel
(the short vowels are ham, bed, lip, rot, gun)
one consonant at the end
you double the final consonant when you add a vowel suffix

Sounds complicated doesn't it? But some examples will help:
slip has one syllable, one short vowel (i) and one consonant (p) at the end so:
slip + ed = slipped (double p) and:

bed + ing	=   bedding,	flat + est	=   flattest
fun + y	=   funny	hot + er	=    hotter




When you add a consonant suffix, the base word doesn't change: bag + ful = bagful,    wet + ness = wetness Click here for a worksheet on this topic Click here for a worksheet on this topic




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