Spelling PDF
Spelling PDF
Spelling PDF
In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when
a suffix is added, while in American English the letter is not doubled. The letter will
double in the stress is on the second syllable.
Spelling of verbs
This is related to formation of the past participle for verbs. For a complete list of
irregular verb spellings, see Susan Jones' Complete List of English Irregular Verbs.
Below is a sampling of the three main categories of differences with verbs.
-ed vs. -t
The first category involves verbs that use -ed or -t for the simple past and past
participle. Generally, the rule is that if there is a verb form with -ed, American English
will use it, and if there is a form with -t, British English uses it. However, these forms
do not exist for every verb and there is variation. For example, both American and
British English would use the word 'worked' for the past form of 'to work', and in
American English it is common to hear the word 'knelt' as the past tense of 'to kneel'.
So what does this all mean for learners of English? In the beginning, unfortunately, it
means a lot of memorization (or memorisation) and of course, a few mistakes. For
spoken English, the differences are barely audible, so forge ahead and don't be too
concerned with whether a word is spelled 'dwelled' or 'dwelt'. With written English,
however, if you are unsure about the spelling, better to ask your teacher or look the
word up in the dictionary and see what the experts say.