Words with double letters

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6 minutes road vocabulary

From BBCLearningEnglish.com

Hello and welcome to 6-minute road vocabulary with me, Catherine.

And me, Finn.

In this program, we're looking at spelling.

And the area we're spelling we're looking at today is words with double letters.

Let's start by listening to David.

He's a student welfare officer at a university.

And he's welcoming a new student to the campus.

And while you listen to David, here's a question for you.

What word means the rooms, flats, and houses that people live in?

Here's David.

Congratulations on getting a place at our university.

It's a brilliant opportunity and I'm sure that you will be happy and successful here.

I'm here to help you find accommodation.

We've got rooms, flats, and houses all over the city.

But I recommend that you apply as soon as possible.

So you're not disappointed.

Here's a list of addresses.

David there.

And we asked what's the word for rooms, flats, and houses that people live in?

And the answer is accommodation.

It is and accommodation is one of our words with double letters.

So Finn, how do you spell accommodation?

A, double C, O, double M, O, T, I, O, N.

Well done Finn.

Now listen to this clip, which six words have double letters.

Congratulations on getting a place at our university.

It's a brilliant opportunity.

And I'm sure that you will be happy and successful here.

So we had getting with double T, brilliant with double L,

opportunity with double P,

will with double L, and also happy with double P,

and successful with double C and double S.

Correct.

And now let's take a look at some spelling rules.

The first rule is about verbs.

If the final three letters of a verb are consonant vowel consonant,

we double the final consonant before we add I, N, G, or E, D.

So get, spelled G, E, T becomes getting with double T, and begin,

ends in G, I, N.

So it becomes beginning with double N.

Now our next rule is to do with short vowel sounds.

So Finn, can you demonstrate please some short vowel sounds?

A, O, E, E, A, U.

That's enough. Thank you.

And now so many long vowel sounds.

U, E, R, A.

Yes. Thank you, Finn. Very well demonstrated.

Thank you.

So when there is a short vowel sound before a consonant,

like I, in happy, we often double the consonant after it.

The short I, in happy, gives us a double P.

The short I, in opportunity, gives us another double P,

and the short I, in brilliant, gives us double L.

And this can happen more than once in the same word.

So in the word successful, we get A,

double C, and A, double S, and in accommodation, we get A,

double C, and O, double M. Easy.

Exactly. And lots of short words like summer, coffee,

apple, and will follow this general rule.

So let's listen to another clip and put this general rule to the test.

Okay.

Listen carefully.

But I recommend that you apply as soon as possible,

so you're not disappointed.

Here's a list of addresses.

So following the rule, we've got recommend with O, double M,

possible with O, double S, and disappointed with A, double P.

Six minutes right, vocabulary.

From bbclearningenglish.com.

And we're talking about words with double letters.

Right. Quiz time. Number one.

Is there a double N in the verb happening?

No, there isn't.

Well done. Number two.

Are there any double letters in the word immediately?

Yes, there is a double M.

Very good. Number three.

Which of these words have a double C?

Occasion?

Accident?

Succeed.

And the answer is they all do.

They all have a short vowel sound followed by a double C.

That's a been trick question.

It was indeed.

It's also the end of the quiz.

And you're brilliant with double L if you got all of those questions right.

And now here's a top tip for vocabulary learning.

If you're struggling to learn the spelling of a word,

get a keyboard and type it a hundred times.

And your fingers might learn the spelling more quickly than your brain.

What do you think, Finn?

Would that work for you?

My fingers are much quicker than my brain, Catherine.

It's a good idea. It's a very good tip.

And there's more about this at bbclearningenglish.

Join us again soon for more six minute vocabulary.

Bye.

Goodbye.

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