More Suffixes: Adding Endings to Longer Words

You've already looked at how to add endings to short words (in 'Prefixes and Suffixes'). When the root word has more than one syllable the rules are slightly different. For such words you also need to listen for which syllable is stressed or spoken with most emphasis.

For example, in the case of the word forget you can break it down into two syllables:

When you say the word, you stress the last syllable:

If you try putting the stress on the first syllable, it won't sound right.

You need to be aware of syllables and stresses in this section.

When to double the final letter

You need to ask a few questions:

Here are some more examples of double letters:

admit		admitted
begin		beginning
commit		committed
equip		equipped
occur		occurrence
prefer		preferring.

Here are examples of words that do not double the final consonant:

abandon		abandoned
benefit		benefited
combat		combating
gallop		galloping
gossip		gossiping
target		targeting.

Some exceptions to look out for

1. Double an l, even when the stress is not at the end:

cancel		cancelled
travel		travelling.

But not in:

2. Other words to look out for:

panic		panicked
handicap		handicapped
worship		worshipped
guarantee		guaranteeing
argue		arguing
continue		continuing.