Why is the final e in escape omitted when writing escaping?

Answer 1

English spelling rules can at times be very confusing. In general, the final "e" is used to make the first vowel say its name, to have a long rather than a short (or soft) vowel sound. For example, cap rhymes with slap (it has a soft "a" sound). But if you want a long "a", then it's cape. Bit rhymes with hit, and has a soft "i" sound. But when you add the final "e", then you get bite (the "i" becomes a long i). Escape is thus pronounced with the long "a" sound, thanks to the "e" at the end of the word.

But when we turn certain verbs into their participle form (which ends with an -ing), we drop the e and add -ing. So, bite becomes biting. Hope becoming hoping. And escape becomes escaping. (If you want to keep the soft vowel sound, you have to double the consonant-- like: hopping, which would have a soft "o" and rhyme with stopping.)