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Suffixes 03
You would write "The racehorse was dependable" and not "The racehorse was dependible". Can you see the difference?

Suffixes 03

How can you tell whether to use the suffix "ible" or "able"? Generally, if the word can stand alone, such as "reason", add -able. If not, add -ible (as in "horrible"). As ever in English, there are exceptions, however!

This is the third and final quiz on suffixes. So far, you've had a chance to practise using suffixes to make grammatical sense in sentences as well as recognising which suffixes work with which root words. This quiz gives you the opportunity to practise spelling the suffixes -ible and -able. Because the i and the a make a schwa sound (ǝ), it's impossible to tell which spelling to use by saying the word aloud. Instead, consider the rule above. "Credible", for instance, cannot stand without its suffix. "Cred" is not a word (although it is a commonly used abbreviation for "credit"). The word "credible" is related to "credit", "creed" and "credulous" - you can see the similarities in their roots. "Dependable", on the other hand, is a genuine word without its suffix. "Depend", therefore, takes -able, rather than -ible. Bear this rule in mind and you won't go far wrong with spellings.

Take this quiz for more practice with suffixes.

1.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Inflamm.......
.......able
.......age
.......ence
.......ible
"Inflammable" means "able to be set on fire", which has an identical meaning to "flammable"! You can remember this by thinking of "inflammable" as "in flame". The in- prefix here is NOT the same as the in- of "inconsistent" (which means "not consistent", of course)
2.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Consider.......
.......able
.......ful
.......ible
.......ment
"Considerable" means "worthy of consideration"
3.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Accept.......
.......able
.......age
.......ible
.......ship
"Acceptable" means "able to be accepted"
4.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Depend.......
.......able
.......ful
.......ible
.......ly
Adding -able/-ible creates an adjective
5.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Vis.......
.......able
.......ful
.......ible
.......ment
Watch out for the i of the suffix -ible!
6.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Cred.......
.......able
.......ful
.......ible
.......ly
"Credible" means "able to be believed", but watch out for the i in the spelling!
7.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Avoid.......
.......able
.......dom
.......ful
.......ly
"Avoidable" means "able to be avoided"
8.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Advance.......
.......able
.......ible
.......ly
.......ment
"Advancement" is a noun
9.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Adapt.......
.......able
.......age
.......ible
.......ness
"Adaptable" means "able to adapt"
10.
Select the correct suffix for the following word.
Compat.......
.......age
.......able
.......ful
.......ible
"Compatible" means that something is able to join, work, suit or agree with something else
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - How to use suffixes in your writing

Author:  Sue Daish

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