A double letter signifies a short vowel beforehand. So the word "Stoß" (impact, jolt) should be written with "ß", because it is pronounced with a long 'o'. If y

A double letter signifies a short vowel beforehand. So the word "Stoß" (impact, jolt) should be written with "ß", because it is pronounced with a long 'o'. If you were to write it as "Stoss" the 'o' should be pronounced short, wich is inconsistent.