Word Endings: Pronunciation and Spelling with Examples

In English, word endings often change the form of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, creating plural forms, possessive cases, and different verb tenses. These endings can also affect the pronunciation and spelling of words, making them an essential part of English grammar.

In this lesson, we will explore various common word endings such as s/es, ed, and ing, along with special rules like dropping e or doubling consonants. Whether it’s making nouns plural or adjusting verb tenses, mastering these endings will enhance your fluency and accuracy in English.

Some words have grammatical endings. A noun can have a plural or possessive form: friends, friend’s. A verb can have an s-form, ed-form, or ing-form: asks, asked, asking. Some adjectives can have a comparative and superlative form: quicker, quickest. A word can also end with a suffix: argument, idealist, weekly, drinkable. When we add these endings to a word, there are sometimes changes in pronunciation or spelling.

Word Endings

In this lesson, we will learn the below topics that are covering wide range of English words ending examples:

• The s/es ending
• The ed ending
• Leaving out e
• The doubling of consonants
• Consonant + y

Let’s learn the examples of the above topics:

1. The s/es ending

1. To form a regular noun plural or the s-form of a verb, we usually add s. For example:

• Rooms
• Games
• Looks
• Opens
• Hides

After a sibilant sound, we add es. For example:

• Kiss → Kisses
• Watch → Watches
• Bush → Bushes
• Tax → Taxes

But if the word ends in e, we add s. For example:

• Place → Places
• Suppose → Supposes
• Prize → Prizes

2. A few nouns ending in o add es.

• Potato → Potatoes
• Tomato → Tomatoes
• Hero → Heroes
• Echo → Echoes

But most add s. For example:

• Radios
• Stereos
• Pianos
• Photos
• Studios
• Discos
• Kilos
• Zoos

3. The ending is pronounced /s/ after a voiceless sound, /z/ after a voiced sound, and /iz/ or /ez/ after a sibilant.

• Voiceless: hopes/ps/, fits/ts/, clocks/ks/
• Voiced: cabs/bz/, rides/dz/, days/eiz/, throws/euz/
• Sibilant: loses/ziz/or/zez/, bridges/diz/ or /dez/, washes/iz/ or /ez/

4. The possessive form of a noun is pronounced in the same way. For example:

• Mick’s/ks/
• the teacher’s/ez/
• Mrs Price’s/siz/ or/sez/

But we do not write es for the possessive, even after a sibilant. For example:

• Mr Jones’s
• The boss’s

2. The ed ending

1. The ed-form of most regular verbs is simply verb + ed. For example:

• Play → Played
• Walk → Walked
• Seem → Seemed
• Offer → Offered
• Fill → Filled

If the word ends in e, we add d. Look at the below examples:

• Move → Moved
• Continue → Continued
• Please → Pleased
• Smile → Smiled

The ending is pronounced /t/ after a voiceless sound, /d/ after a voiced sound and /id/ after /t/ or /d/.

• Voiceless: jumped/pt/, baked/kt/, wished/t/
• Voiced: robbed/tid/, expected/tid/, handed/did/, guided/did/

3. Leaving out e

1. We normally leave out e when it comes before an ing-form. For example:

• Make → Making
• Shine → Shining
• Use → Using

But we keep a double e before ing.

• See → Seeing
• Agree → Agreeing

2. When e comes before ed, er or est, we do not write a double e. For example:

• Type → Typed
• Late → Later
• Fine → Finest

3. We usually leave out e before other endings that start with a vowel, e.g., able, ize, al. For example:

• Love → Lovable
• Private → Privatize
• Culture → Cultural

NOTE:

But when a word ends in ce /s/ or ge, we keep the e before a or o. Examples included:

• Enforce → Enforceable
• Courage → Courageous

We can also keep the e in some other words: saleable/salable, likeable/likable, mileage/milage.

4. We keep e before a consonant. For example:

• Hate → Hates
• Nice → Nicely
• Care → Careful

NOTE:

Exceptions are words ending in ue: argue argument, true truly, due duly.

Also: whole wholly, judge judgment/judgement.

5. To form an adverb from an adjective ending in a consonant + le, we change e to y. For example:

• Simple → Simply
• Possible → Possibly

To form an adverb from an adjective in ic, we add ally. For example:

• Dramatic → Dramatically
• Idiotic → Idiotically

NOTE: An exception is publicly.

4. The doubling of Consonants

1. Doubling happens in a one-syllable word that ends with one written vowel and one written consonant, such as win, put, sad, plan. We double the consonant before a vowel. For example:

• Win → Winner
• Put → Putting
• Sad → Saddest
• Plan → Planned

NOTE:

• a: Compare top tapping and tope taping.
• b: The consonant also doubles before y: fog foggy.

2. We do not double y, w, or x. For example:

• Stay → Staying
• Slow → Slower
• Fix → Fixed

We do not double when there are two consonants. For example:

• Hold → Holding
• Ask → Asking

And we do not double after two written vowels. For example:

• Keep → Keeping
• Broad → Broader

3. The rule about doubling is also true for words of more than one syllable, but only if the last syllable is stressed. For example:

• For’get → Forgetting
• Prefer → Preferred

We do not usually double a consonant in an unstressed syllable. For example:

• ‘Open → ‘Opening
• ‘Enter → ‘Entered

NOTE:

In British English, there is some doubling in an unstressed syllable. We usually double l. For example:

• Travel → Travelling
• Tunnel → Tunnelled
• Marvel → Marvellous
• Jewel → Jeweller

We also double p in some verbs. For example:

• Handicap → Handicapped
• Worship → Worshipping

But in the USA there is usually a single l or p in an unstressed syllable, e.g., traveling, worshiping.

4. When a word ends in ll and we add ly, we do not write a third l.

• Full → Fully

5. Consonant + y

1. When a word ends in a consonant + y, the y changes to ie before s. For example:

• Study → Studies
• Lorry → Lorries

Before most other endings, the y changes to i. For example:

• Study → Studied
• Silly → Sillier
• Lucky → Luckily
• Happy → Happiness

We do not change y after a vowel. For example:

• Day → Days
• Buy → Buyer
• Stay → Stayed

But pay, lay, and say have irregular ed-forms: paid, laid, and said. Also day to daily.

NOTE:

a: The possessive forms are singular noun + apostrophe + s, and plural noun + apostrophe.

• the lady’s name
• the ladies’ names

b: A one-syllable word usually keeps y before ly: shyly, slyly, dryly/drily.

c: We do not change y when it is part of a person’s name: Mr. and Mrs. Grundy the Grundys.

d: We do not change y in by: stand-bys, lay-bys.

2. We keep y before i. For example:

• Copy → Copying
• Hurry → Hurrying

NOTE: We change ie to y before ing.

• die → dying
• lie → lying

Word Endings Charts

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Word-Endings.pdf