so it would appear it's a matter of personal preference.• verb (focused, focusing or focussed, focussing)
In this case, it is BrE that allows the option of -ss- or -s-. AmE only allows -s-. Similarly, you can write biassed or biased.
I can't comment on this "rule" but it seems to me that the stress in "focus" is on the first syllable, not the second.There is actually a spelling rule for this.
In British English when a 2 syllable word has the accent on the second syllable and the word ends in one vowel and one consonant (as in focus / travel etc), you must double the last consonant. As far as I am aware American English doesn't apply this rule which is why it uses focusing / traveling and so on.
I can't comment on this "rule" but it seems to me that the stress in "focus" is on the first syllable, not the second.
I have always written "focused", for what it is worth.
There is actually a spelling rule for this.
In British English when a 2 syllable word has the accent on the second syllable and the word ends in one vowel and one consonant (as in focus / travel etc), you must double the last consonant. As far as I am aware American English doesn't apply this rule which is why it uses focusing / traveling and so on.
Well, my dictionary does not indicate that the verb is pronounced differently from the noun. The second syllable is a schwa, and English does not admit schwas in stressed syllables. I have never heard anyone give second-syllable stress to the verb "focus".This is a vaild spelling/phonetic rule, honest!
Most 2 syllable words when they are nouns or adjectives have the stress on the first syllable, but the stress usually moves to the second syllable when the word becomes a verb.
Unfortunately I don't have a dictionary to hand to confirm if this is the case with "focus".
Well, my dictionary does not indicate that the verb is pronounced differently from the noun. The second syllable is a schwa, and English does not admit schwas in stressed syllables. I have never heard anyone give second-syllable stress to the verb "focus".
Sorry, yes, you're quite right about refer and prefer.I do use 'focussing', and 'focussed' and I stress the first syllable. (And I suppose I do it because I can!) However, 'referring', 'preferring', etc receive second-syllable stress for me.
I'd write those as offering and offered, Kris.
The pronunciation of the 's' in 'amuse' is due to the presence of the final 'e'. And, precisely because of the final 'e', 'amuse' does not form part of the discussion about doubling the final consonant.I am surprised that no one has mentioned the pronunciation of the 's', which is like 'nonplussed' rather than 'amused', hence my inclination to write 'focussed'!
How does that work with "focussing" and "focusing", both of which are pronounced the same, and not, in my experience, with the "z" sound of "hosing"? The OED observes:In this particullar case, it's not a matter of where the stress. It's all to do with whether or not the "s" sound is sibilant (as with a hissing snake) or like the "z" sound in words like "amaze" and "zoo" to pick a couple.
This ngram also makes the point focussed,focused,focussing,focusing in British English.Against the broad rule that final consonants are not doubled after short unstressed vowels, inflected forms with -ss- are attested, especially in British English, but are nonetheless considerably rarer in current usage than forms without doubled final consonant; in the British National Corpus, the ratio of -s- forms to -ss- forms is about nine to one. P. Peters Cambridge Guide Eng. Usage (2004) notes that in a recent language usage survey in the United Kingdom, over 75% of respondents endorsed single-s inflected forms.
There is actually a spelling rule for this.
In British English when a 2 syllable word has the accent on the second syllable and the word ends in one vowel and one consonant (as in focus / travel etc), you must double the last consonant. As far as I am aware American English doesn't apply this rule which is why it uses focusing / traveling and so on.
We could put it more strongly as to "doesn't apply": we have our own rule: Where the accent does NOT fall on the (original, multisyllable word's) final syllable (...vowel+consonant). there is simply no need to double that consonant; there is no point to it. Don't do it.![]()
Promise, premise, divisive, elusive - there are quite a few exceptions to the rule you citeThe problem is we really have two rules at play here: the first rule is that if the final syllable is unstressed there is no need to double the final consonant in the United States. The second rule, which is in conflict with the first, says that an s between two vowels is pronounced as a z and that as a consequence in order to preserve the s sound one must double the consonant.. Thus there is a conflict between the two rules and the British have chosen to go one way while the Yanks the other. Typical! Afterthought: with buses and gases clearly the whole rulebook has been thrown out the window! Not to mention arcing, my personal favorite! All this clearly demonstrates that language is not math.
A spelling rule in English?There is actually a spelling rule for this.
Where the accent does NOT fall on the (original, multisyllable word's) final syllable (...vowel+consonant). there is simply no need to double that consonant; there is no point to it. Don't do it.![]()
:Looks lke arond the 1930s that they (BE) shunned the ss version in favour of the single. Either a rule change or mass rebellion (but, I hear you ask, what is the difference?)A spelling rule in English?See my signature.
From Google Ngrams: focusing: eng_gb_2012,focussing: eng_gb_2012,focussing: eng_us_2012,focusing: eng_us_2012
The people have spoken: focusing.![]()
I noticed that - 1936 - I blame Wallis Simpson.Looks like around the 1930s that they (BE) shunned the ss version in favour of the single.