Year 1 English · Key Stage 1 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Year 1 spelling: adding -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er and -est

In Year 1, children learn to add endings to a root word to change its meaning or job. They add -s and -es to make more than one thing or to match a verb to he or she, -ing and -ed to show when something happens, and -er and -est to compare. In Year 1 this is only done with words where the root does not change, such as hunt, hunts, hunting and hunted.

Adding -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est, explained

An ending added to the end of a word is called a suffix, and the word it is added to is the root word. Year 1 keeps it simple by using only roots that stay exactly the same when the ending goes on: hunt becomes hunts, hunting, hunted and hunter, and the letters of hunt never change. Roots that do change, such as hop becoming hopping or happy becoming happier, are taught in Year 2, so you should not expect your child to know those spelling rules yet.

The endings -s and -es do two jobs. They make most nouns plural (one cat, two cats; one fox, two foxes) and they go on the end of a verb when one person or thing is doing it (he hunts, she catches, the dog runs). The way to choose is to listen. If the ending adds an extra beat, a syllable you can clap, it is spelt -es: catches, foxes, wishes. If it doesn’t add a beat, it is -s, even when it sounds like a z, as in dogs and bags.

The endings -ing and -ed go on verbs. The ending -ing shows that something is happening now or was happening (hunting), and -ed shows that it has already happened (hunted). The -ed ending sounds different in different words: like a t in jumped, like a d in played, and like a separate beat, “id”, in hunted. All three are spelt -ed. This is probably the most surprising pattern in the topic, because children are asked to ignore what they hear.

A fourth ending, -er, can go on a verb to name someone who does it: a hunter, a singer. Then -er and -est can go on adjectives, describing words, to compare. Quick, quicker, quickest. Grand, grander, grandest. A simple way to explain it is that -er compares two things and -est means the most of all.

Teachers help children see the pattern by separating the root and the ending, circling each one in a different colour, then putting them back together. Reading the word aloud afterwards helps too, because hearing the extra beat in foxes, or the three different sounds of -ed, is part of the thinking.

Words your child will hear

Root word: The basic word that endings are added to. The root of hunting, hunted and hunter is hunt.
Suffix: A group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or job, such as -s, -ing or -ed.
Plural: More than one. The plural of cat is cats, and the plural of fox is foxes.
Verb: A word that says what someone or something does or is doing, such as jump, hunt or catch.
Adjective: A word that describes a noun, such as quick, grand or tall.
Past tense: The form of a verb that shows something has already happened, such as jumped.
Syllable: A beat in a word. Fox has one syllable and foxes has two.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 1, pupils should be taught to:

Spell words by adding s and es (plural of nouns and the third person singular of verbs)
Spell words by adding the endings –ing, –ed and –er to verbs where no change is needed to the root word
Spell words by adding –er and –est to adjectives where no change is needed to the root word

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: choosing the right ending

Choose the right ending for each word in brackets. “The fox (jump) over the log yesterday.” “Two (fox) ran off.” “Ben is the (quick) boy in the class.”

Find the root word in each sentence and decide what the ending needs to do. In the first sentence “yesterday” says it has already happened. The second needs more than one fox. The third compares Ben with everyone in the class.
Jump to jumped: the action is finished, so the past-tense -ed goes on. It sounds like a t, as in “jumpt”, but it is spelt -ed. The root word jump does not change.
Fox to foxes: say both words and listen. Fox has one beat and foxes has two, so the ending adds a syllable and is spelt -es. Compare cats, where there is no extra beat, so it is just -s.
Quick to quickest: more than two are being compared, so Ben is quicker than every other child and the word takes -est. If it were only two boys, it would be -er, quicker.
Read the three sentences back aloud to check that they make sense and that each ending sounds right.

“The fox jumped over the log yesterday.” “Two foxes ran off.” “Ben is the quickest boy in the class.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Writing -ed endings as they sound, such as “jumpt” or “walkt”

Children are taught to write what they hear. In words like jumped, the ending sounds like a t, so “jumpt” is a logical attempt.

What helps: Tell them -ed is the usual ending for a finished action, whatever it sounds like. Collect words in a list: jumped, played, hunted, and notice they all end the same way.

Adding only -s when a word needs -es, or writing “dogz” for dogs

Children match endings to the sound they hear. Foxes ends in a separate sound that is easy to miss, and dogs ends in a z sound but is spelt with s.

What helps: Check for a new beat. If you can clap an extra syllable, it is -es. If you can’t, it is -s, even when it sounds a bit like z.

Putting -ed on words that do not follow the rule, such as “runned” or “goed”

This is a good sign. The child has spotted the -ed pattern and is using it for every verb. Some verbs have a different past form, and these are learned word by word.

What helps: Say, “That’s a clever idea, and it works for most verbs. This one is different: we say ran.” Keep this as a conversation, not a correction.

Mixing up -er and -est, such as “the quicker boy in the class”

Both endings are for comparing, so it is easy to mix them up unless the number of things compared is clear.

What helps: Compare actual objects. Two towers: one is taller. Three or more towers: one is the tallest. Saying how many things are being compared helps children choose.

How to help at home

Build words with ending cards. Write endings -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er and -est on small pieces of paper. Choose a root such as hunt, jump or quick, and try each ending on to see which make real words. Read each new word aloud.
Today and yesterday. Say, “Today I play,” and ask your child to say what happened yesterday: “Yesterday I played.” Then write one pair together. Use regular verbs such as jump, walk, look and help, so the -ed ending is always the same.
Compare real things. Line up toys, pencils or spoons and compare them using tall, taller, tallest or long, longer, longest. Write one sentence with each form. Naming the number of things compared makes the -er and -est difference clear.
Clap the extra beat. Say pairs such as dish and dishes, box and boxes, cat and cats, and clap the syllables. When there is an extra clap, write -es. This links listening and spelling.
Cover the ending. While reading together, find a word with an ending, such as walking or helped. Cover the ending with a finger and say the root word. It helps children to see words in two parts.

Leads on to

Year 2: Soft c, soft g, kn, gn and wr
Year 2: Endings -le, -el, -al, -il and -y
Year 2: Changing y, dropping e, doubling
Year 2: a before l, o, -ey and s spellings
Year 2: Spellings after w and qu
Year 2: Suffixes -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly
Year 2: Contractions and apostrophes
Year 2: Homophones and tricky words