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      Doubling the consonant with suffixes: -ing, -ed, -er, -est and -y

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can spell words by doubling the consonant with suffixes: -ing, -ed, -er, -est and -y.

      Key learning points

      1. A suffix is a letter or group of letters at the end of a word which creates another word.
      2. If the root word has a short vowel and a single consonant, the consonant letter is doubled when the suffix is added.
      3. The letter 'x' is never doubled, such as words like mixing, mixed or boxer.

      Keywords

      • Suffix - a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning

      • Short vowel - a vowel sound that sounds short when spoken like "a" in "cat" or the "o" sound in "hot"

      • Consonant - a sound that is made by blocking air in the mouth with the teeth, tongue, lips or palate

      • Root word - the base word from which other words are formed often by adding prefixes or suffixes

      Common misconception

      Pupils often miss the double letters in the middle of words that have a suffix.

      Drawing attention to the patterns of how words are spelt when suffixes are added will help them to remember the double letter.

      Teacher tip

      Practise the phonic techniques of stretching words to separate the phonemes in order to help identify if a word has a short vowel in it.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Select the suffixes.

      Correct answer: -ed
      un-
      Correct answer: -er
      pre-
      Correct answer: -est

      Q2.
      Match the words to the rule that applies when the suffix -est is added.

      Correct Answer:fast - fastest,Just add -est.
      Correct Answer:funny - funniest,Remove the ‘y’ and add -iest.
      Correct Answer:wise - wisest ,Remove the ‘e’ and add -est.
      Correct Answer:hot - hottest,Double the consonant and add -est.

      Q3.
      Match each word to the number of phonemes it contains.

      Correct Answer:say,2
      Correct Answer:stop,4
      Correct Answer:playing,5

      Q4.
      Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. It was the funyest joke she had ever heard.

      funyest
      funnyist
      Correct answer: funniest
      funiest
      funnyest

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. She was the bravist after her friend arrived.

      bravist
      Correct answer: bravest
      brayvst
      braveest

      Q6.
      Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. It was the hotist day ever recorded in England.

      hotest
      Correct answer: hottest
      hottist
      hotist

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      What are the missing words? A suffix is a letter or group of letters __________ of a word which creates another word.

      Correct answer: at the end
      at the start
      in the middle

      Q2.
      Which of these words have a short vowel sound in them?

      Correct answer: hop
      hope
      Correct answer: fat
      stay

      Q3.
      Match the word to the suffix it contains.

      Correct Answer:running,-ing
      Correct Answer:skipped,-ed
      Correct Answer:bigger,-er
      Correct Answer:sunny,-y

      Q4.
      Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. Shetapd on the window.

      taped
      Correct answer: tapped
      tapt
      tapd

      Q5.
      Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. He told a funee joke.

      Correct Answer: funny

      Q6.
      Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence. I love to go runing.

      Correct Answer: running

      To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Doubling the consonant with suffixes: -ing, -ed, -er, -est and -y, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...