56 / PART ONE: THE BASICS If there is no ‘e’ at the end of a word, the vowel is usually ‘short’: If a second syllable is added to these words, the consonant is usually doubled: There are, of course, some exceptions. If the ‘e’ is preceded by a ‘g’ or a ‘c’, the ‘e’ is usually retained. To remove it would produce a ‘hard’ sound instead of a ‘soft’ one: When forming an adverb from an adjective , ‘ly’ (not ‘ley’) is added. If there is a ‘y’ at the end of the adjective, it must be changed to an ‘i’: If a word ends in ‘ic’, ‘-ally’ is added to it: Adding ‘-ly’ to adjectives bit, hop, let bit – bitten hop – hopping let – letting age – ageing marriage – marriageable service – serviceable adjective adverb beautiful beautifully happy happily quick quickly slow slowly enthusiastic – enthusiastically