Lesson 3 of 7 · ~5 minutes
Lesson 3 · Present Continuous
-ing spelling
Spelling of -ing
Usually you just add -ing to the verb: work → working. But three short rules change the end of the word.
Three changes before -ing
- drop -ea silent e disappears: write → writing, make → making, live → living
- double itin a short one-syllable verb ending in “vowel + one consonant”, the last letter doubles: sit → sitting, run → running, swim → swimming
- -ie → ythe ending -ie becomes y: lie → lying, die → dying
End of the verb
- ordinary
- silent -e
- vowel + consonant
- -ie
What to do
- add -ing
- drop the e
- double the consonant
- change it to y
Example
- read → reading
- make → making
- stop → stopping
- lie → lying
She is writing a message.
The children are swimming.
In short
- usually+ -ing
- silent -ewrite → writing
- short verbsit → sitting
- -ielie → lying