Words Ending with Suffixes “-ent/-ence” and “-ant/-ance”

Words ending in -ent/-ence and -ant/-ance.

The suffixes  –ant and –ance or  –ent and –ence can often be added to the same root.

For examples:

• hesitant/hesitance

The man was hesitant.

His hesitance cost him vital seconds.

• absent/absence

He is absent from the meeting.

The decision was made in my absence.

Words with the suffixes -ent and -ence go together:

Adjectives ending in –ent can change to make nouns ending in –ence:

For examples:

• absent – absence
• evident – evidence
• violent – violence
• innocent – innocence
• patient – patience
• confident – confidence

Words with  the suffixes  -ant and  -ance go together:

Adjectives ending in –ant can change to make nouns ending in –ance.

For examples:

• distant  distance
• fragrant  fragrance
• significantsignificance
• elegant – elegance
• brilliant – brilliance
• important  importance

Sentence examples:

• confident/confidence

He  is  confident (adjective) that we will win.

He has a  lot of  confidence (noun).

• important/importance

We are having an important (adjective) test on Friday.

We can’t forget the importance  (noun) of  this test.