Spelling - Eliminating 'e': Activity 3

Sort the examples into two groups

DROP 'E'
KEEP 'E'
hoe + -ing → hoeing
shoe + -ing → shoeing
canoe + -ing → canoeing
agree + -ing → agreeing
agree + -able → agreeable
see + -ing → seeing

Answers

  • KEEP 'E' GROUP: hoe + -ing → hoeing, shoe + -ing → shoeing, canoe + -ing → canoeing, agree + -ing → agreeing, agree + -able → agreeable, see + -ing → seeing

They are KEEP 'E' examples, even though each suffix starts with a vowel. Why? What is happening in these examples?

  • Each base word ends in ee or oe.
  • The final e is kept to preserve these sequences of two vowel letters. Otherwise we would get misleading sequences, as in seing or hoing.

Usually, though, the e is dropped when the base word ends in ue, e.g. arguing, rescuing.

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