When a word ends in a consonant, double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel if both of the following are true: the consonant ends a stressed syllable or a one-syllable word, and the consonant is preceded by a single vowel. For example:
- drag —> dragged
- wet —> wetter
- occur —> occurred, occurring
- refer —> referral, referring
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© Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa
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