To able or to ible... that is the question

Hey hey!

Hope you’re having a fabulous week!

Today’s topic is a brief one, but one I find myself consulting a dictionary on regularly (when not guided by auto-correct).

The difference between the suffix ‘-able’ and ‘-ible’.

I can feel my high school English teacher looming over me with a red pen when deciding which to choose.

The purpose of each suffix is similar, in that when they are added to words it generally means 'capable of being' for example predictable : can be predicted.

The ‘-ible’ ending is used for words of Latin origin, which means no new words are being created with ‘-ible’ endings.

A few rules (but by no means hard and fast rules as

you will see by the exceptions!) are:

· ‘-able’ should be added when the root word looks like the whole word,

for example Enjoy + able = Enjoyable

· ‘-able’ should be added when the stem word ends with an e – simply drop

the ‘e’, for example Desire + able = Desirable

· ‘-ible’ should be added when the root word is not a whole word, for example

Cred + ible = Credible

EXCEPTION ALERTS

· sometimes the 'drop the e' doesn’t apply. Most of these little weirdos have a ‘c’ or ‘g’ before the ‘e’ for example changeable.

· A few ‘-ibles’ will still look the same when their suffix is removed. Look out for accessible, digestible, and flexible to name a few.

Hopefully, this little nugget provides some guidance.

Now back to the WIP, where I am attempting to make the protagonist unpredictable 😊

G.D.

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