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When a word ends in a consonant, double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel if both of the following are true: the consonant ends a stressed syllable or a one-syllable word, and the consonant is preceded by a single vowel. For example:

• drag —> dragged
• wet —> wetter
• occur —> occurred, occurring
• refer —> referral, referring

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Written by Dorothy Turner Copyright © 1994, 1995 and 1996 by the University of Ottawa (Terms of use.)