Simple Past - Spelling

Simple Past: Summary; Use; Signal words; Form of affirmative, negative sentences and questions; Spelling; Special verbs; Diagram; Pronunciation of the ending -ed

Simple Past - Spelling

You have to know all forms of the irregular verbs very well. For the Simple Past you need the form of the verb which can be found in the 2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs.
go - went - gone

Add -ed with regular verbs.

regular verbs
infinitive + -ed

Sometimes the are exceptions in spelling when adding -ed.

1) consonant after short, stressed vowel at the end of the word

Double the consonant.
stop – stopped
swap - swapped

If the consonant is not stressed, we do not double it:
benefit - benefited (Here we stress the first 'e', not the 'i'.) In British English we double one -l at the end of the word:
travel - travelled

2) one -e at the end of the word

Add only -d.
love – loved
save – saved

3) verbs ending in -y

verbs ending in 'y' preceded by a vowel (a, e, i, o, u): Add -ed.

Example:
I play - he played

verbs ending in 'y' preceded by a consonant: Change 'y' to 'i' Then add -ed.

Example:
I hurry - he hurried

irregular verbs
2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs