Super Sonic  +  288289 Wed, 01 Nov 06 03:36 PM How can I know that whether a word will take the suffix -ence or -ance? Super Sonic Joined on Sat, Jun 12 2004 New Member 35

	Grammar Geek  +  288330 Wed, 01 Nov 06 05:23 PM Sorry, Super Sonic, because this is one type of error that I (native speaker) make ALL THE TIME. If it weren't for spellcheck on my word processor, I'd be wrong more often than not, I think. And the "problem" with spellcheck is that it never makes me have to go to the dictionary to look it up, so it's never really impressed on my memory. It's no better with the -ent/-ant ending. Dependant, dependent... I wish I had a great clue for you, but I don't. I just wanted to sympathize with you, because I know exactly how you feel! Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,508 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	J Lewis  +  288632 Thu, 02 Nov 06 02:26 PM If you know Latin or Italian they will give you some guide, but this is not perfect, because in French I believe a lot of such words use the "a", not the "e", and this often determines the English. So persistenza (Italian) gives us persistence in English, but resistenza gives us resistance in French and the same in English. Not really much help! J Lewis Joined on Tue, Sep 5 2006 Italy Regular Member 518

	Philip  +  288719 Thu, 02 Nov 06 06:27 PM  J Lewis wrote: If you know Latin or Italian they will give you some guide, but this is not perfect, because in French I believe a lot of such words use the "a", not the "e", and this often determines the English. So persistenza (Italian) gives us persistence in English, but resistenza gives us resistance in French and the same in English. Not really much help! I once knew a woman who said that many of these spelling problems are a result of the classification of the verb in Latin.  This came about, of course, when most educated people knew Latin.  I'm all in favor of eliminating that pesky vowel in the ending, as we all would know what is meant without it!  Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,612 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Verbs, Spelling, Vowels

	Marius Hancu  +  288740 Thu, 02 Nov 06 07:53 PM  J Lewis wrote: If you know Latin or Italian they will give you some guide, but this is not perfect, because in French I believe a lot of such words use the "a", not the "e", and this often determines the English. So persistenza (Italian) gives us persistence in English, but resistenza gives us resistance in French and the same in English. Not really much help! I thought about it, but in the end I too decided this only messes up people. Marius Hancu