Some endings sound alike but are spelt differently. Words ending in -able often have a complete root word: enjoy, enjoyable; comfort, comfortable. Words ending in -ible often do not: possible, visible, terrible.
The endings -ant and -ent also sound similar: important, different, independent. These need to be learned, often by spotting related words: different, difference.
Keep using the ie/ei rule and learn the exceptions such as weird, seize and protein.
Worked example
Which is correct: comfortible or comfortable?
- The root comfort is a complete word.
- A complete root usually takes -able.
Answer:comfortable
Key words
- -able
- an ending often added to complete words
- -ible
- an ending often added to incomplete roots
- related word
- a word in the same family that helps spelling
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.5.2e