Why do you have to add an extra letter before adding -ed for the past tense for certain words? Stop, becomes stopped

Question

Why do you have to add an extra letter before adding -ed for the past tense for certain words? Stop, becomes stopped

In: 6

Answer 1

You don’t always.

Asked. Belonged. Canceled. Guessed. Needed.

When you do, it’s because other grammar rules apply. For example, “stoped” would rhyme with sloped.

It’s not used any more, but there was a time when “stopt” was the past tense of stop.