-ant/-ent
worksheet
by
Joanne Rudling
www.howtospell.co.uk
-ant/-ent -ance/-ence
These are tricky patterns because they sound alike.
Let’s use an ant and a tent as a visual memory trick.
-ant -ent
Students are content to
This ant is elegant and pleasant
sleep in tents to be independent
but not arrogant or irrelevant.
and different.
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This is an elegant ant owns a restaurant, and
is vibrant and extravagant but not arrogant or
ant a tyrant, but is brilliant and exuberant.
Let's look at the -ant pattern
-tant
assistant, important, distant, instant, hesitant, reluctant, constant,
resistant, accountant…
-rant
rant, fragrant, ignorant, restaurant, tyrant, warrant, vagrant, tolerant,
exuberant, vibrant, immigrant…
-dant
abundant, redundant, attendant, descendant
-lant
jubilant, stimulant, plant, transplant
-cant
vacant, scant, significant
-nant
tenant, dominant, repugnant, stagnant,
-iant separate “i”sound
giant, valiant, defiant
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When we have -ant we usually have -ance words too
arrogant/arrogance
elegant/elegance
important/importance
brilliant/brilliance
We usually use -ant/-ance after a "real" word (but like all rules there are
exceptions)
ant/ance
attend + ant = attendant attend + ance = attendance
import + ant = important import + ance = importance
resistant/resistance, triumphant, assistant/assistance
Drop the 'e'
ignore - ignorant
observe - observant
insure - insurance
Which ant are you?
elegant, important, pleasant, tolerant, vibrant,
exuberant, observant, gallant, relevant, extravagant,
brilliant, vigilant, abundant, jubilant, enchanted,
constant, valiant, observant, triumphant
or
distant, dominant, arrogant, vacant, flippant, hesitant, ignorant, reluctant,
irrelevant, resistant, defiant, repugnant, stagnant, nonchalant?
Are you pregnant, an accountant, a tenant, an elephant,
a consonant, an immigrant, a restaurant, a giant, a contestant,
a tyrant, an infant, a plant, a fragrant vagrant, an assistant, redundant?
Can you think of a memory trick for these? Or, break them into syllables
or words within words. Can you see the vowels? Write some sentences
with these words.
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Exercise
Decide which ant is in the sentence
1. This ant is having a baby. She's ______
2. These ants rent a house. They're _________
3. This ant has a trunk. It's an __________
4. An ant eats in this place. A _________
5. This ant is extremely large. It's ___________
6. This ant likes to be a _____ in contests
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Exercise
Decide which ant is in the sentence
1. This ant is having a baby. She's pregnant
2. These ants rents a house. They're tenants
3. This ant has a trunk. It's an elephant
4. An ant eats in this place. A restaurant
5. This ant is extremely large. It's giant
6. This ant likes to be a contestant in contests.
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Let have a look at the -ent pattern
Who’s resident in the tent? Is
it an independent student or
an indifferent gent?
-tent
tent, content, competent, consistent, persistent
-rent
parent, apparent, different, current
-dent
resident, president, student, accident, evident, independent
-lent
silent, violent, equivalent, excellent, repellent
-cent
cent, accent, scent, recent, decent, innocent
-cient "shunt"
ancient, efficient, inefficient sufficient, insufficient
-tient "shunt"
patient, impatient
-ient separate "i" sound
client, resilient, convenient, obedient
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When we have -ent we usually have -ence words too
confident/confidence
different/difference
intelligent/intelligence
resident/residence
er + ence = -rence
confer – conference
infer – inference
prefer – preference
refer – reference
transfer – transference
differ – difference
If a word contains –cid-, -fid-, -sid- or -vid- before the ending, use
the –ence suffix: confidence, evidence, incidence, residence, providence
You don’t need to know or remember these rules, just take note of the
patterns, but now at least you know why the spelling is the way it is. And
some of the words are useful to know.
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How different are you?
confident,
excellent, independent (see all those e's)
magnificent, intelligent, eloquent, silent, innocent, different,
competent, resilient, patient, efficient, decent, persistent,
talented, consistent, prudent,
or
violent, decadent, disobedient, complacent, impatient, insolent?
Are you a resident, a correspondent, a patient, a client, a parent, a gent,
an agent, an adolescent, or a student?
I reside here so I’m a resident in this residence.
Who’s resident in the tent?
The gent in the tent is a permanent resident.
Can you think of a memory trick for these? Or, break them into syllables
or words within words. Can you see the vowels?
Write some sentences with these words.
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Exercise
1. These residents have children = ________
2. This resident is changing into a young man or woman = ________
3. This resident is very angry and fights a lot and is very _________
4. This resident not able to be calm and wait for things = ________
5. This resident is able to work well without making mistakes or wasting
time and energy = _____________
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Exercise
1. These residents have children = parents.
2. This resident is changing into a young man or woman = adolescent
3. This resident is very angry and fights a lot and is very violent
4. This resident not able to be calm and wait for things = impatient
5. This resident is able to work well without making mistakes or wasting
time and energy = efficient
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Exercise. Write in the ent or ant ending.
independ____
excell_____
assist____
suffici____
anci____
import____
perman____
restaur____
arrog____
pregn____
ineffici____
viol____
differ____
confid____
import____
relev____
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Exercise answers
independent (see all those e’s)
excellent (see all those e's)
assistant
sufficient
ancient
important
permanent
restaurant
arrogant
pregnant
inefficient
violent
different
confident
important
relevant
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Exercise. Write in the ance or ence ending.
independ_____
assist_____
arrog_____
import_____
perman_____
abund_____
sent_____
viol_____
experi_____
differ_____
confid_____
relev_____
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Exercise answers
independence
assistance
arrogance
importance
permanence
abundance
sentence
violence
experience
difference
confidence
relevance
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