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Years 3 and 4 English · Key Stage 2 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Years 3 and 4 spelling: suffixes, –ation and –ly

In Years 3 and 4, children revise the rules for adding endings such as –ing, –ed and –er and apply them to words of more than one syllable, where the rule for doubling a letter depends on which syllable is stressed. They also learn to spell words ending in the suffix –ation (information, sensation) and the suffix –ly (sadly, completely, finally), including the main exceptions.

Suffixes, –ation and –ly, explained

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or job. In Years 1 and 2 children learned rules for adding endings to short words: drop the e before –ing (hope, hoping), change y to i (happy, happier), and double the last letter in short words with one vowel (run, running). Years 3 and 4 revisit these, paying special attention to what happens when the word is longer. Schools often begin with a quick check of the earlier rules before moving on.

For words of more than one syllable, the doubling rule depends on stress. If the last syllable is stressed and ends in one consonant after one vowel, the consonant is doubled before an ending that starts with a vowel: forget, forgetting; begin, beginning; prefer, preferred. If the last syllable is not stressed, there is no doubling: garden, gardening; limit, limited; visit, visited. To decide, children say the word and listen for which part is loudest, often tapping or clapping it out.

The suffix –ation is added to a verb to make a noun: inform becomes information, sense becomes sensation and prepare becomes preparation. Where the verb ends in e, the e is dropped: admire becomes admiration, explore becomes exploration, imagine becomes imagination. Some verbs change a little more, so explain becomes explanation and the i is lost. This ending links to the –tion words taught in Year 2, and children are encouraged to spot the verb hidden inside the longer word.

The suffix –ly is added to a word to make an adverb. Because –ly begins with a consonant, the rule about dropping the e doesn’t apply: complete becomes completely and sad becomes sadly. A few patterns need care: a longer word ending in a consonant and y changes the y to i (happy, happily), a word ending in –le swaps the –le for –ly (gentle, gently), and a word ending in –ic takes –ally (basic, basically). A short list of exceptions has to be learned: truly, duly and wholly drop the e, and publicly takes –ly rather than –ally.

The national guidance gives some of these as examples and leaves schools to choose which words to use. Your child will probably have weekly spellings or short activities where they sort words by rule, practise a few at a time and apply them in sentences. It helps to see spelling as a set of patterns with a few exceptions, rather than a list of unrelated words to memorise.

Words your child will hear

Suffix
A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word, such as –ing, –ation or –ly.
Root word
The word you start with before adding an ending, such as forget in forgetting.
Syllable
A beat in a word. Forget has two syllables: for-get.
Stressed syllable
The syllable said with most force. In forget it is the second one: for-GET.
Vowel suffix
An ending that begins with a, e, i, o or u, such as –ing, –ed or –ation.
Adverb
A word that says more about a verb, often ending in –ly, such as sadly or finally.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to:

  • Spell words by adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable
  • Spell words with the suffix –ation
  • Spell words with the suffix –ly

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

Try it: adding endings

Add the ending to each word: forget + ing, garden + ing, prefer + ed, admire + ation, complete + ly, happy + ly, gentle + ly, basic + ly, true + ly.

  1. For words of more than one syllable, say the word and find the stressed syllable. In forget, the stress is on the last syllable (for-GET), which ends in one vowel and one consonant, so the t is doubled: forgetting. In prefer it is also the last (pre-FER): preferred.
  2. Garden is different: the stress is on the first syllable (GAR-den), so the last syllable is not stressed and no letter is doubled. The word is gardening, not gardenning.
  3. Next, –ation. Admire ends in e, so drop it before the vowel suffix: admir + ation = admiration.
  4. Now for –ly. It starts with a consonant, so the e stays: complete + ly = completely. For a word ending in a consonant and y, change the y to i: happy + ly = happily.
  5. For a word ending in –le, the –le is replaced by –ly: gentle + ly = gently. A word ending in –ic takes –ally: basic + ly = basically.
  6. Finally, true + ly is one of the exceptions: the e is dropped, giving truly. Say it, write it, then check it again.

forgetting, gardening, preferred, admiration, completely, happily, gently, basically, truly

Common mistakes and how to help

Doubling the consonant in every long word: gardenning, limitted, visitted

Children learn the doubling rule for short words such as run and sit, and then apply it every time they add an ending.

What helps: Teach the stress check. Say the word and tap the beat. If the last syllable is not the loud one, no doubling is needed: GAR-den, LIM-it, VIS-it.

Not doubling when it is needed: begining, forgeting

The word sounds right without the extra letter, and the double consonant is not heard. The error can be hard to spot by sound alone.

What helps: Check the stress: be-GIN and for-GET both end on the loud syllable, so the letter doubles. Point out that begin and forget are the same pattern as run, running.

Dropping the e before –ly: completly, lovly; or missing a letter: finaly

Children know the rule about dropping e before –ing, so they use it for –ly as well. And in finally, the l is not heard twice.

What helps: Remind them that the e is only dropped before an ending beginning with a vowel. For finally, split the word in two: final + ly, so two l’s appear naturally.

Leaving a letter out or adding one in words ending –ation and the exceptions: explaination, truely, publically

Children know the root (explain, true, public) and add the ending without thinking about how the root changes.

What helps: Say the word and look for the change: explain loses its i, true loses its e, and public takes –ly (not –ally) as an exception. Learn those few separately.

How to help at home

  • Tap the beat. Say a two- or three-syllable word, tap the syllables, and say which beat is loudest. Try forget, garden, begin, limit, visit and prefer, then decide together whether the last letter should double.
  • Verb to noun. Write a list of verbs, such as inform, prepare, imagine and invite. Ask your child to add –ation and say what happens to the root. Look for words in newspapers or on signs ending in –ation.
  • Make an adverb. Take adjectives (sad, gentle, happy, final, basic) and turn them into adverbs with –ly. Ask your child to put each in a spoken sentence and then check the spelling pattern.
  • Little and often. Practise just three or four words at a time using look, say, cover, write and check. Come back to them a few days later, because spelling sticks through repeated short practice.
  • Rule detective. Choose a page in a book and hunt for words ending in –ing, –ed, –ation or –ly. Sort them by pattern, and ask why each one is spelled the way it is.

Related topics

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More on spelling – English Appendix 1

Everything in Years 3 and 4 English

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