| There is one "rule" in English spelling that holds 100% of the time! That is the 1-1-1 Rule. Here's what it says: Words of one syllable (1) ending in a single consonant (1) immediately preceded by a single vowel (1) double the consonant before a suffixal vowel (-ing, -ed) but not before a suffixal consonant (-tion). In other words: 1 syllable
1 vowel (lax/short)
1 consonant following the vowel
Hence: the 1-1-1 Rule Words that have more than one consonant after the vowel don't double
Words with a tense (long) 'e' vowel drop the 'e' before adding '-ing' or '-ed' with no doubling of consonant EXAMPLES | 1-1-1 WORDS - doubling | | run | running | | stop | stopping, stopped | | trip | tripping, tripped | | drop | dropping, dropped | | snap | snapping, snapped | | hem | hemming, hemmed | | plan | planning, planning | | clip | clipping, clipped | | blur | blurring, blurred | | knit | knitting, knitted | | flip | flipping, flipped | | scar | scarring, scarred |
| 1-1-2 WORDS - no doubling | | tramp | tramping, tramped | | drink | drinking | | twist | twisting, twisted | | melt | melting, melted |
| C(C)Ve WORDS - tense vowel - no doubling | | grade | grading, graded | | scrape | scraping, scraped | | glide | gliding, glided | This rule also applies to multisyllabic words although with some exceptions: Words ending in a single consonant (1) immediately preceded by a single vowel bearing primary stress (1) double the consonant before a suffixal vowel (-ing, -ed) but not before a suffixal consonant (-tion). | MULTISYLLABLE WORDS - doubling | | abet | abetting, abetted | | begin | beginning | | acquit | acquitted, acquitting | | control | controlling, controlled, controller | | propel | propelling, propelled | | regret | regretting, regretted | The following words in Canadian/British spelling double the consonant (they don't in US spelling); both spellings are acceptable although the Canadian/British version is the most frequently used. Notice, these words all end in 'l'. | MULTISYLLABLE WORDS - Canadian/British | | label | labelled, labelling | | travel | travelled, travelling | | shovel | shovelled, shovelling | | cancel | cancelled, cancelling | | equal | equalled, equalling | | model | modelled, modelling | If the final syllable does not bear primary stress, the final consonant isn't doubled. | MULTISYLLABLE WORDS - no doubling | | open | opening, opened | | table | tabled | | happen | happening, happened | | profit | profiting, profited | | pardon | pardoned, pardoning | |
