Consonants: Doubling Up

Summary
This lesson provides the basic rules for doubling the final consonants of words.

Objectives
• to explain the rules for doubling the final consonant of a word;

• to provide written exercises for practice and review.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade

Excerpt
? travelled or traveled;
? focussed or focused;
? woollen or woolen.

Which word in each set is correct? Actually, all of them are correct. British English prefers the double consonant, but accepts the single, and American English prefers the single consonant, but accepts the double. So are there any rules when doubling consonants is concerned? Yes, there are. Although there are many exceptions in English spelling, here are the basic rules for doubling the final consonant of a word:

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