PART II

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

CHANGES OF FORM AND RULES

OF SPELLING

89. How Words Change their Form.

There are two ways in which a word may change its form:

(1) It may change an inner vowel; as, begin began, begun; grow, grew; man, men.

(2) It may add a suffix; as,

run, running; love, loving; boy, boys; hate, hated; hot, hotter, hottest.

Most mistakes in spelling are made in the addition of suffixes, for a word often drops or doubles a letter before the suffix is attached. Compare loving and running. Spelling is, therefore, simply a matter of good form. Correct spelling is not always a sign of scholarship, but bad spelling is always a mark of ignorance. 90. Changes of Form and Rules of Spelling.

In changing the forms of words the following rules should be applied:

RULE I.—When a word ends in silent e, drop that letter before all suffixes beginning with a vowel:

guide, guiding, guidance

secure, securing, security move, moving, movable

plume, pluming, plumage
force, forcing, forcible
behave, behaving, behavior

NOTE.-Silent e is sometimes, though rarely, dropped before suffixes beginning with a consonant; as, judge, judgment; abridge, abridgment; acknowledge, acknowledgment. In such words as changeable, courageous, noticeable, peaceable, e is retained to keep g and c from having the sounds heard in gable and cable.

RULE II.—When a word ends in ie, change i to y and drop the e before adding ing:

RULE III.--When a word of one syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single short vowel, double this consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:

wit, witty

bud, budding, budded
jab, jabbing, jabbed

bag, bagging, baggage
sin, sinning, sinner, sinned

clan, clannish
cut, cutting, cutter
run, running, runner
hot, hotter, hottest
mad, madder, maddest

QUESTION. Why is the consonant not doubled in binding, holding, sailing, badly?

RULE IV.*—(1) When a word of more than one syllable has the accent on the last syllable, and this syllable ends in a

*NOTE TO TEACHER.-Drill the pupils thoroughly on Rule IV, and do not take for granted that all of them understand the difference between an accented and an unaccented syllable.

CHANGES OF FORM AND RULES OF SPELLING

85

single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. (2) If the accent is not on the last syllable, do not double:

(1) begin, beginning, beginner

occur, occurring, occurred, occurrence

recur, recurring, recurred, recurrence
inter, interring, interred

confer, conferring, conferred

admit, admitting, admitted

forget, forgetting, forgotten, forgettable
rebel, rebelling, rebelled, rebellion

(2) travel, traveling, traveled, traveler
bevel, beveling, beveled, beveler
enter, entering, entered

marvel, marveling, marveled, marvelous
credit, crediting, credited, creditor

quarrel, quarreling, quarreled, quarreler
shiver, shivering, shivered

NOTE. Good usage varies with regard to the forms of worship: you may double or not double. It is best to double in the case of kidnap, because there is a secondary accent on the last syllable.

QUESTION.-Why is the consonant not doubled in interment, equipage, conference, deference, inference?

RULE V. When a word ends in y preceded by a consonant, change y into i before adding es:

mercy, mercies

melody, melodies

pansy, pansies cherry, cherries

lady, ladies

ally, allies

fly, flies

navy, navies