Came across this super cool chart that’s a godsend for those of us who have trouble spelling (credit to Betty Schrampfer Azar):

  • Verbs that end in a consonant & œe (hope)
    • ING “ drop the œe and add œing (hoping)
    • ED “ add œd (hoped)
  • Verbs that end in a vowel and consonant AND are one-syllable (stop):
    • ING “ duplicate the consonant and add œing (stopping)
    • ED “ duplicate the consonant and add œd (stopped)
  • Verbs that end in two vowels and consonant AND are one-syllable (rain):
    • ING “ add œing (raining)
    • ED “ add œd (rained)
  • Verbs that end in two consonants (start):
    • ING “ add œing (starting)
    • ED “ add œd (started)
  • Verbs that end in œy and a vowel is before the œy (pray):
    • ING “ add œing (praying)
    • ED “ add œd (prayed)
  • Verbs that end in œy and a consonant is before the œy (study):
    • ING “ add œing (studying)
    • ED “ change the œy to an œie and add œd (studied)
  • Verbs that end in œie (lie):
    • ING “ change œie to œy and add œing (lying)
    • ED “  add œd (lied)

This is going to take some time to memorize, but as a chart/list, it all seems so easy and makes sense¦

Natasha Deen author
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