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I'm raging!

  • 24-05-2012 04:59PM
    #1
    Yakuza
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,130 ✭✭✭


    Well, actually I'm not, but I do have a question.
    I saw this article in the IT (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0524/breaking25.html) and noticed the sub-heading "Census results show that Irish population is ageing".

    I thought this looked odd, but apparently it's Br. English spelling.

    I'd have written it as "aging", the same as I'd write "raging", "paging", "engaging" etc.

    How come the "e" at the end isn't automatically removed when making the gerund in this case? I'd have thought there'd be only one way to spell this word, whether you be a US or Queen's English speaker.


Comments

  • #2
    odds_on
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭odds_on


    It can be spelt both ways: ageing and aging (probably less frequently used, especially in British English).

    Normally, words ending in ee, ye and oe do not drop the final "e" when adding an ending. However, English is full of exceptions to the rule and I guess that age is probably one of them.

    There is also: ageist (agist) and ageism (agism).


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