All Questions
Tagged with double-consonant or doubled-consonants
76 questions
64
votes
4
answers
37k
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?
- 35.9k
50
votes
10
answers
96k
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 ...
- 4,457
50
votes
9
answers
164k
views
"Focussed" or "focused"? Rules for doubling the last consonant when adding -ed
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 ...
- 4,457
45
votes
1
answer
359k
views
"Canceling" or "cancelling" [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is “L” doubled?
I'm confused about the two spellings. In which contexts do I have to use canceling or cancelling?
Google returns 15.6 million results with ...
- 713
43
votes
4
answers
95k
views
"Cancelled" or "Canceled"?
Cancelled or Canceled ? Which one is right?
You have successfully canceled the registration
or
You have successfully cancelled the registration
40
votes
2
answers
120k
views
"Successfull"/"successful" — is this a UK/US difference? [closed]
I would tend to write double-l, but Google gives me more single-l, so I'm guessing it's an Atlantic divide thing.
And I guess all the other *full words.
- 4,729
38
votes
3
answers
225k
views
“Programming” versus “programing”: which is preferred?
I was surprised that my spell checker did not complain for programing with one m, so I Googled it, and found on free dictionaries that both forms were acceptable.
Which one is more common? Does it ...
33
votes
3
answers
92k
views
Is "targetted" a standard British English spelling?
Wiktionary says that the difference between "targetting" and "targeting" is that the first one is a British spelling and the second one is American. Meanwhile, Oxford Dictionaries says that "...
- 537
24
votes
3
answers
108k
views
Plural of 'yes'
What is the plural of yes? Googling brings up many different suggestions from different sources.
Yesses
Yeses
Yes's
Yes' ?
- 1,223
22
votes
1
answer
9k
views
Why is "fridge" spelt with a 'd' but "refrigeration" spelt without one?
The question is in the title, why does the word, refrigeration not have a 'd' in it when fridge does?
- 503
19
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Why is the past tense of vomit generally spelled 'vomited' rather than 'vomitted'? [duplicate]
"Vomit" is not a recent addition to English, and nor does it have a peculiar pronunciation. Yet, the past tense of vomit does not follow the notion that a vowel followed by a consonant and emphasis on ...
- 343
19
votes
2
answers
38k
views
Why is "fulfil" spelt as "fulfill" in American English?
In this answer, simplification is stated as one reason for spelling variations in American English. But unlike in color and favorite, the number of letters to spell the word in fulfil increases in ...
- 16.1k
17
votes
2
answers
94k
views
What's the difference between 'modeling' and 'modelling'? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is “L” doubled?
If I am using the word model in the context of financial models and the UK, then which of these words should I use? Also, are there any key ...
- 189
16
votes
4
answers
412k
views
Which spelling is correct: "benefiting" or "benefitting"?
Which spelling is correct: benefiting or benefitting?
- 263
16
votes
5
answers
402k
views
Which is the correct spelling: "Granddad" or "Grand-dad" or "Grandad"?
Granddad or Grand-dad or Grandad?
Which is the correct spelling?
- 161
15
votes
5
answers
28k
views
"Cancellation", "Canceled", "Canceling" — US usage
I'm trying to figure out if there is a specific rule behind the word "cancel" that would cause "cancellation" to have two L's, but "canceled" and "canceling" to have only one (in the US).
I ...
- 253
14
votes
5
answers
18k
views
What is the preferred plural form of "bus"?
The OED states that both "buses" and "busses" are acceptable plural forms of "bus". Is one generally preferred over the other?
- 251
12
votes
1
answer
31k
views
"Inner" but not "outter"?
in -> inner
out -> outer / (outter?)
What is the history or set of rules behind why 'inner' doubles the 'n' but 'outer' doesn't double the 't'?
- 1,498
12
votes
5
answers
5k
views
"Plugable" or "pluggable"
When it comes to programming copy edits, there are lots of words that would otherwise be thrown out or replaced.
Hive uses a plugable design.
Should that be plugable or pluggable?
If the ...
- 467
11
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Why is the 'L' in detailed not doubled?
I cannot quite understand why the 'L' is not doubled when forming 'detailed' from 'detail'. Is that an exemption to the consonant doubling, or did I simply not understand the rules?
From the answers ...
- 376
11
votes
1
answer
22k
views
Past participle form of "exit"?
What's the past participle form of the word exit? Is it exit (irregular, like set)? exited? exitted? On one page I found exited but if that's the case why isn't it exitted (double t) like with the ...
- 609
11
votes
1
answer
75k
views
Signalling or signaling? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is “L” doubled?
Most of the spell checkers are correcting it to be single l, from the other side many official technical documents/standards are using double ...
- 425
10
votes
2
answers
7k
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.
- 203
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why does "agree" have only one "g"?
According to Webster, agree comes from Latin ad + gratus. However there are other words such as aggregate and aggression that also come from ad + [something], and these words are spelled with a double ...
- 201
10
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Why is "transferred" written with two R's?
Why is transferred written with two R's? I am a native speaker of Dutch, and in my point of view this isn't logical; there are other words like coloured and endeavoured that only have -ed added after ...
- 203
10
votes
3
answers
96k
views
Why is the plural of "quiz" spelled with double Z?
The plural of "quiz" is spelled with double "z" while the plural of "box" (and sometimes "bus") is spelled with a single last consonant. Why is it so? Is this the general rule to double the last ...
- 111
10
votes
2
answers
2k
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] ...
- 1,123
10
votes
2
answers
30k
views
Dropping L in compound adjectives. Is it "skillful" or "skilful"?
We have been taught at school that when a word ending in "LL" helps form a compound word, "LL" becomes "L" (e.g. skill -> skilful). I have also come across the usage of this adjective as skillful (...
- 35.9k
9
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Other special hyphenation examples than eight-teen
According to The TeXbook [Don Knuth, 1984], solution to Exercise 14.8, the word eighteen should be hyphenated eight-teen. It is, indeed, standard practice in pre-reform German to contract triple ...
- 433
8
votes
2
answers
114k
views
"Dilemma" vs. "dilemna" [closed]
I understand the correct spelling is 'dilemma' but many people I've spoken with, including myself, were convinced the spelling was 'dilemna'.
A quick search on google shows this is not isolated to ...
- 191
6
votes
2
answers
8k
views
L versus LL in British versus US English [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is “L” doubled?
Is there any guidance on the usage of doubled consonants, particularly L, in British versus US English? For example 'Travelled' v. 'Traveled', ...
- 591
6
votes
1
answer
158
views
How do native English speakers pronounce words with contiguous hard consonants?
For example, in the word blindness the d and n are quite different and I find it hard to pronounce the d explicitly without making a brief pause. In normal and fast speaking, is it common to omit the ...
6
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Is it "transferrer" or "transferer"?
According to thefreedictionary, "transferrer" is someone who transfers something. However, it also lists the alternate spelling "transferer", with only one r in the middle. For the related "...
- 318
5
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Adding an L when appending an -ium suffix to a word? (Metallium vs. Metalium)
I am Romanizing a business name from Hebrew, and am wondering what the most appealing or 'correct' spelling might be - 'Metallium' or 'Metalium'. The owners of the business went with the latter, but ...
- 151
5
votes
2
answers
582
views
Is "buffeted" the AmE version of the BrE word "buffetted"?
I am referring to the use of the verb "to buffet" meaning
"(especially of wind or waves) strike repeatedly and violently; batter."
The use of "buffeted" and "buffeting" is widespread. However use ...
- 6,314
5
votes
1
answer
23k
views
Why is "happened" spelled with a single "n"? [duplicate]
I've seen the words
plan -> planned, planning
begin -> beginning
Why is "happen" different and why is "happenning" an incorrect spelling?
- 161
5
votes
2
answers
2k
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.
stop → ...
- 506
5
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Origins of English Double-C Pronunciations
Looking into Pronunciation of double consonants, turned up an apparent rule for pronouncing a double-C in English that seems to parallel the Italian rule for pronouncing a single C. If the "cc" is ...
user1579
5
votes
1
answer
384
views
Can a plosive consonant in a word be pronounced as an unreleased consonant?
ESL teachers always tell people to suppress the normal release of the consonant "p b k g t d" if it's at the end of a word and the next word also begins with a consonant.
But what about words with a ...
- 51
4
votes
3
answers
5k
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", "...
- 95
4
votes
3
answers
38k
views
Why is "batting" spelled with two t's, but "combating" spelled with one?
The "bating" in "combating" is pronounced the exact same way as "batting". It doesn't make sense to me.
- 49
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why are the present and the past participles of "submit" spelled with double t?
Why are the present and the past participles of submit spelled with two t's?
user4940
4
votes
2
answers
15k
views
Why do we write "fixing" instead of "fixxing"?
When we have one vowel and one consonant and we want to add 'ing', we usually double the last consonant.
Why don't we add an extra 'x' to the word 'fix'?
We don't double 'w' and 'y' maybe because they ...
- 97
4
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Which is correct, "summiting" or "summitting"?
This form of the word is not very common but does see some use as the present participle/gerund of "to summit" as in "Upon summit(t)ing the mountain we took photos but had to begin our descent ...
- 7,820
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Australian English: developed or developped?
According to https://proofreadmydocument.com.au/writing-tips/spelling-tips-the-doubling-up-rule/ and https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/resource/20/, we should spell the past ...
user318469
4
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Why do we have double letters?
I'm wondering why we have double letters in words that make the same sound as if it were a single letter. For example apple. The pp makes a p sound, and sound the same as if the word was spelt aple.
...
- 149
3
votes
1
answer
3k
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 couldn'...
- 215
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
For the verb 'focus' why is the gerund form 'focusing' with a single S, instead of 'focussing' with a double S? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Focussed” or “focused”? The double consonant
The rule that I learned was that when you have a short vowel in the last syllable, you double the last consonant before adding ...
- 698
3
votes
3
answers
14k
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?
- 59.6k
2
votes
2
answers
193
views
Were double consonants pronounced at some period of history?
One of the things that makes me wonder is why English has double consonants which are pronounced as single, like ‘ff’ (buffer, stiff), ‘ll’ (allow), ‘mm’ (hammer), ‘nn’ (dinner), ‘ss’ (-ness, floss) ...
- 505