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You can already add endings straight on, like cat to cats. Some roots change a little first. Hope ends in a silent e, one you do not say out loud.
How do you write hope + -ing?
Suffixes
Apply suffix spelling rules that require changes to the root word: dropping final -e before vowel suffixes, changing -y to -i, doubling final consonants in short-vowel words; use suffixes -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly
What a learner can do afterwards
- Spell 'hoping' (drop e), 'cried' (y to i), 'running' (double consonant) applying the correct rule
- Add -ful, -less, -ness, -ly correctly: 'careful', 'hopeless', 'sadness', 'slowly'
- Identify which suffix rule to apply to a given root word and explain why
1 · Read
A suffix is an ending you add to a word, like -ing, -ed, -ful, or -ly. The word before you add the suffix is called the root word. Sometimes you just add the suffix straight on. Other times, you need to change the root word a little first.
Try it together
Mia cried when she dropped her ice cream. Cry ends in a y after a consonant, so we change the y to i before adding -ed: cry becomes cried.
Try it together
Sam was running across the yard. Run has one short vowel and ends in one consonant, so we double the last letter before adding -ing: run becomes running.
Some suffixes just add straight onto the word, with no changes at all: care becomes careful, hope becomes hopeless, sad becomes sadness, and slow becomes slowly.
Before you add a suffix, check the root word: drop the e, change y to i, or double the last letter, then add on.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Then practise
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.