Spelling of the -ed forms

The spelling of the simple past form (-ed forms)

You will learn the spelling of the simple past form (-ed form.) But before you continue the lesson study the following examples and try to see how the verbs are spelled.

Verbs ending in a...
1. silent e	2. vowel + y	3. consonant + y	4. other forms
close = closed die = died phone = phoned	play = played destroy = destroyed show = showed	marry = married carry = carried study = studied	visit = visited miss = missed watch = watched finish = finished fix = fixed buzz = buzzed

The rules of the simple past tense forms:

Here are the rules:

1. Regular verbs ending in a silent e take /-d/ in the simple past and past participle:
   Example:
   close=closed
2. Regular verbs ending in a vowel + y take /-ed/ in the simple past and past participle:
   Example:
   play=played
3. Regular verbs ending in a consonant + y take /-ied/ in the simple past and past participle (the y becomes an i followed by /-ed/)
   Example:
   marry=married
4. All the other regular vebs take /-ed/ in the simple past and past participle.
   Example:
   visit=visited

Special cases of the -ed forms:

Follow these rules when there is a consonant after a vowel (stop, ban, open, offer...)

• If there is a consonant after a stressed vowel at the end of the word, double the consonant
  stop – stopped
  ban - banned
  swap - swapped
• If the vowel is not stressed, we do not double it:
  open - opened (Here the stress is on'o', not the 'e'.)
  offer - offered ( Here the stress is on 'o', not the 'e'.)

In British English we double the last l even though the last vowel is not stressed. Here are some examples:

• travel - travelled
• cancel - cancelled
• level - levelled
• marvel - marvelled

 English Grammar Reference Lessons