1.5.3: Spelling Rules for Nouns and Verbs

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Don Bissonnette
South Seattle Community College

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Spelling Rules for Verbs in the Present and Past Tenses (and Nouns)

The “ES” Rule

In the third person (he, she, it) in the present tense, when a verb ends in an s, sh, ch, x, or z, add es to the verb. (The same is true for nouns ending in s, sh, ch, x, and z.)

Push pushes, reach reaches, wash washes, fix fixes, buzz buzzes, kiss kisses, miss misses, tax taxes, fizz fizzes, pitch pitches, box boxes, bless blesses, crash crashes

The “Y” Rules

When a verb ends in a consonant plus y, change the y to i and add es or ed.

Study studies studied, hurry hurries hurried, copy copies copied, try tries tried,
party parties partied, marry marries married, bury buries buried, worry worries worried

When a verb ends in a vowel plus y, simply add an s or ed.

Play plays played, enjoy enjoys enjoyed, stay stays stayed, buy buys …..,

The Double Consonant Rule

When a verb ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant and add ing or ed.

Plan planning planned, stop stopping stopped, run running ….., hit hitting …..,
win winning ….., begin beginning ….., swim swimming ….., rob robbing, robbed

Never double the following letters in English:

ww, xx, and yy. These letters are NEVER doubled in English. Also, en at the end of a word is almost never doubled. Examples: flowing, fixing, staying, listening, showing, taxing, playing, happening, lengthening, shortening

The Final “E” Rule

When a verb ends in a final e, drop the e and add ing or just add a d to form the past tense. If a verb ends in a double e (ee), don’t drop the e. Examples: seeing, freeing, fleeing, peeing

Live living lived, type typing typed, smoke smoking smoked, bake baking baked

Exceptions: The verbs “do, go, and have” are exceptions to the rules. They have irregular “S” forms (does, goes, has).

Exercise 8: Please give the S Form and the ING Form for each of the following verbs.

Base Form S Form ING Form

1. move

2. listen

3. watch

4. study

5. use

6. finish

7. put

8. begin

9. waltz

10. explain

11. chop

12. argue

13. sort

14. mix

15. get

16. work

17. borrow

18. lengthen

19. hurt

Base Form S Form Present Participle

20. buy

21. mend

22. enjoy

23. trip

24. play

25. have

26. punch

27. spy

28. halt

29. party

30. spin

31. burst

32. employ

33. estimate

34. go

35. show

36. do

37. plug

38. complete

39. flex

40. flip

41. pass