Year 3 Letter strings worksheet

“Adding -ed and -ing” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 English unit “Letter strings”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 14 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Adding -ed and -ing

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can add -ed and -ing to a root word and keep my pencil on the page.

A Look back3 min

1.
The blank is a place name. Circle the card that fits.
londonLondonthe
2.
Which mark ends this sentence? Circle one.
?.!
3.
The blank needs a noun, a word for a thing. Which card fits? Circle one.
cupjumphappy

B Watch me, then you4 min

Mia wants to write the past tense of walk. She adds the suffix -ed to the end of the word.

Watch me

walk + ed makes walked.

Hold the pencil on the paper until the word is finished.

Only then can you dot an i or cross a t.

Now you

1.
Add -ing to help. Circle the right word.
helpinghelpingshelpi

C Your turn6 min

Read the parts of each word out loud. Then circle the word they make.

1.
Play + ed. Circle the word.
playedplayingplayd
2.
Play + ing. Circle the word.
playingplayedplayng
3.
Call + ed. Circle the word.
calledcallingcallled
4.
Call + ing. Circle the word.
callingcalledcallling

Say it out loud: Which part of each word stayed the same? Which part changed, and what did it tell you about time?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Mia says: “-ed is a new word, so I lift my pencil before the e.”

1.
What should Mia do instead? Explain in one sentence.

E Think deeper5 min

1.
Write the -ed and -ing word for wash and for paint, in joined writing on the lines. Keep your pencil on the page for each word.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Adding -ed and -ing · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. London your child chose a lower-case word. Names and place names start with a capital letter. Say the sentence aloud and point at the first word.

2. ? your child chose a full stop. A question ends with a question mark, even when the sentence is short. Ask whether someone is asking something.

3. cup your child chose a word that is not a thing. Ask: can you touch it or see it? A cup is a thing, so it is a noun.

B

1. helping your child chose helpings or helpi. Read the parts aloud: help, then ing. The new word is help plus ing with nothing added.

C

1. played your child chose playing. The ending -ed tells us the playing has already happened, so it is played.

2. playing your child chose played. The ending -ing shows something is still happening, so it is playing.

3. called your child chose calling. Check the suffix first: -ed means it has already happened, so the word is called.

4. calling

D

1. Look for: Says to keep the pencil on the page through the suffix, because -ed is part of the same word and not a new word. your child said the pencil should lift. Ask: is -ed part of the same word? Trace walked with a finger and see where the join goes.

E

1. Look for: Four words: washed, washing, painted and painting, written with joins between the letters and no lifted pencil inside a word.

Words to use

Say“Read me the root word, then the suffix. Then trace the whole word with one finger without lifting it.”

Instead of“Tell them the spelling rule and let them write the words quickly without checking the joins.”

After the sheet

Write walk, talk and look on cards. Add -ed and -ing with sticky notes, then trace each joined word on paper without lifting the pencil.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Adding -y and -ly(with a plan)
Adding -ful and -less(with a plan)
Adding -er and -est(with a plan)
Words ending -sure and -ture(with a plan)
Prefixes that change meaning(with a plan)

Every Year 3 English worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

The full StudyDen plan adds the lessons themselves, marked as your child works, with the worksheets included. It is 7 days free, then £29.99 a month.

Get the worksheets Try the full plan free

Both start with a free account; you choose the plan when you sign up.