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Old 11-May-2005, 21:09
kewlkid
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Cool How do you know if it ends in ible or able?

How do you know if a word would end in ible or able? Is there any secerets or
tricks?
sincerily,
kewlkid
  #2  
Old 11-May-2005, 23:35
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Default Re: How do you know if it ends in ible or able?

A good rule of thumb is that if the root word is a complete word, you add -able
e.g. accept - acceptable; laugh - laughable; suit - suitable and so on.

If the word ends in y, change it to i e.g. justify - justifiable, and if it ends in e, you usually (but not always) drop the e.
e.g. believe - believable.

But ... if the consonant preceding that vowel is a g or a c, you keep the e. If you don't, the consonant would become hard, and the word would sound odd.
e.g. notice - noticeable; knowledge - knowledgeable.

And, if removing the e would change the pronunciation of the preceding vowel then you leave the e.
e.g. like (long i) - likeable; sale (long a) - saleable.

If the root is an incomplete word, you add -ible
e.g. vis- visible; tang- tangible; cred - credible.

Remember this by the two i's: Incomplete -ible.


  #3  
Old 12-May-2005, 03:03
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Default Re: How do you know if it ends in ible or able?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dandelion

Remember this by the two i's: Incomplete -ible.


That's a good one- thanks.
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