Level A2

Double Consonant Rule

He stopped the car at the lights.

Look: He stopped the car at the lights. The short word took a tail, so the last consonant is doubled.

Forms

• stop + ed = stopped — short word: the last consonant is doubled
• run + ing = running — the same with the other tail
• open + ed = opened — longer word with stress at the start: no doubling

A common mistake

Wrong: He stoped the car.

Right: He stopped the car.

A common mistake is to keep a single consonant. We write: He stopped the car.

More examples

They are swimming in the lake.

Short word, doubled consonant: They are swimming in the lake.

We visited our grandmother.

Longer word with stress at the start: We visited our grandmother.