Most regular verbs get ‘ed’ added to the end to create the simple past tense. Some regular verbs get a spelling change before we add the ‘ed’ to the end. The table below explains some spelling changes when you change a word to the simple past tense.
The table mentions stress in a word. Word stress is where a part of a word is pronounced more strongly than the rest of the word.
| Spelling Change | Examples |
|---|---|
| Verbs ending in 'e' just get a 'd' added. | hope >> hoped decide >> decided type >> typed |
| Verbs ending in one stressed vowel and one consonant, we double the last consonant then add 'ed'. (a stressed vowel is pronounced more strongly than the rest of the word.) | shop >> shopped plan >> planned drop >> dropped refer >> referred. |
| Verbs ending in a consonant + y: change the y to and i and add ed | hurry >> hurried worry >> worried marry >> married fry >> fried |
| Verbs ending in 'c' get a k before the ed. | picnic >> picnicked panic >> panicked mimic >> mimicked |
| Vowels ending in L after one short vowel, even if it is not stressed. | travel >> travelled cancel >> cancelled model >> modelled label >> labelled |
