Unit 34: Adding suffixes to longer words – double or not?
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In Unit 9, we examined the rules for adding suffixes to words of one syllable. |
If you add a vowel suffix to a root word with one short vowel followed by only one consonant, you must double that consonant. This stops the short vowel from being changed to a long sound.
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As with one syllable words, with longer words, sometimes we have to double a letter when adding a vowel suffix. With longer words, you only have to double the consonant if the syllable just before the suffix is a stressed syllable. |
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It can be useful, therefore, to remind ourselves about stressed and unstressed syllables: |
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If we stressed every word, we would sound like robots. |
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Hear examples of 'robot' speech. |
In natural speech, words of more than one syllable contain one sound that is stronger than the rest. This is the stressed syllable. Read these aloud and listen for the stress:
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| elephant | gorilla | kangaroo |
You can hear the stressed syllable sound clearly. Try this activity – just type the stressed syllable in the box:
Which is the stressed syllable? |
Type the whole word: |
The Spellzone interactive course is intended to be used online and may not be printed.
"Spellzone fits in beautifully with our Scope and Sequence of Phonological Awareness and Spelling. It also aligns perfectly with the four areas of spelling knowledge and uses the Brain, Ears, Eyes approach to learning spelling."
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