Spelling Words with Double Consonants
Lots of words have double consonants like 'ss' or 'll'.
Some have double consonants at the end:
Some have double consonants in the middle too:
In two-syllable words, the middle consonants are sometimes doubled when they are after a short vowel sound.
Review: A syllable is a group of letters with just one vowel sound.
Let's break down coffee into syllables:
cof · fee
Let's break down the other words too.
ad · dress
suc · cess
ac · ci · dent
Do you see the pattern? 🤔
The double consonants are the ending sound of one syllable, and the starting sound of the next syllable.
Ok, there's one more important spelling rule for when to double consonants. But it's a mouthful.
It has to do with suffixes.
🤔Do you know what a suffix is?
A suffix is a group of letters you tag on to the end of a word to create a new meaning.
Think about these words:
hot, hotter, and hottest
'er', and 'est' are suffixes. 😺 They change what hot means.
Other suffixes are 'y', 'ing', and 'able'.
Whenever you add a suffix to a word, if the word ends with a vowel and one consonant, you double the consonant.
Take a look at some examples.
Without the suffix, the word is spelled careful.
Can you spell these double consonant words? Try the practice to see. 😺