Verb tenses: adding -ed and -ing

The basic form of a verb is called the infinitive. It normally occurs with the word to as in ‘I want to ask you a question.’ Verbs may change their spelling according to which tense is being used.

The past tense refers to things that happened in the past. To make the past tense of regular verbs, the ending -ed is added to the infinitive ('I asked her a question'). The present participle refers to things that are still happening. To make the present participle, the ending -ing is added to the infinitive ('I am asking her a question').

Often there's no need to make any other spelling changes when you add -ed and -ing to the infinitive but there are some cases when it's necessary to do so. Here are some rules to help you get it right:

Verbs ending with a silent e

If the verb ends with an e that isn’t pronounced (as in bake or smile), then you need to drop this final -e before adding -ed and -ing:

verb	past tense	present participle
bake	baked	baking
smile	smiled	smiling

A very few verbs keep the final -e when adding -ing to distinguish them from similar words. For example, singe becomes singeing rather than singing (which is the present participle of sing).

Verbs ending with a vowel plus -l

If the verb ends with a vowel plus -l (as in travel or equal), then you need to double the l before adding -ed and -ing in British English:

verb	past tense	present participle
travel	travelled	travelling
distil	distilled	distilling
equal	equalled	equalling

This rule doesn’t apply in American English: see more information about the differences between British and American spelling

Verbs ending with a single vowel plus a consonant

If the verb ends with a single vowel plus a consonant, and the stress is at the end of the word (e.g. refer), then you need to double the final consonant before adding -ed and –ing:

verb	past tense	present participle
admit	admitted	admitting
commit	committed	committing
refer	referred	referring

If the verb ends with a vowel plus a consonant and the stress is not at the end of the word, you don’t need to double the final consonant when adding -ed and -ing:

verb	past tense	present participle
inherit	inherited	inheriting
target	targeted	targeting
visit	visited	visiting

If the verb has only one syllable and ends with a single vowel plus a consonant (e.g. stop), then you need to double the final consonant before adding -ed and -ing:

verb	past tense	present participle
stop	stopped	stopping
tap	tapped	tapping
sob	sobbed	sobbing

Verbs ending with two vowels plus a consonant

If the verb ends with two vowels plus a consonant, you should generally not double the final consonant:

verb	past tense	present participle
treat	treated	treating
wheel	wheeled	wheeling
pour	poured	pouring

Verbs ending in -c

If the verb ends in -c (e.g. panic), you need to add a -k before adding -ed and -ing, and also -er.

verb	past tense	present participle	related noun
picnic	picnicked	picnicking	picnicker
mimic	mimicked	mimicking	mimicker
traffic	trafficked	trafficking	trafficker

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Verb tenses: adding -ed and -ing

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