The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Appendix: spelling rules

Present simple -S

The present simple form of the verb is identical to the base form in all persons except the third person singular. The third person singular is formed by adding -s to the base form:

work

»

work

s

live

»

live

s

stay

»

stay

s

try

»

tr

ies

(a final -

y

changes to -

ie

- after a consonant)

wash

»

wash

es

; kiss

»

kiss

es

; watch

»

watch

es

; box

»

box

es

(we add -

es

after -

sh

, -

s

, -

ch

and -

x

)

go

»

go

es

(we add -

es

)

do

»

do

es

(we add -

es

)

have

»

has

Past simple -ED

In the case of regular verbs, the past simple is formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb for all persons:

look

»

look

ed

stay

»

stay

ed

arrive

»

arrive

d

(we only add

-d

if the verb ends in

-e

)

try

»

tr

ied

(a final

-y

changes to -

i-

after a consonant)

stop

»

stop

ped

(we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant)

-ING (simple gerund and present participle)

The simple gerund and the present participle are formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb:

read

»

read

ing

study

»

study

ing

grow

»

grow

ing

relax

»

relax

ing

answer

»

answer

ing

writ

e

»

writ

ing

; arg

ue

»

arg

uing

(a final

-e

is omitted)

agr

ee

»

agr

eeing

(a final

-ee

does not change)

l

ie

»

l

ying

(a final

-ie

changes to

-y-

)

pu

t

»

pu

tting

; regre

t

»

regre

tting

; readmi

t

»

readmi

tting

(we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant, with the exception of

w

,

x

and

y,

and only has one syllable or has the stress on the last syllable)