-est -er Inflected Endings and Comparative Endings -ed -es -ing
sit sitting sit Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –ing. sitting
bake baked bake Vowel, consonant, silent e! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Drop, drop, drop silent e, Drop the e, add –ed. baked
rake raked rake Vowel, consonant, silent e! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Drop, drop, drop silent e, Drop the e, add –ed. raked
hug hugged hug Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –ed. hugged
hurry hurried hurry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –ed! hurried
sad sadder sad Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –er. sadder
tall tallest tall Vowel & 2 consonants! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –est. tallest
fry frying fry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ing! frying
cry cries cry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –es! cries
dance danced dance Vowel, consonant, silent e! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Drop, drop, drop silent e, Drop the e, add –ed. danced
skip skipping skip Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –ing. skipping
dry dried dry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –ed! dried
try tries try Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –es! tries
reply replying reply Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ing! replying
race racing race Vowel, consonant, silent e! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Drop, drop, drop silent e, Drop the e, add –ing. racing
silly silliest silly Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –est! silliest
study studied study Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –ed! studied
funny funnier funny Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –er! funnier
shop shopped shop Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –ed. shopped
carry carries carry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Change the Y to an I and add –es! carries
small smallest small Vowel & 2 consonants! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –est. smallest
stay stayed stay Vowel & Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ed. stayed
say saying say Vowel & Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ing! saying
smile smiling smile Vowel, consonant, silent e! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Drop, drop, drop silent e, Drop the e, add –ing. smiling
play played play Vowel & Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ed! played
marry marrying marry Consonant – Y! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . Just add –ing! marrying
fat fatter fat Short vowel & 1 consonant! How does the word end? This is the way the end must be . . . See a short vowel and a consonant too, here’s the only thing to do: DOUBLE the consonant, add –er. fatter
Inflected and Comparative Endings If the word has a short vowel and one consonant, double the consonant. Then add the ending. Shop = shopped If the word has a short vowel with two consonants, just add the ending. Small = smallest If the word has a vowel, consonant and silent e, drop the silent e. Then add the ending. Smile = smiling To add –ed, -er, -es, or –est to words that end with a consonant and a Y, change the Y to an i. Then add the ending. Funny = funnier To add –ing to a word that ends with a Y, just add the ending. marry = marrying If the word ends with a vowel and a Y, just add the ending. Play = played The End