Words Ending in -e

A2 · ElementarySpelling Rules

Make → making (drop the -e), safe → safely (keep the -e) — the suffix's first letter decides.

What you'll learn

  • A word ending in a silent -e usually drops that -e before a suffix that starts with a vowel: make → making, hope → hoped
  • The same word usually keeps the -e before a suffix that starts with a consonant: safe → safely, manage → management
  • A few words keep -e before -ing anyway to avoid confusion with a different word: dye → dyeing (not 'dying', which would look like 'die')
  • Some words keep -e after a soft c or g to preserve the soft pronunciation: notice → noticeable, change → changeable

Drop before a vowel, keep before a consonant

The simplest way to remember this rule: look at the first letter of the suffix you're adding. A vowel suffix (-ing, -ed, -er, -able) usually drops the silent -e; a consonant suffix (-ly, -ment, -ful, -ness) usually keeps it.

"make + -ing → making (vowel suffix, drop -e)"
"safe + -ly → safely (consonant suffix, keep -e)"

Exception: avoiding confusion with another word

A small number of words keep their -e before -ing specifically to stay visually distinct from a different word that would otherwise look identical.

"dye → dyeing (not 'dying', which is the -ing form of 'die')"
"singe → singeing (not 'singing', the -ing form of 'sing')"

Exception: keeping the soft c/g sound

Words ending in -ce or -ge sometimes keep the -e even before a vowel suffix like -able, because dropping it would make the c or g sound hard instead of soft.

"notice → noticeable (keeps the soft 's' sound of the c, not a hard 'k' sound)"
"change → changeable (keeps the soft 'j' sound of the g, not a hard 'g' sound)"

Real English

"She's writing a letter while hoping for good news."
"This decision was made entirely for safety reasons."
"The dress was carefully dyed a deep shade of blue."
"His plans are noticeable but still open to change."

Watch out

✗She is writeing a report.
✓She is writing a report.

The silent -e in 'write' is dropped before the vowel suffix -ing — keeping it (writeing) is a common spelling slip.

✗This route is very saf and reliable.
✓This route is very safe and reliable.

This shows the reverse mistake pattern: dropping -e where it's needed. Before a consonant suffix like -ly, the -e is normally kept: safe → safely, not 'safly'.

Real life — Discussing a project timeline

"Are we still hoping to finish by next week?"

"Honestly, it's changeable — a lot depends on the client's feedback."

"That makes sense. Just let me know if anything becomes noticeable enough to worry about."

"Will do. I'm managing it closely, so you'll hear from me if plans shift."

Practice

Exercise 1 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ing form: make → ___

Exercise 2 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ed form: hope → ___

Exercise 3 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ing form: write → ___

Exercise 4 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ly form (keep the -e before a consonant suffix): safe → ___

Exercise 5 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ment form (keep the -e before a consonant suffix): manage → ___

Exercise 6 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ing form for the exception 'dye' (to avoid confusion with 'die'):

Exercise 7 · Choose the correct spelling

Which form correctly keeps -e to preserve the soft 'g' sound?

Exercise 8 · Choose the correct spelling

Choose the correct -ing form: believe → ___

Exercise 9 · Add the correct ending

Add -ing correctly (drop the silent -e): dance → ___

Exercise 10 · Add the correct ending

Add -ness correctly (keep the -e before a consonant suffix): close → ___ (adjective 'close' meaning nearby, + -ness)

Exercise 11 · Sort the words into groups

making
safely
hoping
management
writing
closeness
dancing
noticeable

0 / 8 sorted

Quick challenge

Five quick questions to check what stuck.

Question 1 / 5

Score: 0/0

Choose the correct -ing form: ride → ___

You learned

  • Drop a silent -e before a suffix starting with a vowel: make → making.
  • Keep the -e before a suffix starting with a consonant: safe → safely.
  • A few words keep -e before -ing to avoid confusion with another word: dye → dyeing.
  • Words in -ce/-ge sometimes keep -e before -able to preserve the soft sound: notice → noticeable.

Related grammar lessons

ElementarySpelling Rules

Doubling Consonants

Learn the rule for doubling a word's final consonant before adding -ed, -ing, -er, or -est — the 'one vowel, one consonant' pattern for short words, and the stress-based version of the same rule for longer words.

ElementarySpelling Rules

Words Ending in -y and -ie

Learn when a final y changes to i before a suffix (and when it doesn't), plus the special rule for words ending in -ie before -ing — study → studied, but studying; play → played; die → dying.

BeginnerSpelling Rules

Adding -s, -ed and -ing

An overview of why English spelling shifts when you add -s, -ed, or -ing to a word — the general idea that spelling changes exist to protect pronunciation — with the specific rules (doubling, dropping -e, changing y to i) each getting their own dedicated lesson.

IntermediateSpelling Rules

British vs American Spelling

Learn the systematic spelling differences between British and American English — -our/-or, -re/-er, -ise/-ize, -ogue/-og, and doubling before a suffix — and why picking one system and staying consistent matters more than which one you choose.

View all lessons in this category