For the past few weeks at ESL Library, we’ve been stuck in the past! We’re rewriting our Simple Past lesson (in the Grammar Practice Worksheets section) to include grammar notes, speaking exercises, a writing exercise, and a quiz (available on June 1, 2018). This has inspired us to blog about the Pronunciation Rules of Past Tense Endings and has prompted us to make a new Grammar & Usage Resource on the Spelling Rules for Regular Past Verbs.

English spelling can be tough, but luckily there are some rules to help students in certain situations. While irregular past verbs have far too many spelling changes to list, forming the past tense for regular verbs is relatively easy. We thought we’d share these simple rules in this week’s blog post!

Rules

Go over the spelling rules and examples with your students. See if your students can think of other examples for each rule.

Rule #1

If a verb ends in -e, add -d.

• like → liked
• arrive → arrived
• decide → decided

Rule #2

If a verb ends in consonant + -y, change -y to -i and add -ed.

• carry → carried
• try → tried
• study → studied

Rule #3

If a verb ends in vowel + -y, add -ed.*

• play → played
• stay → stayed
• enjoy → enjoyed

Rule #4

If a verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern, double the final consonant and add -ed.**

• hug → hugged
• plan → planned
• stop → stopped

Rule #5

For all other verbs, add -ed.

• watch → watched
• ask → asked
• clean → cleaned

Notes

*Note 1:

There are some exceptions to Rule #3:

• pay → paid
• lay → laid

**Note 2:

Rule #4 is true only for verbs that have the stress on the final syllable. Notice the difference below:

• prefer → preferred
• visit → visited

Rule #4 also depends on which country’s spelling system you’re using. In the American spelling of words ending in the CVC with consonant + e + l, the final l will not double in the most commonly accepted form (e.g., travel → traveled, cancel → canceled). Most other English-speaking countries prefer to double the final l (e.g., travel → travelled, cancel → cancelled).

Practice

Write the following words on the board or print out the worksheet if you’re a subscriber. Have students write the past tense form for each of the following verbs.

1. cry
2. decide
3. walk
4. sob
5. enjoy
6. wash
7. hurry
8. refer
9. clean
10. free
11. pour
12. check
13. visit
14. dye
15. smile
16. bake
17. admit
18. love
19. pray
20. listen

Answer Key

1. cried
2. decided
3. walked
4. sobbed
5. enjoyed
6. washed
7. hurried
8. referred
9. cleaned
10. freed
11. poured
12. checked
13. visited
14. dyed
15. smiled
16. baked
17. admitted
18. loved
19. prayed
20. listened

Grammar & Usage – Spelling Rules for Regular Past Verbs

Related Materials

• Simple Past: Grammar Practice Worksheets
• Simple Past: Grammar Stories
• Simple Past: Fun Grammar Lessons
• Simple Past: Basic Grammar Sentences
• Spelling Rules for Regular Past Verbs: Grammar & Usage
• Pronunciation Rules for Regular Past Verbs: Grammar & Usage
• Irregular Verb List: Grammar & Usage
• Pronunciation of Past Tense Endings
• 5 Fun Activities for Irregular Verbs