Commonly Confused Suffixes: -able vs.

-ible

Words ending in “-able” or “-ible”

The suffixes “-able” and “-ible” are both used to form adjectives meaning “possible, capable
of, suitable for, or causing.” Of the two, “-able” is much more common: it is what’s known as
a “living” or “productive” suffix, meaning that it is still being used to create new words. The
variant “-ible,” on the other hand, is only used in older words that have survived into
modern English.
Because they are spelled so similarly and have the same pronunciation (/əbəl/), it can
sometimes be hard to remember which is the correct one to use. Unfortunately, there are
not very many conventions we can follow to know which suffix to use (and those that do
exist are not always reliable). Instead, this section will focus on the different ways “-able”
and “-ible” each attach to words, along with many examples for each.

Using “-able” with existing words

The suffix “-able” most commonly attaches to words (most often verbs) that could otherwise
be complete without the suffix; in many cases, this occurs with no change to their spelling.
Because “-able” is a productive suffix, there is a huge number of words it can be attached to.
Let’s just look at some common ones:
 accept→acceptable
 adapt→adaptable
 adjust→adjustable
 avoid→avoidable
 bend→bendable
 break→breakable
 build→buildable
 buy→buyable
 catch→catchable
 chew→chewable
 consider→considerable
 depend→dependable
 distinguish→distinguishable
 do→doable
 elect→electable
 employ→employable
 enjoy→enjoyable
 expand→expandable
 fashion→fashionable
 favor→favorable
 fold→foldable
 govern→governable
 grasp→graspable
 guess→guessable
 honor→honorable
  know→knowable
 lament→lamentable
 laud→laudable
 laugh→laughable
 limit→limitable
 market→marketable
 mend→mendable
 mold→moldable
 obtain→obtainable
 order→orderable
 pardon→pardonable
 pass→passable
 pay→payable
 predict→predictable
 prevent→preventable
 punish→punishable
 question→questionable
 reach→reachable
 reason→reasonable
 remark→remarkable
 shrink→shrinkable
 speak→speakable (especially used in unspeakable)
 sustain→sustainable
 target→targetable
 tax→taxable
 teach→teachable
 think→thinkable (especially used in unthinkable)
 utter→utterable
 view→viewable
 void→voidable
 walk→walkable
 wear→wearable

Spelling changes with words that take “-able”

While many base words can take the “-able” suffix without changing their spelling, there are
also many instances in which the spelling must be altered slightly in order for the suffix to be
attached. The most common of these occur with words ending in silent E, but there are
other instances in which a word’s spelling will change in various ways.

Omitting silent E
The most common spelling change made to a word when “-able” is attached is for silent E to
be omitted from the end of the word and replaced with the suffix (though this is not always
the case). For example:
 abdicate→abdicable
 accrue→accruable
 allocate→allocatable
 argue→arguable
  assume→assumable
 automate→automatable
 breathe→breathable
 circulate→circulatable
 construe→construable
 correlate→correlatable
 cultivate→cultivatable
 debate→debatable
 dilate→dilatable
 equate→equatable
 ignite→ignitable
 inflate→inflatable
 isolate→isolatable
 issue→issuable
 lapse→lapsable
 locate→locatable
 palate→palatable
 relate→relatable
 rescue→rescuable
 translate→translatable
 value→valuable

Keeping silent E before “-able”

Note that there are many instances in which we do not omit a silent E when adding the
vowel suffix “-able.” This is especially true when it comes after C or G to make it clear that
the consonants retain their “soft” pronunciations (/s/ and /ʒ/, respectively). For example:
With “-able” With other vowel suffixes
dance→danceable danced, dancer, dancing
efface→effaceable effaced, effacing
C + Silent E notice→noticeable noticed, noticing
replace→replaceable replaced, replacing
trace→traceable traced, tracer, tracing
age→ageable aged, aging*
bridge→bridgeable bridged, bridging
G + Silent E change→changeable changed, changer, changing
discourage→discourageable discouraged, discouraging
manage→manageable managed, manager, managing
(*In British English, the silent E is usually kept in the word ageing, whereas it is usually
omitted in American English.)
While most common when coming after C/G + E, this convention of keeping E before “-able”
does occur after other consonants as well. However, this is quite rare and, in many cases, is
simply an alternative spelling (especially in American English, in which E is much more likely
to be omitted).
Here are some examples in which you might see “-able” following a silent E:
 file→fileable (but not filable)
 fine→fineable (more commonly, finable)
  like→likeable (more commonly, likable)
 live→liveable (more commonly, livable)
 love→loveable (more commonly, lovable)
 name→nameable (less commonly, namable)
 shape→shapeable (more commonly, shapable)
 size→sizeable (more commonly, sizable)
 trade→tradeable (more commonly, tradable)

Doubling consonants before “-able”

When the last syllable of a verb contains a single short vowel followed by a single
consonant, we usually have to double the consonant before “-able.”
For example:
 bed→beddable
 bid→biddable
 compel→compellable
 confer→conferrable
 control→controllable
 cut→cutable
 defer→deferrable
 deter→deterrable
 dim→dimmable
 dip→dippable
 drop→droppable
 expel→expellable
 fit→fitable
 flap→flappable
 forget→forgetable
 hug→huggable
 hum→hummable
 map→mappable
 net→netable
 program→progammable
 reset→resetable
 rip→rippable
 ship→shippable
 skip→skippable
 spot→spotable
 stop→stoppable
 sum→summable
 swim→swimmable
 transfer→transferrable
 transmit→transmitable
 win→winnable

Note that, in multi-syllable words, this is only the case if the final syllable is stressed in the
base word. Otherwise, the final consonant is not doubled, as in answerable, cancelable,
limitable, etc.
Replacing “-ate” with “-able”
We already saw that many verbs ending in “-ate” will take the suffix “-able” by
omitting silent E. However, there are also quite a few words in which “-ate” is replaced
altogether. Unfortunately, there is no spelling pattern we can use to indicate which “-ate”
words will be changed this way; we just have to memorize them. Here are some of the most
common:
 abominate→abominable
 alienate→alienable (especially in the word inalienable)
 communicate→communicable
 delegate→delegable
 demonstrate→demonstrable
 depreciate→depreciable
 differentiate→differentiable
 discriminate→discriminable
 educate→educable
 eradicate→eradicable
 estimate→estimable
 explicate→explicable
 extricate→extricable
 imitate→imitable
 litigate→litigable
 navigate→navigable
 negotiate→negotiable
 numerate→numerable
 operate→operable
 penetrate→penetrable
 replicate→replicable
 satiate→satiable
 venerate→venerable

Changing Y to I before “-able”

When a suffix beginning with a vowel is attached to a word ending in a consonant + Y, we
almost always change Y to the leter I. Because of this, verbs that end in “-y” always take the
“-able” suffix, since we never have a word spelled “-iible.” Let’s look at some of the most
common examples:
 certify→certifiable
 classify→classifiable
 deny→deniable
 envy→enviable
 falsify→falsifiable
 identify→identifiable
 justify→justifiable
 levy→leviable
 notify→notifiable
 pity→pitiable
 ply→pliable
 quantify→quantifiable
  rely→reliable
 specify→specifiable
 unify→unifiable
 vary→variable
 verify→verifiable

There are also two nouns ending in “-y” that can take “-able,” but Y no longer changes to I—
it is simply omitted:
 memory→memorable
 misery→miserable

Using “-ible” with existing words

Though much less common than “-able,” the “-ible” variant can also attach to existing base words with
no change to its spelling. As with the Latin roots, there are generally no indications in the base word’s
spelling to indicate when “-ible” is correct, except for one: base words ending in “-uct” will (almost)
always take “-ible” rather than “-able.”
Let’s look at some examples:
 access→accessible
 collect→collectible
 combust→combustible
 compact→compactible
 compress→compressible
 connect→connectible
 construct→constructible
 contract→contractible
 contempt→contemptible
 controvert→controvertible (especially in the word incontrovertible)
 convert→convertible
 corrupt→corruptible
 deduct→deductible
 depress→depressible
 destruct→destructible
 distract→distractible
 erupt→eruptible
 express→expressible
 flex→flexible
 impress→impressible
 ingest→ingestible
 repress→repressible
 resist→resistible
 suggest→suggestible
 suppress→suppressible
 vend→vendible

(Because “-able” is a productive suffix, meaning it is still being used to create new words, there may
be instances in the future in which this rule is no longer true. For example, the term instructable has
been gaining in popular usage in the last 30 years, but it is not found in the dictionary; instructible,
meanwhile, is in the dictionary but has nearly become obsolete, which is why it isn’t included above.)

“-ible” with silent E

Like “-able,” the “-ible” ending can also replace silent E at the end of existing base words, as in:
 coerce→coercible
 collapse→collapsible
 corrode→corrodible
 deduce→deducible
 diffuse→diffusible
 erode→erodible
 evade→evadible
 evince→evincible
 immerse→immersible
 force→forcible
 produce→producible
 reduce→reducible
 reverse→reversible
 sense→sensible
 submerge→submergible
 submerse→submersible

However, as you can see by the size of the list, it is much less common for a silent E word to take “-
ible” rather than “-able.” If a word ends in a silent E, it will most likely take the “-able” suffix (and base
words ending in “-ate” can only take “-able”).

Other spelling changes with “-ible”

Sometimes an “-ible” word is related to an existing base word, but the spelling must change slightly to
accommodate it. This also occurs with certain words when they attach to “-able” (e.g., when the suffix
replaces “-ate” or “-y” becomes “-i-”), but “-ible” can result in much more drastic changes to the
spelling of the base word.
The most consistent of these changes is for verbs ending in “-mit”: with the exception of limit (which
becomes limitable), all of these verbs take the “-ible” ending, with “-mit” changing to “-missible.”
Another common change occurs with verbs ending in “-nd,” which changes to “-nsible”
(however, other verbs ending in “-nd” can take “-able” instead, so we can’t use this verb
ending as a rule to determine the appropriate suffix). In addition to these, two other specific
words have their endings change when attached to “-ible.” Let’s look at all the words that go
through spelling changes with the “-ible” suffix:
“-mit” + “-ible” “-nd” + “-ible” Other endings + “-ible”
admit→admissible
apprehend→apprehensible
omit→omissible
comprehend→comprehensible divide→divisible
permit→permissible
defend→defensible (slightly perceive→perceptible (slightly
remit→remissible (slightly
different meaning different meaning
different meaning
from defendable) from perceivable)
from remittable)
respond→responsible
transmit→transmissible

Words that can take either “-able” or “-ible”

In addition to the trends we’ve seen above, there are words ending in “-able” that can alternatively be
spelled “-ible,” and vice versa. In most cases, these are simply less common variants; other times, the
meaning of the word is very similar but subtly different, depending on the ending used.
The table below shows all words that have acceptable variant spellings. For each pair, the most
common spelling is in bold; if one is much more common than the alternative, it will be bold and
underlined. Finally, if the two spellings have slightly different meanings, they’ll be marked
with an asterisk (*) and elaborated upon further on.
Ending in “-able” Ending in “-ible”
addable addible
ascendable ascendible
cognizable cognoscible
collectable collectible
condensable condensible
connectable connectible
correctable correctible
defendable* defensible*
discernable discernible
discussable discussible
distractable distractible
dividable divisible
eatable* edible*
erodable erodible/erosible
evadable evadible
excludable excludible
expandable expansible
extendable extendible/extensible
ignitable ignitible
lapsable lapsible
passable passible
perceivable* perceptible*
persuadable persuasible
preventable preventible
processable processible
remittable* remissible*
transfusable transfusible
transmittable transmissible/transmittible
vendable vendible