Guiding Principles

1) Use -able if:

a. the stem is a full word:

break/able

notice/able

fashion/able

pass/able

b. the stem is a full word lacking the mute “e”:

ador/able – adore	lik/able – like
advis/able - advise	endur/able - endure

c. the stem ends in “i” (the initial form usually has “y” at the end):

envi/able – envy	piti/able – pity
reli/able - rely	classify/able - classify

d. the stem ends in [k] -c or [g] -g

practic/able

amic/able

applic/able

navig/able

If the stem ends in [s] -c or [d] -g, the final mute letter “e” is retained before -able:

notice/able – notice	service/able – service
peace/able – peace	change/able – change

e. there is a corresponding noun in -ation:

separ/able – separation	imagin/able – imagination
admir/able – admiration	irrit/able – irritation

2) Use -ible if:

a. the stem is not a full word:

	aud/ible	vis/ible	horr/ible
Exceptions:	connect/ible	irresist/ible	perfect/ible	express/ible
flex/ible	impress/ible	access/ible	resist/ible

b. the stem ends in -ns [ns] or -miss [mIs]:

sens/ible	admiss/ible	comprehens/ible
respons/ible	dismiss/ible	transmiss/ible

c. the stem ends in -c [s] or -g [G]:

forc/ible	produc/ible	illeg/ible
convinc/ible	reduc/ible	intang/ible

Note: If the root word ends in “e”, as in “force”, the “e” is dropped before -ible.

d. the word has the corresponding form in -ion:

permiss/ible – permission	collect/ible – collection
access/ible – accession	perfect/ible – perfection

Exercises

1. Copy the following words under two headings: -able, -ible. See which generalizations can be applied to them:

terrible, responsible, reliable, defensible, lovable, durable, eatable, describable, excusable, demonstrable, pitiable, incorrigible, approachable, honourable, profitable, illegible, disagreeable, permissible.

2. Derive adjectives by adding suffixes:

-able	-ible
notice	prefer	convince	sense
value	notice	respond	terror
desire	change	express	vision
remove	agree	exhaust	resist
utter	like	divide	digest

3. Complete the following words using -able or -ible:

access-	express-	connect-	tax-
pass-	flex-	resist-	perfect-
impress-	comfort-	detest-	detect-

4. Fill in the blanks with -able or -ible:

1. She always found his smile irresist__. 2. The heat was quite unbear__. It would quite imposs__ to sleep with such a noise. 4. He laughed his most horr__ laugh. 5. His stories were remark__. It was the most sens__ remark that she had ever made. 7. The little girl looked very miser__. 8. His behaviour was hardly bear__.

5. Fill in the blanks with the words given below:

adorable, imaginable, indispensable, disagreeable, reliable, suitable, valuable, unmistakable,

1. In my opinion she was the most … of all ladies. 2. They have warned the doctor, guarded their tongues, done everything … to prevent her from learning the truth. 3. He though of the … distance a man travels. 4. I hardly think that Mrs. Anderson is a very … person. 5. This dictionary has achieved international recognition as an … practical reference book to English as a foreign language. 6. The look she gave him was charged with an … terror. 7. He was looked upon by his superiors as a … officer. 8. His wrist-watch was a … thing made by a famous clock-maker.

6. Write in English. Mind the suffixes -able, -ible and the negative prefix in- (im-, il- accordingly):

Безответственный, невыносимый, непостижимый, невыразимый, незаметный, неизлечимый, неизмеримый, неразрешимый, неописуемый, невероятный, неспособный.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30