Spelling Words Ending in -ed
We add -ed to the end of regular verbs to make the past simple and past participle forms. There are some spelling rules to follow when adding -ed to verbs.
Words ending in 'y'
There are two rules for words ending in 'y'.
1. Words with an /iː/ sound or an /аɪ/ sound
The words see and study end with an /iː/ sound.
The words buy and cry end with an /аɪ/ sound.
If the word ends with an /iː/ or /аɪ/ sound, you remove the 'y' and add -ied.
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| study | studied |
| carry | carried |
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| cry | cried |
| try | tried |
We use special symbols to show different sounds. They are called the phonetic alphabet.
2. Other sounds
For all other words ending in 'y', we just add -ed.
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| play | played |
| enjoy | enjoyed |
Words ending in 'e'
For words endind in 'e' we just add -d.
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| love | loved |
| smile | smiled |
Words that need a double letter
For some words you need to double the last letter before you add -ed. These words have a special pattern. The last three letters of the word have the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant (c-v-c).
Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u. All other letters are consonants.
The word skip follows this pattern.
| s | k | i | p |
| c | v | c |
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| skip | skipped |
| admit | admitted |
Exceptions
There are some exceptions to doubling the last letter of c-v-c words.
1. If the word ends in 'w', 'x', or 'z' just add -ed.
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| tow | towed |
| box | boxed |
2. If the word has two syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable, we just add -ed.
An example is the word visit.
| verb | verbed |
|---|---|
| visit | visited |
These spelling rules only work for regular verbs. Have a look at the irregular verb tables to see how to spell irregular verbs.