E or A?
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
E or A?
Many words end in ant or ance. Just as many end in ent or ence. I now rely on the spell checker to scream if I get it wrong. Does anyone know whether there's a rule or principle involved here, or is it merely happenstance? (come to think of it, happenstance might be a good word.)
pl
Generally, if the word comes directly from Latin, its spelling is ant or ance if it is derived from a Latin verb ending in are, and ent or ence if the Latin verb ends in ere or ire. However, if it comes from Latin via French, its spelling is ant or ance regardless of the ending of the Latin verb. (Unfortunately, there is no systematic way of telling whether a word comes via French or not – you just have to learn the correct English spelling of each word.) In a few cases, ant is used for the noun and ent for the adjective.
Examples:
applicant (Latin applicare)
arrogant (Latin arrogare)
adherent (Latin adhaerere)
adjacent (Latin adiacere)
ambient (Latin ambire)
attendant (Latin attendere, but French attendant)
assistant (Latin assistere, but French assistant)
dependant [noun], dependent [adjective] (Latin dependere, but French dépendant).
Examples:
applicant (Latin applicare)
arrogant (Latin arrogare)
adherent (Latin adhaerere)
adjacent (Latin adiacere)
ambient (Latin ambire)
attendant (Latin attendere, but French attendant)
assistant (Latin assistere, but French assistant)
dependant [noun], dependent [adjective] (Latin dependere, but French dépendant).
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 4426
- Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
- Location: Land of the Flat Water
I came from the time slava speaks of: you just have to
learn the spelling. And teachers making you write the
word dozens of times if misspelled on a test takes care of
that.
Missed the word "responsibilities" on a test freshman
high school year. Five hundred times before school let
out taught me the spelling of it quickly.
learn the spelling. And teachers making you write the
word dozens of times if misspelled on a test takes care of
that.
Missed the word "responsibilities" on a test freshman
high school year. Five hundred times before school let
out taught me the spelling of it quickly.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 8491
- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Have you seen this on the home page: http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles ... lling.htmlNever had a problem with reponsibilities, but still think about misspelled vs mispelled!
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 4426
- Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
- Location: Land of the Flat Water
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
Practice vs. Practise
I'd say it depends on which variant of English you speak:
prac·tise
VERB:
&
NOUN:
Chiefly British
Variant of practice.
OTHER FORMS:
practis·er(Noun)
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 4426
- Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
- Location: Land of the Flat Water
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
Re: E or A?
Dr. Goodword, probably Miss VikaAdumPuh, theattractive young lady posting above needs to be deleted before she gets into trouble...
pl
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests