CHAPTER 37

Using able and ible

The spelling rules governing the suffixes able and ible are quite simple if we bear in mind that ible is a

variant of able and is used in only a few cases. These suffixes are mainly used to create adjectives, and
there are hundreds of them. When new words are coined, they usually use able. When one of these words
is changed into another form, the pattern does not change, so we may treat them as a single group.

(^) Spelling rule #1: Add able to the whole root word:
(^) Spelling rule #2: If the root does not appear to be a complete word, it will probably take ible:
(^) Spelling rule #3: A large number of root words that end in s or t use the ible ending. Also, words
ending in a soft c or a soft g will also usually use the ible ending.
(^) Spelling rule #4: Words ending in a silent e usually drop the silent e when adding able or ible,
especially when it follows a soft c or soft g:
(^) Note that there is no commonly used English word that ends in eible.
Spelling rule #5: If the root ends in a soft c or a soft g, it must retain the silent e if the suffix is able:
(^) But in order to retain the correct sound, a small group of words do not lose the silent e:
(^) If the root word ends in i or in a y which will change to an i, the suffix cannot be ible, as we would then
have a double i. We must use able.
(^) Spelling rule #6: If the root word ends in a hard c or a hard g, it must be followed by able to
preserve the sound of the consonant:
(^) Words ending in x take able, with one exception.