1. It's Easy to Spell
-ed Words!

2. We often use verbs that end in –ed.
Words ending in -ed
We often use verbs that end in –ed.
He studied hard.
She smiled at me.
I have worked all day.

3. The Rules It’s easy to spell words ending in
-ed correctly. You can learn to do it in just a few minutes! There are only 4 simple rules:
1. + ed
2. + d
3. y  i + ed
4. x2 + ed

4. For most verbs, just add –ed.
work  worked
brush  brushed
ask  asked

5. If the base form of the verb ends in a single -e, just add –d.
smile  smiled
live  lived
dance  danced

6. y  i + ed
If the base form of the verb ends with a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -ed.
study  studied
try  tried
reply  replied

7. x2 + ed If
1) the last 3 letters of the base form of the verb are consonant-vowel-consonant and
2) the stress is on the final (or only) syllable,
double the final consonant and add –ed.
stop  stopped
plan  planned

8. x2 + ed (continued) admit  admitted prefer  preferred
Compare when the stress is NOT on the final syllable:
listen  listened
The final –l is always doubled in British English, but not in American English:
travel  travelled (British)
travel  traveled (American)

9. x2 + ed (continued) -x, -w, or –y. fix  fixed snow  snowed
Do not double the final consonants
-x, -w, or –y.
fix  fixed
snow  snowed
stay  stayed

10. Which rule?
walk
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

11. Which rule?
walk
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
walked

12. Which rule?
love
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

13. Which rule?
love
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
loved

14. Which rule?
cry
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

15. Which rule?
cry
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
cried

16. Which rule?
hop
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

17. Which rule?
hop
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
hopped

18. Which rule?
hope
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

19. Which rule?
hope
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
hoped

20. Which rule?
play
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

21. Which rule?
play
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
played

22. Which rule?
end
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

23. Which rule?
end
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
ended

24. Which rule?
carry
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

25. Which rule?
carry
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
carried

26. Which rule?
look
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

27. Which rule?
look
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
looked

28. Which rule?
repeat
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

29. Which rule?
repeat
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
repeated

30. Which rule?
copy
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

31. Which rule?
copy
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
copied

32. Which rule?
control
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed

33. Which rule?
control
+ ed + d yi+ed x2+ed
controlled

34. What are the 4 rules?
1. + ed
2. + d
3. y  i + ed
4. x2 + ed