ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

CalifJim — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:33:13 GMT

The_Ancestral_Eagle
What about ( happen / open ) in the British English !!?

I don't think they double in those, even though they double in "travelled", so I don't really know if they have a consistent rule for this kind of verb, or if it's a matter of memorizing each one separately.

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

Cool Breeze — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:23:43 GMT

The_Ancestral_Eagle

1) - What about ( happen / open ) in the British English !!?

Can the last consonant be doubled !?

2) - What is a diphthong ?

1. Why don't you believe us? Nothing was said about n being an exception in British English, so it's not an exception!

2. You have the Internet at your disposal. It is replete with information. Type diphthong in a search engine and you'll get lots of answers. Here is one.

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

The_Ancestral_Eagle — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:07:58 GMT

Thanks a lot CB & CJ ..

So, it's a matter of stress .. !

But !!

1) - What about ( happen / open ) in the British English !!?

Can the last consonant be doubled !?

2) - What is a diphthong ?

Thanks again

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

CalifJim — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:33:41 GMT

See Post:104845 for the rules.

Do not treat final w or y as a consonant when applying these rules.

And x is never doubled.

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

Cool Breeze — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:24:49 GMT

The consonant is doubled if there is a short vowel between consonants in a stressed syllable:

forgetting, swimming

If the syllable is not stressed, doubling doesn't occur:

targeting

No doubling occurs if the vowel is pronounced as a diphthong:

growing

In British English - illogically - l is doubled even in an unstressed syllable in similar words:

travelling

There are numerous cases where usage is unsettled and you have a choice:

focused / focussed

::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

The_Ancestral_Eagle — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:10:06 GMT

Hi , everyone ..

It's known that we double the last letter when adding the suffix (-ing) to the verb if

preceded by a vowel ..

run --------> running

swim ------------ > swimming

and so on ..

Now what about these ??

play / fix / stay / saw / know / low

[ I suppose because of x , w and z at the end !! maybe ]

And what about these as well ,

open / happen / listen

Waiting eagerly for the answer .

Best Wishes