Good spelling comes from noticing patterns. Once you spot how words are built, you can spell many new words with confidence. In this lesson we learn some of the most useful patterns in English.
Why this matters: Clear spelling helps readers understand you straight away. Learning patterns saves you from having to remember every word one by one.
Adding -ing and -ed
Many verbs simply add -ing or -ed: play → playing, played. But when a short word ends in a single vowel then a consonant, we often double the last letter.
run → running, hop → hopped, stop → stopping
Plurals with -s and -es
Most words add -s to mean 'more than one'. But words ending in s, ss, sh, ch or x add -es.
| One | More than one |
|---|---|
| book | books |
| box | boxes |
| brush | brushes |
| church | churches |
The magic 'e'
A silent e at the end of a word can make the vowel say its own name (a long sound).
hat → hate, kit → kite, hop → hope, cub → cube
Long vowel sounds: ai, ee, igh, oa
These letter teams make long vowel sounds you hear often.
| Sound | Example words |
|---|---|
| ai | rain, train, wait |
| ee | tree, sleep, green |
| igh | night, light, high |
| oa | boat, road, coat |
Tricky words
Some common words do not follow a neat pattern, so we learn them by heart. Examples: because, friend, said, people, beautiful, once.