Dropping the e Before Suffixes

The silent e at the end

Many words end in a silent e: bake, hope, ride, smile. You do not hear it, but it changes the word. When we add an ending, that silent e sometimes has to go!

The dropping rule

Drop the silent e when the suffix starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Then add the ending.

• bake → bak~~e~~ + ing = baking 🧁
• hope → hop~~e~~ + ed = hoped 🌟
• ride → rid~~e~~ + ing = riding 🚲
• smile → smil~~e~~ + ing = smiling 😄
• make → mak~~e~~ + er = maker 🛠️

The silent e steps aside so the new vowel can do its job.

Keep the e for consonants

If the suffix starts with a consonant, keep the silent e.

• nice → nice + ly = nicely 🙂
• hope → hope + ful = hopeful 🌈
• care → care + ful = careful ⚠️
• safe → safe + ly = safely 🦺

A handy table

Word	+ suffix	Drop e?	New word
bake	-ing	yes	baking 🧁
ride	-ing	yes	riding 🚲
hope	-ful	no	hopeful 🌈
nice	-ly	no	nicely 🙂

Spot the vowel

The trick is to look at the first letter of the suffix.

• Starts with a vowel (-ing, -ed, -er, -est)? Drop the e.
• Starts with a consonant (-ly, -ful, -ment)? Keep the e.

Practise

Try these. Say the new word out loud:

• love + ing = loving ❤️
• use + ed = used ✅
• brave + ly = bravely 🦁
• shine + ing = shining ✨

Super spelling!

Now you know when the silent e stays and when it goes. Watch for it when you write -ing and -ed words today.

Next, try Doubling Letters Before Adding -ing and Changing y to i.