Language Arts Grade Four

Unit Two, Lesson Four: The -ING Suffix

  1. before
  2. fort
  3. more
  4. chore
  5. core
  6. explore
  7. crime
  8. time
  9. rabbit
  10. kangaroo
  1. mammals
  2. coyote
  3. stone
  4. lime
  5. extreme
  6. heat
  7. temperature
  8. index
  9. humidity
  10. moisture
The -ING Suffix

An affix is a word part that you add to a root word which somehow modifies the meaning of the root word. Affixes which you add to the beginning of a word (such as de-, re-, dis-, etc.) are called prefixes. Affixes which you add to the end of a word (such as -ing, -tion, -ed, etc.) are called suffixes. In this lesson we are going to discuss the -ing suffix. Let's begin by looking at a few examples. 


      ROOT WORD			WORD WITH -ING

        explore			  exploring
	time			  timing
	stone			  stoning
        heat			  heating
	hop			  hopping
Looking at this list of examples you can see three different ways that -ing gets added to the end of a word: 1) just add -ing, 2) drop an "e" and then add -ing, 3) double the last letter and then add -ing. The trick is knowing which one of these methods to use for each word. 

  WORDS THAT END WITH THE LETTER E:

	ROOT WORD		WORD WITH -ING

	hike			  hiking
	dine			  dining
	write			  writing
	care			  caring
	brake			  braking

  RULE: Drop the e and add -ing.



  WORDS THAT END WITH ONE VOWEL FOLLOWED BY A CONSONANT

       ROOT WORD		WORD WITH -ING

	hit			hitting
	bat			batting
	trek			trekking
	swim			swimming
	stun			stunning

  RULE: Double the last letter and add -ing.



   OTHER WORDS

	ROOT WORD		WORD WITH -ING

	swing			swinging
	break			breaking
	crack			cracking
	beat			beating
	fly			flying

  RULE: Just add -ing.

Click here to go to next page