What are inflectional endings?

Inflectional endings include words with ing, ed, es/s and est at the end. Here are some examples:

• s as in cats
• ing as in swimming
• ed as in missed 
• es as in catches
• est as in fastest

Inflectional endings are a group of letters that change the meaning of the word. Inflectional endings can help us determine if the event occurred in the past (The dolphin flipped) or present (The dolphin is flipping). In terms of nouns, inflectional endings can help us determine if there were one (as in cat) or many (as in cats). They can help us determine if the wolf was merely fast or the fastest in the pack.

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When do kids learn inflectional endings?

Kids learn inflectional endings at different times, depending on the curriculum. Some kids begin to learn inflectional endings as early as kindergarten. However, most kids learn to read inflectional endings at the end of first grade or beginning of second grade. 

If you have a struggling reader, make sure you teach inflectional endings explicitly and systematically. Teach most single-syllable phonics sounds before you teach inflectional endings. 

Struggling readers often have the most difficult time with inflectional endings. This is why I advocate teaching most phonics sounds before starting inflectional endings instruction. 

Get through: short vowels, consonant blends, silent e, long vowels, and r-sounds before teaching inflectional endings. Kids with significant reading struggles are often held back on the same phonic sound because they can’t master inflectional endings. This can keep them on low-level decodables for too long. You don’t want your student to experience a reading stasis. 

However, if you teach most phonics downs first, struggling readers will learn to read inflectional endings at a faster rate. 

What does ed say?

The inflectional ending ed makes several sounds:

• ed as in missed (takes on /t/ sound)
• ed as in saved (takes on /d/ sound)
• ed as in rested (takes on /id/ sound)

When you teach ed teach all three of the above sounds at once.

How do I teach inflectional endings?

Inflectional endings are difficult to master. Students are often unsure of what to say for the vowel sound. The following words show why inflectional endings are confusing for students:

hiding versus hitting 

Why is the i in hiding long and the vowel in hitting short?

hoping versus hopping 

Why is the vowel in hoping long and the vowel in hopping short?

waved versus wagging 

Why is the vowel in waved long and the vowel in wagging short? 

Are you beginning to see the pattern? Here’s the rule: 

If there’s one consonant in the middle the first vowel is long. If there are two consonants in the middle the first vowel is short.

• 2 consonants in middle= first vowel is short 
• 1 consonant in middle= first vowel is long

However, there are still words like sailed, peeking, and glowed that contain vowel units. So how do you teach all this? 

Kids learn best when you ask them a series of questions. We know from cognitive science that learning must be effortful in order to stick. Thus, after you teach inflectional endings explicitly, learn how to correct your student. 

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How do I correct inflectional endings? 

Here’s a script on how to correct inflectional endings:

• Text: tapping
• Student says: taping

Teacher: (points to middle pp consonants) How many consonants are in the middle [between the vowels]?

Student: 2

Teacher: Does that make the first vowel long or short?

Student: short

Teacher: (points to /a/) First vowel sound?

Student: aaaaa [as in apple]

Teacher: From the beginning. 

Student: tapping

Do you see how you need to guide your student? Telling your student the correct vowel pronunciation does not facilitate learning. Guiding your student, through a series of questions, however, does result in learning. Here’s another sample: 

Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #2

• Text: peeked
• Student says: pecked

Teacher: Do you see a vowel unit?

Student: yes

Teacher: (Underlines vowel unit /ee/.) What’s the sound?

Student: ee [as in see]

Teacher: From the beginning. 

Student: peeked

Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #3

In case you want more practice, here’s another example on how to correct inflectional ending mistakes:

• Text: smiled
• Student says: spilled

In this case, you need to guide your student through several corrections. 

Teacher: (Underline the blend sm.) Say the sounds.

Student: ssssmmm

Teacher: From the beginning.

Student: sm

Teacher: (points to middle pp consonants) How many consonants are in the middle [between the vowels]?

Student: 1

Teacher: Does that make the first vowel long or short?

Student: long

Teacher: (points to /i/) First vowel sound?

Student: i [as in item]

Teacher: From the beginning. 

Student: smiled

Eliciting the answer through questions is key. 

Making corrections with ed

The ed ending makes several sounds. If your student says the wrong one, get her to experiment with the others. Here’s a sample script:

Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #4

• Text: skipped
• Student says: skippid

Teacher: (underlines ed ending) What other sounds does /ed/ make?

Student: /t/ and /d/

Teacher: Let’s try another. 

Student: skipped 

If your student still makes a mistake, try the last ed sound. 

What are inflectional endings?

Inflectional endings are common. They change the grammar of the word. After kids master many single-syllable sound units, they’re ready for inflectional endings.

Do you have a struggling reader? If so, your student may still need decodable texts while he’s learning inflectional endings. That’s okay. Keep him on phonics books until he’s had significant practice with inflectional endings. Oftentimes, if students learn the most common single-syllable sound units and inflectional endings, they are ready for those level one books found in bookstores and libraries. 

Systematic phonics books can teach your struggling reader the most common sound units.