When do you double consonants in a 2 syllable word?

[sbgrace]

How do you know when to double consonants in a two syllable words?

 

The rule I have states that when you hear one consonant after a first short vowel sound you double the consonant. But there seem to be so many exceptions to that rule that I'm questioning the usefulness.

 

How do I teach this?

 

edited to add:

I'm wondering about double consonants in two syllable base words (not when adding a vowel suffix). Words like gallon, sudden, and gallop?

Edited April 5, 2012 by sbgrace

[TKDmom]

I just got done with a series of lessons covering this topic with ds6. PR1 teaches that you double the final consonant when you add a vowel suffix in:

-A one syllable word that ends in a vowel and consonant (e.g. a short vowel word like hop or big). The exception to this is words that end in x.

-two syllable words with the accent on the last one (permit, begin, and forgot but not words with an unaccented final syllable like enter or travel)

You don't double the final consonant when you add a consonant suffix like -ful or -ment.

 

I just covered the rules with examples with ds. I figure it's just exposure at this point. I'll reinforce it as he comes across words that use the rule. There's no way he can remember everything, but it will come up again and again, so maybe he'll get it eventually.

 

Eta: I see PR in your signature. Are you getting the rule from there? They make it look like there are a lot of exceptions, but there are really only a couple of exceptions.

Edited April 5, 2012 by bonniebeth4

[Ellie]

How do you know when to double consonants in a two syllable words?

 

The rule I have states that when you hear one consonant after a first short vowel sound you double the consonant. But there seem to be so many exceptions to that rule that I'm questioning the usefulness.

 

How do I teach this?

Doesn't Phonics Road cover this?

 

Here are the rules according to Spalding (and I would guess that PR's rule is the same):

 

Words of one syllable, ending in one consonant which have only one vowel before the last consonant (like "hop"), require that we add another consonant like the last one before adding an ending that begins with a vowel.

 

Words of two syllables (like "begin, " where the second syllable "gin" is like "hop," having one consonant at the end and one vowel before it), also require another consonant before adding an ending which begins with a vowel, if the accent is on the last syllable.

 

It's a very long rule, lol. However, you'll be teaching them along with the spelling words which show the rules, not in isolation. They are much easier to learn in context.

[sbgrace]

What about words like gallon, sudden, and gallop though? We aren't adding vowel suffixes because they are base words.

 

How does the student know when to double with two syllable base words? Accents are on the first syllable in those.

[Tanikit]

If you look in certain dictionaries for gallop - you will find that the word's syllables are split across the double consonant - "gal-lop" which explains why it has the double consonant (you are actually saying the l twice even if it doesn't sound like it. The same with sud-den and gal-lon. However when written phonetically these double consonants do seem to disappear, so I am not entirely sure either.

 

However if sudden were not spelt with a double d then it would be pronounced with a long vowel U in "su-den" or even worse "sude-n"

Edited April 5, 2012 by Tanikit

[Aurelia]

Because if you were to break the word into syllables, you need the other consonant to keep the vowel short. AAS calls it "protecting the vowel". For example, breaking "sudden" into syllables should look like "sud" and "den". If you try to use only one D, you get "su" (pronounced "sue") "den" because the first becomes an open syllable, which means the vowel is long.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Aurelia

[ChrisB]

Because if you were to break the word into syllables, you need the other consonant to keep the vowel short. AAS calls it "protecting the vowel". For example, breaking "sudden" into syllables should look like "sud" and "den". If you try to use only one D, you get "su" (pronounced "sue") "den" because the first becomes an open syllable, which means the vowel is long.

But what about words like finish and comic? They are divided after the after the consonant and before the second vowel. vc/v These consonants aren't doubled. I wonder why some consonants are doubled and others not.

[Tanikit]

"fin-ish" and "com-ic" do not result in a syllable that ends in a vowel (which would make the vowel long) if it were not doubled. Unlike su-den where the first consonant would end in a vowel unless you double the consonant - you cannot have sud-en and nor can you have fi-nish. It has to do with where the syllables end.

[LizzyBee]

How do you know when to double consonants in a two syllable words?

 

The rule I have states that when you hear one consonant after a first short vowel sound you double the consonant. But there seem to be so many exceptions to that rule that I'm questioning the usefulness.

 

How do I teach this?

 

edited to add:

I'm wondering about double consonants in two syllable base words (not when adding a vowel suffix). Words like gallon, sudden, and gallop?

 

I don't think there is any consistent rule or logic for that question. If it is, we haven't gotten there yet. In Barton Reading and Spelling (for dyslexic students), they are taught for reading that when they encounter a vcv word in their reading, they should first take the consonant to the second syllable, and if it doesn't sound right, move it to the first syllable to see if that makes a word. Ex. Cabin would be divided ca-bin based on the usual syllabication rule, and the student would think, hmm, I've never heard that word before, and then try cab-in. Some dyslexic students are behind in vocabulary, so that doesn't always work for them, but it at least gives them a strategy for trying to sound out the word correctly.

 

For spelling, the tutor has to pronounce the word carefully so that the student knows the first syllable is closed. Ex, cab-in, don't hold the b sound into the second syllable. Then, when we get to the happy rule (2 consonants in the middle), we have to be careful to pronounce the consonant with the second syllable. Ex. ha-py. The student can hear that the first syllable ends with a short vowel, therefore, it must be closed with a second p. I think it will take a lot of time, exposure, and repetition to get my dd to where she can spell these kinds of words independently without me there to over-enunciate them for her.

 

Anyway, I think that's the question you were asking and how Orton-Gillingham based programs teach those types of words.

Edited April 6, 2012 by LizzyBee

[momofabcd]

Words like comic and finish are most likely of Latin origin. Otherwise, the first vowel would say its long sound like titan or final.

[MerryAtHope]

How do you know when to double consonants in a two syllable words?

 

The rule I have states that when you hear one consonant after a first short vowel sound you double the consonant. But there seem to be so many exceptions to that rule that I'm questioning the usefulness.

 

How do I teach this?

 

edited to add:

I'm wondering about double consonants in two syllable base words (not when adding a vowel suffix). Words like gallon, sudden, and gallop?

 

Great question. Unfortunately…if English was an easy language to learn that had rules for everything, we wouldn’t struggle to teach it and our kids wouldn’t struggle to learn it!

 

The trouble becomes understandable when we take a trip through history. Old English was a germanic language, brought to Britain by various invaders (Remember the Angles and the Saxons? and others).

 

This changed to Middle English after the invasions of the Vikings (of various Scandinavian background), and the Normans.

 

Then with the Renaissance, Latin, Greek, German, and Dutch became the source of new words in the language–our language borrows words from many nations! (Think of all the Spanish and Indian words we’ve incorporated…)

 

Back to doubling...All About Spelling teaches it this way: “To protect a short vowel, we often double the consonant.â€

 

Keep that word “often†in mind.

 

This is especially true in words where we add a suffix or when a native suffix is part of the word (like the y and er in “happy†or “hammerâ€). This generally happens on the “native English†side of our language–the words that come to us through Middle and Old English.

 

However, a number of words come to us from Latin, and that’s where the rest of the words (the ones that don’t fall in the “often†category) come in. In Latin words, a single vowel is usually short, as in words like metal, robin, visible, and so on. As you learn longer and more difficult words, you run across more Latin words, and thus see more exceptions.

 

This is where it gets tricky. The ABC’s and ALL Their Tricks says that:

 

One syllable words follow the syllable rules regardless of their origin.

 

Two and three syllable words follow the syllable rules if they have a native English suffix, or if they are not of Latin origin. Words of Latin origin will follow the Latin style.

 

Words of four or more syllables are almost all of Latin origin, and will follow the Latin style instead.

 

So what does this mean for our kids? They can begin to learn about languages of origin (very helpful in a spelling bee situation!). Or they can learn the exceptions visually and through other means.

 

Sometimes we have other clues: In the word “magic,†if the G was doubled it would usually be a hard G sound (maggot and begging for example). The letter V is almost never doubled, so words like river and divide only have one V.

 

Again with the syllable rules, remember that they are not absolutes. A consonant between two vowels usually goes with the second vowel, but not always.

 

When adding suffixes and when using words with native suffixes--double. Other times...it's a generality and not a rule.

 

HTH some! Merry :-)

[Mommee & Baba]

Because if you were to break the word into syllables, you need the other consonant to keep the vowel short. AAS calls it "protecting the vowel". For example, breaking "sudden" into syllables should look like "sud" and "den". If you try to use only one D, you get "su" (pronounced "sue") "den" because the first becomes an open syllable, which means the vowel is long.

 

:iagree:

 

"fin-ish" and "com-ic" do not result in a syllable that ends in a vowel (which would make the vowel long) if it were not doubled. Unlike su-den where the first consonant would end in a vowel unless you double the consonant - you cannot have sud-en and nor can you have fi-nish. It has to do with where the syllables end.

 

:iagree:

 

Both mama's said what I was about to reply.

[sbgrace]

Thank you all so much for replying! This makes sense to me (finally) and has been so helpful!

[Ellie]

But what about words like finish and comic? They are divided after the after the consonant and before the second vowel. vc/v These consonants aren't doubled. I wonder why some consonants are doubled and others not.

You only double consonants when you are adding a suffix to a base word. Finish and comic *are* the base words, not "fin" and "com."

[ChrisB]

You only double consonants when you are adding a suffix to a base word. Finish and comic *are* the base words, not "fin" and "com."

Then what about the word sudden? There isn't a suffix added on to the base word, is there? I must be missing something...why couldn't it be divided sud-en? I understand that it isn't, but hypothetically... Please help this tired brain...lol

 

Thank you Merry for your post!

Edited April 6, 2012 by ChrisB

[LizzyBee]

This is especially true in words where we add a suffix or when a native suffix is part of the word (like the y and er in “happy†or “hammerâ€). This generally happens on the “native English†side of our language–the words that come to us through Middle and Old English.

 

However, a number of words come to us from Latin, and that’s where the rest of the words (the ones that don’t fall in the “often†category) come in. In Latin words, a single vowel is usually short, as in words like metal, robin, visible, and so on. As you learn longer and more difficult words, you run across more Latin words, and thus see more exceptions.

 

 

Thanks for posting. Barton covers word origins in Levels 9-10, and we are still in Level 4. Hopefully, a lot of this kind of info will be included in 9-10. When I was in school, we did a lot of vocab/roots work in 7th and 8th grade, but I don't think I retained any of it. :tongue_smilie:

[GingerPoppy]

Great question. Unfortunately…if English was an easy language to learn that had rules for everything, we wouldn’t struggle to teach it and our kids wouldn’t struggle to learn it!

 

The trouble becomes understandable when we take a trip through history. Old English was a germanic language, brought to Britain by various invaders (Remember the Angles and the Saxons? and others).

 

This changed to Middle English after the invasions of the Vikings (of various Scandinavian background), and the Normans.

 

Then with the Renaissance, Latin, Greek, German, and Dutch became the source of new words in the language–our language borrows words from many nations! (Think of all the Spanish and Indian words we’ve incorporated…)

 

Back to doubling...All About Spelling teaches it this way: “To protect a short vowel, we often double the consonant.â€

 

Keep that word “often†in mind.

 

This is especially true in words where we add a suffix or when a native suffix is part of the word (like the y and er in “happy†or “hammerâ€). This generally happens on the “native English†side of our language–the words that come to us through Middle and Old English.

 

However, a number of words come to us from Latin, and that’s where the rest of the words (the ones that don’t fall in the “often†category) come in. In Latin words, a single vowel is usually short, as in words like metal, robin, visible, and so on. As you learn longer and more difficult words, you run across more Latin words, and thus see more exceptions.

 

This is where it gets tricky. The ABC’s and ALL Their Tricks says that:

 

One syllable words follow the syllable rules regardless of their origin.

 

Two and three syllable words follow the syllable rules if they have a native English suffix, or if they are not of Latin origin. Words of Latin origin will follow the Latin style.

 

Words of four or more syllables are almost all of Latin origin, and will follow the Latin style instead.

 

So what does this mean for our kids? They can begin to learn about languages of origin (very helpful in a spelling bee situation!). Or they can learn the exceptions visually and through other means.

 

Sometimes we have other clues: In the word “magic,†if the G was doubled it would usually be a hard G sound (maggot and begging for example). The letter V is almost never doubled, so words like river and divide only have one V.

 

Again with the syllable rules, remember that they are not absolutes. A consonant between two vowels usually goes with the second vowel, but not always.

 

When adding suffixes and when using words with native suffixes--double. Other times...it's a generality and not a rule.

 

HTH some! Merry :-)

Super post!