Unit 4. Doubling final consonants.

Exercise 1. Copy the words listed below and mark off the suffix. Give the initial form and explain why the consonant letter is doubled.

Hotter, traveller, winner, reddish, quarrelling, marvellous, regrettable, referring, committee, excelled, levelled, stirred, planned, gladden, admittance, occurrence, madden, bidden, muddy, funny, thinner, saddest, flattest, long-legged.

Exercise 2. Copy the words listed below under the headings: (1) words in which the final consonant letter of the stem is doubled when followed by a suffix; 2) words in which it is not doubled. Give your reasons.

Bigger, cooler, hottest, blackest, runner, swimmer, toiler, redden, deepen, quicken, sunny, rainy, dirty, begged, stressed, blocked, called, digger, dropped, compelled, marveled, warned, suffered, stirred, fitted, admitted, exhibited, cutting, regrettable, regretful, quarrelling, quarrelsome, fulfilled, fulfillment, preferred, preferable.

Exercise 3. Read aloud the words given below and explain why the letter ‘r’ is not doubled in some words.

Prefer, preferred, preferring, refer, confer, conferred, conferring, preference, preferable, reference, conference, referee, transference, transferee, inference, inferring, transferred, transferring, infer, inferred, referred, referring, transfer.

Exercise 4. Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives below.

Big, hot, rich, thin, flat, red, cool, low, sad, wet, slim, grim, fat, loud, small, new, mad, black.

Exercise 5. Write the Past Tense form of the following verbs:

Stir, offer, order, refer, prefer, appear, cool, pull, level, excel, quarrel, parallel, nod, add, need, drop, droop, equip, fit, outfit, permit, exhibit, fix, watch, fish, rub, slip, worship, visit, commit.

Exercise 6. Write the Present Participle form of the following verbs:

Sit, meet, get, greet, shut, shot, fill, rebel, travel, put, shoot, omit, pour, stir, occur, enter, cover, suffer, win, mean, run, rain, begin, shorten, stop, stoop, bud, grip, kidnap, box.

Exercise 7. Which of these words double the final consonant? Spell the words correctly adding a consonant where it is necessary.

1. It’s wet..er here than at home.

2. I hate wait..ing for the bus in the rain.

3. Weed..ing the garden is a tiring job.

4. They had their wed..ing in the local church.

5. It must be the hot..est day of the year.

6. The driver hoot..ed at the dog crossing the road.

7. You can’t see her now, she’s sleep..ing.

8. I enjoy shop..ing in London.

9. This cake will make me even fat..er.

10. If you want to go on a diet, you must buy a book on slim..ing.

11. You look thin..er than when I last saw you.

Exercise 8. Which of these words double the final consonant? Spell the words correctly adding a consonant where it is necessary.

1. It occur..ed to me that what matter..ed most was the develop..ment of new opportunities.

2. I regret..ed having profit..ed from the mistakes of other people and benefit..ed from their downfalls.

3. In my speech of resignation I refer..ed to what I called an unjust law which permit..ed such activities.

4. I prefer..ed to leave.

5. The judge is condemned when the accused is acquit..ed.

6. I am a man more sin..ed against than sin..ing.

7. Everyone takes his flog..ing in his own way.

8. Fan..ed fire and forced love never did well yet.

9. The weep..ing bride makes a laughing wife.

10. Crab..ed age and youth cannot live together.

11. Beg..ars and borrowers cannot be choosers.

12. In the multitude of counsel..ors there is safety.

13. I thought of Chatterton, the marvel..ous Boy.

14. There are no fool..ish trades, there are only fool..ish people.

15. I travel..ed among unknown men, in lands beyond the sea.

16. When statesmen gravely say – “We must be real..istic”, the chances are they’re weak and therefore pacifistic.

17. Your level..ers wish to level.. down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear level..ing up to themselves.

18. The al..mighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.

Exercise 9. Match the words on the right with the definitions on the left and double the final consonant where necessary.

money you receive after a relative dies	an iron..ing board
a large room where groups of people eat	the market..ing department
an elderly person who no longer works	defer..ed payment
the section in a company which deals with advertising	a pension..er
payment made at a later date	a banquet..ing hall
what clothes are pressed on	limit..ed edition
for those who want to lose weight	inherit..ed wealth
a small number of books published	a diet..ing programme

Exercise 10. Complete the words in the sentences below. Not all the words double the final consonant.

1. I’ve boil…. some water for coffee. Do you want a cup?

2. The neighbours often heard them quarrel…. about money.

3. Three policemen were kill…. in the accident.

4. You fail…. your exams because you didn’t work hard enough.

5. I’m not feel…. very well, so I’m staying at home today.

6. The wine was excel…. .

7. Talk to an employment counsel…. about finding a new job.

8. The lighting is control…. by this button here.

Exercise 11. Double the consonant where necessary.

1. Panel: pane..ed, pane..ing, pane..ist.

2. Open: ope..er, ope..ing, ope..ess.

3. Model: mode..ed, mode..ing.

4. Occasion: occasio..al, occasion..ally.

5. Label: labe..ed, labe..ing.

6. Common: commo..er, commo..est, commo..ess.

7. Quarrel: quarre..some, quarre..ing, quarre..ed.

8. Forget: forge..able, forge..ing, forge..ful.

9. Commit: commi..ee, commi..ing, commi..ment.

10. Occur: occu..ed, occu..ing, occu..ence.

11. Cruel: crue..er, crue..est, crue..y, crue..ty.

12. Star: sta..dom, sta..ed, sta..ing.

13. Commission: commission..er, commission..ing.

14. Equal: equa..ize, equa..ity, equa..ed, equa..ing.

15. Happen: happe..ing, happe..ed.

Exercise 12. You are going to read an interview with Bob Barley, a vocalist of “The Howlers”. To make it understandable, add endings to the words in bold. Don’t forget to double final consonants where necessary.

A: How did you become a star?

B: I can dim remember asking for a guitar when I was three. I show that I was real talented as soon as I start playing.

A: Have you had any setbacks?

B: In the begin things moved slow and I had hard any money. But fail never cross my mind. I grab the chance of record my first single, “I’m fall for you, babe”, and I never look back.

A: What do you like best about your job?

B: Travel the world and sing live. Hear the crowd cheer at the open of a concert is the great feel in the world, man.

A: How do you like to spend Sundays?

B: Stay in bed and flip through the newspapers while sip a cup of coffee.

A: What’s the worst aspect of being famous?

B: Being spot by fans and mob wherever I go.

A: Do you ever think of quit the business?

B: As I get old, I do think about step down and let the youngsters take over. But although my hair’s get thin, I’m not giving up yet.

A: When can we expect a new album from “The Howlers”?

B: We’ve just scrap our latest material to try a change of direction. We’re jam in the studio at the moment.

A: What’s your deep fear?

B: Drop out of the charts and my fans forget me.

A: What are your remain aims?

B: I want to be an even big star!

Exercise 13. In the columns below write nouns and adjectives from the following verbs and mark the stresses in each of the words (verbs included).

VERBS	-ence	-ent	-ential	-able
abhor
prefer
occur
refer
differ
infer
confer