Spelling Rules: Past Tense of Regular Verbs

The following rules will help you learn how to add ~ed to the end of verbs to form the past tense. These rules only apply to verbs that use the ~ed ending to form their past tense. Here is a list of the most common irregular verbs that do not use ~ed to form their past tense.

1. If a verb ends with a consonant + e, the past tense is formed by adding ~d.


Examples:
believe - believe + d = believed
race - race + d = raced


2. If a verb ends with one vowel and a consonant, the past tense is formed by doubling the consonant and adding ~ed.


Examples:
hop - hop + ped = hopped
skip - skip + ped = skipped


3. If a verb ends with two vowels and a consonant, the past tense is formed by adding ~ed. DO NOT double the consonant.


Examples:
snoop - snoop + ed = snooped
look - look + ed = looked


4. If a verb ends with two consonants, the past tense is formed by adding ~ed.


Examples:
reign - reign + ed = reigned
watch - watch + ed = watched


5. If a verb ends with a consonant + y, the past tense is formed by changing the ~y to ~I and then adding ed.


Examples:
cry - cri + ed = cried
study - studi + ed = studied



6. If a verb ends with a vowel + y, the past tense is formed by adding ed. DO NOT change the ~y to ~i.


Examples:
stay - stay + ed = stayed
play - play + ed = played

Exceptions to the rules.

Do not double the consonant if the verb end in ~x.
Do not double the ~w in snow. (snow - snow + ed = snowed)

Two syllable verbs

Two syllable verbs that is in one vowel and one consonant and have the stress on the first syllable form their past tense by simply adding ~ed. DO NOT double the last consonant.

Two syllable verbs that is in one vowel and one consonant and have the stress on the last syllable form their past tense by doubling the final consonant and adding ~ed.

Examples:
occur - occur + red = occurred
prefer - prefer + red = preferred