Double Consonants
Some English words contain the same consonant letter twice, for example ll, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss or zz.
There is no single rule for all double consonants. However, a few patterns can help you spell and remember them:
Double consonants can be part of the word
In many words, the double consonant is simply part of the spelling. Learn the whole word and notice common patterns such as -ll, -pp, -tt, -ss and -zz.
- muffin, puppy, happen
- better, kitten, gossip
- bullet, blizzard, embarrass
Word families can help
Related words often keep the same spelling pattern:
- happy → happiness
- success → successful
- necessary → necessarily
Some endings cause consonant doubling
When we add endings such as -ing or -ed, a final consonant is sometimes doubled:
- run → running
- stop → stopped
- plan → planning
- begin → beginning
- occur → occurring
This is a spelling rule, not just a word you have to memorise.
British and American spelling
Some words have different spellings in British and American English:
- British: cancelled, travelling
American: canceled, traveling - British: diarrhoea
American: diarrhea
