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I wonder if there is any rule for doubling the p at the end of a stem. For example:

stop — stopped

but

help — helped

RegDwigнt
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Maxim Shoustin
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    The easiest rule to remember is: when a word ends with a consonant, preceded by a single vowel, then that consonant is doubled in the past simple tense. But in American English if a word ends with a single "l" it is left alone. BrEng travelled AmEng traveled – Mari-Lou A Dec 22 '13 at 09:48
  • @Mari-LouA thank you for short description, it makes sense – Maxim Shoustin Dec 22 '13 at 09:51
  • Perhaps you would like to visit ELL English Language Learners our sister site? – Mari-Lou A Dec 22 '13 at 09:53
  • @Mari-Lou: when you *answered,* you should have said there were numerous exceptions. For another example, *compelled*. There is a more complete rule which says that for multi-syllable words in American English, you double the final letter only if the last syllable ends with a consonant, contains a single-letter short vowel, and is accented. But again, it has exceptions. – Peter Shor Dec 22 '13 at 11:32
  • So for OP's 'What is the rule' read 'Is there anything we could even term a rule of thumb . . .'. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 22 '13 at 12:09
  • @PeterShor I gave an easy rule and I gave him the link to a more complete answer. Anyway, I thought comments were not considered answers. – Mari-Lou A Dec 22 '13 at 12:20

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