Questions about doubling consonants in inflected forms.
19
votes
2answers
2k views
When is “L” doubled?
Some verbs can have double Ls in the gerund form; for example:
modeling; modelling
traveling; travelling
Which form should we use, or which form is used more in the literature?
35
votes
8answers
4k views
Is it “alright” or “allright”?
In practice I find both spellings being used. From a logical point of view, "allright" (as in: "all's right — everything is fine") seems correct. However, I recall hearing that "alright" is the ...
14
votes
3answers
2k views
“Focussed” or “focused”? The double consonant
Initially, my question was: is "focussed" or "focused" the correct past tense of "focus", but since this applies to a lot of words, I would like to generalize and ask: is there supposed to be a rule ...
4
votes
2answers
466 views
Is there any rhyme or reason to when one should double the last consonant when adding -ed or -ing? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
focussed or focused? The double consonant
Sometimes, final consonants are doubled when adding -ed or -ing to the end of a verb whose penultimate letter is a vowel.
...
1
vote
2answers
475 views
Why do you write “occurred” but “listened”?
The past tense of to occur is occurred (not occured), but the past tense of to listen is listened (not listenned).
Why? What is the general rule that is applied to make the past tense of a verb?
5
votes
2answers
787 views
What is the correct spelling: “wrapable” or “wrappable”?
As it sounds: is "wrapable" correct, or is "wrappable" correct? Or are neither correct?
Microsoft Word complains about both, but Google doesn't correct either one.
18
votes
4answers
3k views
“Cancelled” or “Canceled”?
Cancelled or Canceled ? Which one is right?
You have successfully canceled the registration
or
You have successfully cancelled the registration
7
votes
1answer
449 views
How did the “double consonant to shorten vowel” thing come about? (“furry” vs. “fury”)
In English, a doubled consonant most commonly means "shorten the previous vowel", where "shorten" means map phonemes like this:
[aɪ] -> [i]
[oʊ] -> [ɔ]
etc
For example, fury is pronounced [fjʊri] ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Pronunciation of double consonants
How do you pronounce double consonants in American English?
For example:
Daddy - Do you say "Da-di", "Dad-di" or "Dad-i"?
Mommy - Do you say "Ma-mi", "Mam-mi" or "Mam-i"?
Swimming - "swi-ming", ...
2
votes
2answers
387 views
Is it spelled “propeling” or “propelling” in American English?
Since travel becomes traveler and traveling in AmE (no double l), I thought that the same rule applied to propel.
However, reading and writing propeling feels awkward. (And propeler feels even more ...
1
vote
1answer
317 views
Why is shippable spelled with 2 p's [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct spelling: wrapable, or wrappable?
My mother "corrected" me and said "shouldn't shippable be spelled as shipable"? My gut feeling said two p's, but I ...
0
votes
2answers
131 views
Why is “writing” spelled with only one T? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there any rhyme or reason to when one should double the last consonant when adding -ed or -ing?
It has always been a word that intuitively I wish to spell with two ...
