Spelling of verb +ing

Category: Spelling

There are some rules to change verbs into -ing forms of verbs and gerunds.

The general rule when changing a verb into its -ing form is just to add -ing to the end of the verb.

Infinitive	-ing form
To eat	eating
To go	going
To do	doing
To sleep	sleeping
To read	reading
To listen	listening
To cook	cooking

Spelling exceptions

Rule 1: Verbs that end in a silent “e”, remove the -e and add -ing.

Infinitive	-ing form​
To come	coming
To live	living
To make	making
To dance	dancing
To have	having
To write	writing
To take	taking

Rule 2: One-syllable verbs that end in a consonant-vowel-consonant, double the final consonant and add -ing

Infinitive	-ing form
To run	running
To sit	sitting
to get	getting
To swim	swimming
To stop	stopping

Rule 3: Two-syllable verbs that the 2nd syllable is stressed, double the final consonant and add -ing

Infinitive	-ing form
To begin	beginning
To forget	forgetting
To prefer	preferring

Rule 4: Verbs that end in “y” or “w”, do not double the final consonant

Infinitive	-ing form
To play	playing
To snow	snowing
To study	studying

Rule 5: Verbs that end in “ie”, change -ie to -y and add -ing

Infinitive	-ing form
To die	dying
To lie	lying
To tie	tying

Rule 6: Verbs that end in “ic”, add -k before -ing

Infinitive	-ing form
To traffic	trafficking
To picnic	picnicking
To panic	panicking

Rule 7: Verbs that end consonant-vowel-“L”, double the -L and add -ing

Note: In US, do not double the -L

Infinitive	-ing form (UK)	-ing form (US)
To travel	travelling	traveling
To cancel	cancelling	canceling