108
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
Because so-called long vowels (a, e, i, o, and u, when pronounced "like their letter name") and digraphs do not require a doubled consonant to form the participle.
Compare hating or waiting with ...
- 14.4k
62
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
The English language has no universal rule for when to double a consonant
before the suffix "-ing".
As evidence that there is no universal rule,
consider the word "travel." It ends consonant-vowel-...
- 3,175
30
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
The word eating "eat" is "vowel + vowel + consonant". It is not "consonant + vowel + consonant", therefore rule 2 does not apply.
Only the general rule of "just add -ING" applies.
to sleep => ...
- 419
17
votes
Accepted
When I tell a story in the past, shouldn't I use past tense when the verbs are describing states?
Your version is correct. Whatever site you used to "correct" the sentence is incorrect... changing the tense in this way creates a tense mismatch, and is simply wrong in English.
...
- 7,183
13
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
The motivation for the spelling rule (which the Woodward English site does not specify) is that we don't want adding "-ing" to change the length of the final vowel (the one before the consonant). A ...
- 569
11
votes
Accepted
Plural acronym verb form: "PGCs stand for" vs. "PGCs stands for"
It's more common to give the meaning of an acronym in singular form:
PGC stands for primordial germ cell.
If you've given this definition, it's obvious to readers that PGCs is the plural.
If you ...
- 5,572
9
votes
Accepted
Has she came or Did She came
First off, you are talking about a particular teacher. So you should use the determiner "my" or "the" in front of "teacher".
Secondly, you use the first form of a verb with the auxiliary verb "did". ...
- 27.4k
8
votes
Has she came or Did She came
If you are still at school when you are asking the question you could say "Did the teacher come today?" but it would be better to say "Has the teacher come today?" because you are expecting your ...
- 1,190
7
votes
Does the verb 'to busy' require a reflexive pronoun?
Compare:Merriam -Webster
verb
Definition of busy
busied busying
transitive verb
: to make busy : occupy
The video game busied the child for hours
(The game kept the child busy)
You don't ...
- 7,125
7
votes
Accepted
“This element” vs “these elements”
Many non-ferrous metallic alloys contain this element: bronze, brass,
etc.
Many non-ferrous metallic alloys contain these
elements: bronze, brass, etc.
The two sentences have different ...
- 378
6
votes
When I tell a story in the past, shouldn't I use past tense when the verbs are describing states?
Unlike Richard Winters I wouldn't say the correction is ungrammatical, but it is at least a little awkward, and it significantly changes the meaning.
I saw her yelling at her boyfriend, but he seemed ...
- 970
5
votes
Does the verb 'to busy' require a reflexive pronoun?
V.V. is correct, you don't need a reflexive pronoun. It is both grammatical and idiomatic to say (something) busies (someone) to mean (the something) kept (the someone) busy. I write to add some ...
- 4,127
4
votes
Should I use "are" or "is" in this question?
I would choose two. The subject is the restaurant, not days.
If you simplify, you'll will see this better.
When is the the restaurant open?
If you answer the question, it also becomes clearer.
...
- 3,798
4
votes
Accepted
Irregular verbs with two past forms
Because English is a natural language there are lots of inconsistencies.
The "put" element is indeed the common verb, and that verb is irregular, with the past and past participle the same as the ...
- 232k
4
votes
Accepted
How to tell if suffix *er* means a person, a tool or an action?
You have to learn the words, one by one.
Not every verb has a noun in the form -er. For example "meaner" (from the verb "mean") Others have a specific or limited meaning, for example "seer" (from the ...
- 232k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the right verb form for "this is the first time ..."
As far as I am concerned, all three can be correct, depending on the context in which they are spoken. None of your sentences is an idiomatic way of saying something. Each one is legitimate in its own ...
- 56
4
votes
Accepted
Why does the following sentence uses present participle "teaching" instead of present tense "teach"？
The equivalent of "do" in this sentence is "to be its keynote speaker" , not "teaching". Therefore it is correctly written as "to be" and not "to being&...
- 178
3
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
The correct spelling is eating. This is because when a short vowel is followed by one consonant at the end of the root word, we double the last consonant. Thus, stop becomes stopping. In all other ...
- 37.7k
3
votes
Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?
This rule works if you consider letters, not sounds. CVC should be letters and the correct addition is that the syllable should be stressed. Then the rule works almost in all cases. Travelling/...
- 7,125
3
votes
Does the verb 'to busy' require a reflexive pronoun?
Is it "grammatical?"
Your example sentence is:
It busied me for hours.
According to some current grammar sources (which are always subject to change†) your sentence could be termed "...
3
votes
Has she came or Did She came
As others have already pointed out the basic structural problems, I won't repeat that. Instead, I'll add that other forms might be more appropriate. Instead of using come, we can in this example ...
- 337
3
votes
Accepted
Correctness of "He took to drink..."
"He took to drink" is actually a perfectly legitimate English phrase meaning "to begin regularly consuming alcohol".
For example:
Prisoner went to work in a mill, and afterwards as a labourer in ...
- 41.1k
3
votes
Using perfect forms for ''for''
We use for with a period of time, since with a starting date.
(1) I lived in London for three years if you no longer live there. The past perfect is used when speaking of a time in the past when you ...
- 61.4k
3
votes
Accepted
Using perfect forms for ''for''
1.- What if the action is finished? For example, what if I have already left London after spending 3 years there?
You should say, "I lived in London for 3 years."
2.- If my plan is to stay ...
- 12.5k
3
votes
If you asked him what his name was/is
Wow. This is a great question. I'm a native American English speaker, and I had to think about this one for a while.
If I am talking about someone I haven't seen recently or no longer know, the first ...
- 314
3
votes
Why the verb "come" in this sentence has this form?
The first sentence would be understood by me as "Have Amy's records come in?" (with "come being the past participle") Though it could equally logically be "Did Amy's records ...
- 232k
3
votes
Accepted
"There has to be" vs "there have to be"
You are correct. The first phrase is actually a better choice since the choice of using has/have depends on whether the words following it are singular or plural. This phrase is an example of ...
- 256
2
votes
Show Showed Shown?
The Oxford English Dictionary says both past participle forms have existed historically. The one formed with the -ed suffix descends from Old English; the one formed with the -n suffix developed later,...
- 7,409
2
votes
"has" vs "has been" or "have" vs "have been"
I totally agree with @Shoe. By saying "the idea has deleted" suggests that the idea has deleted something, so it doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, by saying "the idea has been deleted" ...
- 131
2
votes
What is meant by the verb "to be"?
The verb "to be" has a complex history.
There were four different verbs in Old English:
1. "Beon" meaning to exist
2. "eom" meaning to remain, (mostly used in the present tense) and
3. "wesan" ...
- 232k
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