When is the last letter in a verb doubled to make it past tense?

Answer 1

Normally, English verbs that end in certain consonants immediately preceded by only one vowel get their last letters doubled. Most consonants get doubled. Those that generally do include

b d g l m n p r s t v

grab - grabbed

pad - padded

gag - gagged

pal - palled

cram - crammed

pen - penned

snip - snipped

stir - stirred

gas - gassed

spot - spotted

rev - revved

Words like "aid" would become "aided, " not "aidded," because the last consonant is immediately preceded by two vowels.

There are exceptions to this rule, mostly involving multisyllabic words. For example, "gallop" becomes "galloped." See http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/29900-two-syllable-verbs.html for further help there.

Consonants that do not get doubled are

w x y

thaw - thawed

mix - mixed

toy - toyed

English verbs will rarely end in

c f h j k q z

immediately preceded by only one vowel, but if you do come across any, the

c

would turn into a "ck." The

f k z

would probably get doubled, while the

h j q

would not. Hope that helps!

Short answer:

If the verb ends in one vowel and one consonant we double the consonant and add -ed.

trip - tripped step - stepped

Answer 2

The last letter in a verb is doubled to make it past tense when the verb ends with a single vowel followed by a single consonant. This rule applies when the stress is on the last syllable of the base word, and the verb is also a one-syllable word. For example, "stop" becomes "stopped."