Day 69 Communication (Spelling Strategies)

Spelling Strategies (Doubelling the last Consonant)

SPELLING LIST

1. equipped
2. equipment
3. regrettable
4. dependence
5. excel
6. excellent
7. previewing
8. residence
9. controlling
10. kidnapped
11. witless
12. baggage
13. preferred
14. preference
15. compel
16. compelling
17. occur
18. writing
19. occurrence
20. rebellion

When adding an suffix beginning with a vowel (such as -able, -ing, -ed, or -er), double the final consonant of the root word if.....

1. it ends with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel.

2. its last syllable is stressed.

control + ed
- ends with a single consonant controlled
- preceded by a single vowel
- stress on last syllable

drop + ing
- ends with a single consonant dropping
- preceded by a single vowel
- stress on last syllable
- double the final consonant

BUT

appear + ing
- ends with a single consonant appearing
- BUT is preceded by two vowels
- do not double the final consonant

turn + ing
- ends with two consonants turning
- do not double the final consonant

open + er
- ends with single consonant opener
- preceded by a single vowel
- final syllable not stressed
- do not double the final consonant

If the vowel makes a short sound (as in bat..., bet..., bit..., dot..., but...), the consonant that follows is often doubled.

battle cattle latter rattle
cellar stellar better settle
bitter written glimmer riddle
cotton gobble tomorrow coddle
butter dullard gutter puddle

If the vowel makes a long sound (as in fate, write, broke, cute), the consonant that follows is usually single.

cater later relation crater
bite writer criteria Midas
butane curate cucumber mucus

1. Knowing the difference between the following pairs of words is important. Consider the words bare (to uncover or expose) and bar (to close or prevent) when a suffix is added:

Clear cutting of trees bared the landscape.
The guard barred the door so he couldn’t escape.
The dog was baring his teeth in anger
After barring the door against the intruder, he got his gun.


Exercise 1

1. The prisoner’s back had been _________ and the cell door _____________. (bared, barred)
2. My sister was ___________an antique chair and _______________ the fruit. (canning, caning)
3. He _______________at Robin Williams who had ______________ in that recent television special. (stared, starred)
4. The thrifty workman___________paint from the wood the builder had piled to be _____________and sent to the dump. (scraped, scrapped)
5. Martha was ____________ because the dog had tracked mud on the floor she had just finished ____________. (moping, mopping)
6. The _________wife checked her husband’s speech, carefully_______ each “i” and crossing every “t”. (doting, dotting)
8. The United Nations’ nurses were ___________from village to village with medications for ___________ the country of measles. (riding, ridding)
9. After the vet fixed the rabbit’s paw, it__________better than we _______.
(hoped, hopped)
10. First, she_________the paint from the toy horse; then she__________the toy to look like a zebra. (stripped, striped)

Exercise 2
Complete each sentence below by choosing the correct word from the box.

bared-barred hoping-hopping pined-pinned rated- ratted planed-planned robing-robbing staring-starring waging-wagging fated-fatted mated-matted

1. The religious leaders are ___________for the ceremony.
2. The carpenter______________the long board.
3. We were________________your plans would change.
4. The dog’s______________tail welcomed us.
5. The gangster said, “You shouldn’t have ____________on me, Bugsy.”
6. In Biblical times, they killed a _____________calf to celebrate the return of a long lost son.
7. The rabbit was_____________across the lawn.
8. She was_____________at herself in the mirror.
9. He was _________from the nightclub because of his violent behaviour.
10. The loons___________for life and produced many broods of chicks.
11. She_____________the pattern to the cloth.
12. She is___________in a movie about dinosaurs.
13. Police caught them______________a bank.
14. In her grief, she slowly_______________away.
15. The army is_____________war in the western area.

Exercise 3
Some of the words in this exercise double the consonant before adding the suffix;
others don’t. In your notebook, write the correct spelling for each new word.
1. master + ful ______________ 11. prefer + ence __________
2. remit + ance ___________ __ 12. equip + ed _____________
3. cancel + ation____________ 13. bat + er_______________
4. gas + eous_______________ 14. wit + less_______________
5. occur &ence_____________ 15. admit + ance___________
6. crochet & ing____________ 16. rip + ing________________
7. endanger & ed___________ 17. ship + ment_____________
8. picket & er_____________ 18. bag + age_______________
9. solicit + ing_____________ 19. control + ing_____________
10. unreach + able__________ 20. equal + ed______________