Structural Analysis: Inflections –ed & -ing
sail ing sailing chart ed charted Each of these words begin with a root word. They are verbs. The endings are added to the words to tell about an action that is ongoing -ing or to tell about the past -ed.
sail ing sailing The base word sail is a verb. Adding the ending (-ing) causes the word to tell about an action that is ongoing. The ending -ing always forms its own syllable when it is attached to a root word (not in words such as sing and ring where it is part of the root word).
chart ed charted The base word chart is a verb. Adding the ending (-ed) causes the word to tell about a past action. The ending (-ed) may or may not form its own syllable. Remember, in order for it to be a syllable it must have a vowel sound.
Examples: greet fear This word has one syllable. greeting fearing Adding –ing makes it have two syllables. So, -ing is its own syllable. greeted feared Adding –ed makes it have two syllables. You can hear the short vowel /e/ in ed in this syllable. Adding –ed doesn’t change the number of syllables in this word. So, -ed is not its own syllable. If you are unsure of whether a word ending in –ed has an added syllable or not, try pronouncing it both ways to see which one sounds correct.
Try these. Sort these into groups according to the number of syllables they have. (Go in order left to right, top row first.)
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables departed
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables delayed departed
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables delayed departed reported
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed reported
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed rooting reported
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed rooting reported ordered
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed missed rooting reported ordered
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed missed rooting reported ordered coming
departed delayed reported cheered rooting ordered missed coming One Syllable Two Syllables Three Syllables cheered delayed departed missed rooting reported ordered coming
Look in the story, “Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter Look in the story, “Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter.” Find five more words with the –ed or –ing ending. List the words, pronounce them, and sort them by the number of syllables.