Printable grammar worksheet for practicing adding inflectional endings to root words.

Let’s go step by step to fill in the table correctly.

We are adding inflectional endings:
- “Add -s or -es” → for third person singular (he/she/it) present tense, or plural nouns (but here it’s verbs, so we’re making verb forms like “he walks”)
- “Add -ed” → for past tense
- “Add -ing” → for present participle / continuous form

But — important! We must watch spelling rules. Sometimes letters change when we add these endings.

Let’s go row by row:

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1. wave
- Add -s or -es → waves (just add -s)
- Add -ed → waved (drop silent ‘e’ before adding -ed? Actually no — for “wave”, we keep the ‘e’ and just add -d → waved)
Wait — rule: if word ends in silent ‘e’, drop the ‘e’ before adding -ing, but for -ed, you usually just add -d. So:
→ waved (correct)
- Add -ing → waving (drop silent ‘e’ first, then add -ing)

✔ wave → waves, waved, waving

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2. dress
- Add -s or -es → dresses (ends in ‘ss’, so add -es)
- Add -ed → dressed (just add -ed)
- Add -ing → dressing (just add -ing)

✔ dress → dresses, dressed, dressing

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3. close
- Add -s or -es → closes (add -s; note: pronounced with ‘z’ sound, but spelled with ‘s’)
- Add -ed → closed (drop silent ‘e’? No — again, for -ed, we just add -d → closed)
Actually: “close” ends in silent ‘e’, so for -ed → add -d → closed
For -ing → drop ‘e’ → closing
- Add -ing → closing

✔ close → closes, closed, closing

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4. rip
- Add -s or -es → rips
- Add -ed → ripped (double the ‘p’ because short vowel + single consonant at end → double last letter before adding -ed or -ing)
- Add -ing → ripping (same reason — double ‘p’)

✔ rip → rips, ripped, ripping

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5. cry
- Add -s or -es → cries (change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add -es, because ‘y’ after consonant)
- Add -ed → cried (change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add -ed)
- Add -ing → crying (just add -ing — don’t change ‘y’ before -ing)

✔ cry → cries, cried, crying

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6. call
- Add -s or -es → calls
- Add -ed → called
- Add -ing → calling

✔ call → calls, called, calling

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7. chose ← Wait! This is already past tense of “choose”. But the worksheet says “Root Word”. Is this a trick? Let me check.

Looking back: The root word listed is “chose”. But “chose” is not a root — it’s past tense of “choose”. Maybe it’s a typo? Or maybe they want us to treat “chose” as the base? That doesn’t make sense grammatically.

Wait — perhaps it’s meant to be “choose”? Because “chose” can’t take -s/-es or -ing normally. For example:
- He chooses (not “he choses”)
- Choosing (from choose)
- Chose is already past.

I think there might be an error in the worksheet. But since it says “chose”, let’s assume they mean “choose” as the root. Otherwise, it breaks the pattern.

Alternatively, maybe it’s testing if students notice that “chose” is irregular? But the directions say “add inflectional ending”, implying regular patterns.

Given context, I believe it’s likely a typo and should be “choose”. Let’s proceed with “choose” as the intended root word.

So:

choose (assuming correction)
- Add -s or -es → chooses
- Add -ed → chose (irregular!) — wait, but the column says “Add -ed”, which implies regular past tense. Hmm.

This is confusing. If we strictly follow “add -ed” to “chose”, we get “choseed” — which is wrong.

Perhaps the worksheet has a mistake. But looking at other words, all others are regular except possibly this one.

Another possibility: Maybe “chose” is meant to be treated as a noun? Unlikely.

Best approach: Since this is for students learning regular inflections, and “chose” is irregular, perhaps it’s a test to see if they know it doesn’t follow the rule? But the directions say “be sure to look at the pattern and spelling... what changes might be needed” — so maybe they expect “chose” to stay as is for past, but that doesn’t fit.

Wait — let’s re-read the root word list: “wave, dress, close, rip, cry, call, chose, pass, bake, wash, roll, talk, skip, slap, lift”

“Chose” stands out. In many worksheets, “choose” is used. I think it’s safe to assume it’s a typo and should be “choose”.

So I’ll use “choose”:

choose
- Add -s or -es → chooses
- Add -ed → chose (irregular — but the column says “Add -ed”, so maybe they want “chosen”? No, that’s past participle.)

Actually, for teaching purposes, sometimes they include irregulars to show exceptions. But the instruction says “add the inflectional ending”, which suggests mechanical addition.

To avoid confusion, let’s do what makes sense linguistically:

If root is “choose”:
- Third person: chooses
- Past: chose (irregular — so we don’t “add -ed”, we change the word)
- Present participle: choosing

But the table has columns “Add -ed” and “Add -ing”, implying we are to apply those suffixes mechanically.

Given that, and since “chose” is listed, perhaps they want:

For “chose”:
- Add -s or -es → choses? (incorrect English)
- Add -ed → choseed? (wrong)
- Add -ing → choseing? (wrong)

That can’t be right.

Alternative idea: Maybe “chose” is a misspelling of “close”? But “close” is already above.

Or perhaps it’s “chase”? Let’s check common root words.

“Chase” would make sense:
- chases, chased, chasing

And “chase” is a common verb.

Given that “chose” is likely a typo, and “chase” fits perfectly, I’ll assume it’s “chase”.

Many worksheets have “chase” in such lists.

So:

chase
- Add -s or -es → chases
- Add -ed → chased
- Add -ing → chasing (drop silent ‘e’)

✔ chase → chases, chased, chasing

I think this is the intended word.

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8. pass
- Add -s or -es → passes (ends in ‘ss’, so add -es)
- Add -ed → passed
- Add -ing → passing

✔ pass → passes, passed, passing

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9. bake
- Add -s or -es → bakes
- Add -ed → baked (drop silent ‘e’? No — for -ed, add -d → baked)
Actually: bake + d = baked (silent ‘e’ dropped implicitly? Spelling is “baked”)
- Add -ing → baking (drop silent ‘e’ first)

✔ bake → bakes, baked, baking

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10. wash
- Add -s or -es → washes (ends in ‘sh’, so add -es)
- Add -ed → washed
- Add -ing → washing

✔ wash → washes, washed, washing

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11. roll
- Add -s or -es → rolls
- Add -ed → rolled
- Add -ing → rolling

✔ roll → rolls, rolled, rolling

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12. talk
- Add -s or -es → talks
- Add -ed → talked
- Add -ing → talking

✔ talk → talks, talked, talking

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13. skip
- Add -s or -es → skips
- Add -ed → skipped (double ‘p’ — short vowel + single consonant)
- Add -ing → skipping (double ‘p’)

✔ skip → skips, skipped, skipping

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14. slap
- Add -s or -es → slaps
- Add -ed → slapped (double ‘p’)
- Add -ing → slapping (double ‘p’)

✔ slap → slaps, slapped, slapping

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15. lift
- Add -s or -es → lifts
- Add -ed → lifted
- Add -ing → lifting

✔ lift → lifts, lifted, lifting

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Now, compiling all answers:

| Root Word | Add -s or -es | Add -ed | Add -ing |
|-----------|---------------|-------------|-------------|
| wave | waves | waved | waving |
| dress | dresses | dressed | dressing |
| close | closes | closed | closing |
| rip | rips | ripped | ripping |
| cry | cries | cried | crying |
| call | calls | called | calling |
| chase* | chases | chased | chasing |
| pass | passes | passed | passing |
| bake | bakes | baked | baking |
| wash | washes | washed | washing |
| roll | rolls | rolled | rolling |
| talk | talks | talked | talking |
| skip | skips | skipped | skipping |
| slap | slaps | slapped | slapping |
| lift | lifts | lifted | lifting |

*Note: Assumed "chose" was meant to be "chase" due to linguistic inconsistency. If strictly using "chose", it would be incorrect to add standard endings, but for educational purpose, "chase" is logical.

Final Answer:

wave → waves, waved, waving
dress → dresses, dressed, dressing
close → closes, closed, closing
rip → rips, ripped, ripping
cry → cries, cried, crying
call → calls, called, calling
chase → chases, chased, chasing
pass → passes, passed, passing
bake → bakes, baked, baking
wash → washes, washed, washing
roll → rolls, rolled, rolling
talk → talks, talked, talking
skip → skips, skipped, skipping
slap → slaps, slapped, slapping
lift → lifts, lifted, lifting