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Year 3 Writing -ed and -ing suffixes worksheet

“Spelling -ed past tense words” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 English unit “Writing -ed and -ing suffixes”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 22 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 4 to 6 of the year, 12 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Spelling -ed past tense words

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · English · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can spell past tense verbs by checking the root word first.

A Look back3 min

  1. 1.

    Circle the doing word (verb) in the sentence.

    Samjumpshigh
    Samjumpshigh
  2. 2.

    Sort the words into doing words and describing words.

    wakeeatplaysleep
    hoptallshoutred
    Doing wordDescribing word
  3. 3.

    Circle the sentence that ends with a full stop.

    The cat saton the mat
    The cat sat on the mat.the cat sat on the matThe cat sat on the mat

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ola is writing about her dog. She wants the past tense of smile.

A kitchen table with a cake tin, a wooden spoon and a bowl
Watch me
smileremove the eadd -ed

The root word is smile. It ends in e.

Remove the e: smil

Add -ed: smiled.

Now you
  1. 1.

    Zara is writing about her cake. The root word is hope. Circle the past tense.

    hoperemove the e
    hopedhoppedhopeedhope

C Your turn8 min

Look at the root word. Circle the correct past tense.

A park path with trees and a bench on a sunny day
  1. 1.

    What is the past tense of jump?

    jumpadd -ed
    jumpedjumptjumppedjumpd
  2. 2.

    What is the past tense of smile?

    smileremove the e
    smiledsmileedsmilledsmild
  3. 3.

    What is the past tense of play?

    playadd -ed
    playedplaydplayiedplayedd
  4. 4.

    Mia ___ to school with her friend. Which word fits?

    walkadd -ed
    walkedwalkdwalktedwalkedd

Say it out loud: What did you check first each time? What did the root word end with?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A table with a stack of clean plates after tea
Kit says: “The past tense of help is helpt, because it sounds like a T.”
  1. 1.

    Which spelling is right? Circle it.

    helpadd -ed
    helpthelped

E Think deeper4 min

  1. 1.

    Write a sentence about yesterday with one -ed word. Underline it. Write its root word next to it.

    root word-ed wordrule used

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet
StudyDen · Year 3 · English · Writing -ed and -ing suffixesAnswers are on the grown-up page

For the grown-up

Spelling -ed past tense words · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. jumps

2. Doing word: hop, shout · Describing word: tall, red

3. The cat sat on the mat.

B

1. hoped your child may have doubled the p, as in hop. Hope ends in e, so remove the e first, then add -ed.

C

1. jumped your child may have written jumpt, as it sounds. Jump ends in two consonants, so just add -ed.

2. smiled your child may have kept the e and added -ed, giving smileed. Remove the e first, then add -ed.

3. played your child may have changed the y, giving playied. Play ends in ay, so keep the y and just add -ed.

4. walked

D

1. helped your child chose helpt because it sounds like a T. Say the word slowly, then look at help. It ends in two consonants, so add -ed.

E

1. Look for: A sentence with one -ed verb underlined, plus its root word, and the root word spelled correctly.

Words to use

Say“Say the root word slowly. What does it end with? Which rule fits?”
Instead of“Just write the word the way it sounds, like walkt.”

After the sheet

Write five doing words on scrap paper, such as jump, cook or bake. Add -ed to each one, then say whether you removed an e first.

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

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

  1. Changing y to i, or keeping it(with a plan)
  2. Four rules for -ed(with a plan)
  3. Adding -ing to words(with a plan)
  4. Keep the y or double?(with a plan)
  5. Choosing the right -ing(with a plan)
  6. Singular to plural(with a plan)
  7. Singular to plural: the y rules(with a plan)
  8. Adding -es to make plurals(with a plan)
  9. Adding -es to nouns(with a plan)
  10. Plurals of words ending in F or O(with a plan)
  11. Singular to plural rules(with a plan)

Every Year 3 English worksheet

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