Double Consonants—Spelling Rules

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A consonant is a letter representing a sound.

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The consonants are the letters:

b	c	d	f	g	h	j
k	l	m	n	p	q	r
s	t	v	w	x	y*	z

*y is sometimes also used as a vowel.

When spelling a word, some consonants are doubled.

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Doubling the Last Consonant: CVC Rules		Double Consonants in the Middle of a Word

Double Consonants at the End of a Word	The Silent E Rule		Consonants Never Doubled — H J Q V W X Y

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Doubling the Last Consonant — CVC Rule

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doubling-the-last-consonant-cvc-rule

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The last consonant of a word can sometimes be doubled.

The CVC rule helps us to remember which consonants are doubled and which ones aren’t.

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The last consonant of a word is doubled when it follows the CVC rule.
CVC means a word’s last 3 letters are a consonant, a vowel and a consonant.
The CVC rule indicates if a consonant is doubled when adding letters to the end of a word.

Letters are added to word in:	Letters added:	Words ending in CVC:	Become:
the simple past	-ed	plan	planned
continuous tenses	-ing	fit	fitting
comparative adjectives	-er	big	bigger
superlative adjectives	-est	sad	sadder

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Consonants are doubled when a word meets certain conditions.

Conditions are different depending if a word is:

short — words with one syllable
long — words with two syllables or more

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One-Syllable Words — Double Consonants

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one-syllable-words-double-consonants

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Consonants are doubled when the word:

ends in CVC

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The word big +er becomes bigger. The word step +ed becomes stepped. The word let +ing becomes letting.

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Words With Two Syllables or More — Double Consonants

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words-with-two-syllables-or-more-double-consonants

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Consonants are doubled when the word:

ends in CVC
is stressed* on its last syllable

*The stress is the emphasis placed on a syllable when pronouncing a word.

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The word prefer +ed becomes preferred. The word occur +ing becomes occurring.

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Consonants are not doubled when certain conditions aren't met.

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One-syllable words — Single consonants

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one-syllable-words-single-consonants

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Consonants are not doubled when a one-syllable word:

ends in VVC
ends in VCC

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The word mean +er becomes meaner. The word look +ed becomes looked. The word coach +ing becomes coaching. The word check +ed becomes checked.

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Words with two syllables (or more) — Single consonants

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words-with-two-syllables-or-more-single-consonants

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Consonants are not doubled when a two-syllable (or more) word:

ends in CVC
is stressed* on any syllable but not the last one.

*The stress is the accentuation placed on a syllable when pronouncing a word.

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The word listen +ed becomes listened. The word offer +ing becomes offering.

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Double Consonants in the Middle of a Word

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double-consonants-in-the-middle-of-a-word

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Some words are spelled with double consonants and some with a single one.

This rule helps to figure out which ones are.

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Words are spelled with double consonants in the middle when they:

have 2 syllables
include a short* vowel in the first syllable
include a vowel in the second syllable

*Short vowels have a short sound, as opposed to long vowels that have a long sound.

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Double consonants		Single consonant
Short vowels:	Sound like:	Long vowels:	Sounds like:
tapping	[t-ah-ping]	tape	[t-AY-p]
written	[r-ih-ten]	write	[r-AYE-t]
sitting	[s-ih-t-ing]	site	[s-AYE-t]
cutting	[c-uh-t-ing]	cute	[k-YOU-t]

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The words rabbit, kitty and puppy are spelled with double consonants. The words baby, pilot and music are spelled with single consonants.

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Double Consonants at the End of a Word

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double-consonants-at-the-end-of-a-word

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Many words end in double consonants.

Here are some guidelines to help figure out which ones.

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Words that end in double consonants:

have 1 syllable
contain a short vowel
end in ss, ll, ff or zz

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The words small, kiss, staff and buzz end in double consonants.

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The Silent E Rule

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the-silent-e-rule

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Words ending with a silent -e usually take a single consonant.

The silent -e at the end of a word does not make a sound.

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Words only take a single consonant when they:

end in a silent -e
contain a long vowel in the previous syllable

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The words use, dime, cane and note take a single consonant and end in a silent -e.

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Consonants Never Doubled

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consonants-never-doubled

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Some consonants are never doubled.

Those consonants are:

Consonant	Examples:
h	ahead	behave	rehearse
j	ajar	Cajun	hijack
q	liquid	plaque	equal
v	give	avoid	above
w	away	tower	blowing
x	axe	exact	flexing
y	staying	enjoying	player

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Double Consonants—Spelling Rules Exercises

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double-consonants-spelling-rules-exercises

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Exercice

Spelling Rules—Double Consonants

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720

Hauteur de l'exercice

720

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