Spelling of the -ed forms The spelling of the simple past form (-ed forms) You will learn the spelling of the simple past form (-ed form.) But before you continue the lesson study the following examples and try to see how the verbs are spelled Verbs ending in a silent e close = closed die = died phone = phoned The rules of the simple past tense forms: Here are the rules: Regular verbs ending in a silent e take /-d/ in the simple past and past participle: Example: close=closed Regular verbs ending in a vowel + y take /-ed/ in the simple past and past participle: Example: play=played Regular verbs ending in a consonant + y take /-ied/ in the simple past and past participle (the y becomes an i followed by /-ed/) Example: marry=married All the other regular vebs take /-ed/ in the simple past and past participle Example: visit=visited Special cases of the -ed forms: Follow these rules when there is a consonant after a vowel (stop, ban, open, offer ) • If there is a consonant after a stressed vowel at the end of the word, double the consonant stop – stopped ban - banned swap - swapped • If the vowel is not stressed, we not double it: open - opened (Here the stress is on'o', not the 'e'.) offer - offered ( Here the stress is on 'o', not the 'e'.) In British English we double the last l even though the last vowel is not stressed Here are some examples: • travel - travelled • cancel - cancelled • level - levelled • marvel - marvelled