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Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Years 5 and 6 spelling: -ant, -ance, -ent and -ence endings

Words such as hesitant and innocent, or tolerance and confidence, end in sounds that are almost identical, which makes them a classic spelling trap. In Years 5 and 6 children learn to spell words ending in -ant, -ance and -ancy, and words ending in -ent, -ence and -ency. They use clues from related words and from the letters before the ending, and learn which words simply have to be remembered.

Endings -ant, -ance, -ent, -ence, explained

In everyday speech the vowel in these endings is a weak, unstressed sound, so hesitant and innocent finish in almost exactly the same way. Spelling by ear will not work. What children can do is notice that the endings come in matching sets. A word ending -ant usually has a related noun ending in -ance or -ancy (hesitant, hesitancy; tolerant, tolerance). A word ending -ent usually has a related noun ending in -ence or -ency (innocent, innocence; frequent, frequency). The vowel stays the same through the family: a goes with a, and e goes with e.

Once that is clear, the question becomes which family a word belongs to. The most useful clue is a related word. If a word has a relative ending -ation, or one with a clear a sound in it, the ending is usually -ant or -ance. Hesitant is related to hesitate and hesitation, tolerant to tolerate, observant to observation and expectant to expectation. These are clues for children to try, not guarantees, and the programme of study presents them as guidance for teachers.

For the other family, the ending -ent, -ence or -ency usually follows a soft c, a soft g or the letters qu. A c or g before e, i or y is soft, as in innocent, decent and decency (soft c), urgent, urgency and intelligent (soft g), and frequent and frequency (qu). A clear e in a related word also points to -ent: confident and confidence are related to confidential, resident and residence to residential. A great many words don’t fit any clue and must be learnt, for example assistant and assistance, relevant and relevance, obedient and obedience, independent and independence.

Schools generally teach the clues first, then let children sort words into families, test themselves on the clue, and work with words from the Year 5 and 6 spelling list. Mixing the two families, for example “independance”, is a very common slip, so the habit of asking “what is the family?” is worth building. Spelling is assessed in the national test in May of Year 6 and in children’s everyday writing.

Words your child will hear

Suffix
Letters added to the end of a word, such as -ant or -ence.
Noun
A word for a person, place, thing or idea, such as tolerance or confidence.
Adjective
A word that describes a noun, such as hesitant or innocent.
Word family
Words that share a root and are related in meaning, such as hesitate, hesitant and hesitancy.
Soft c
A c that sounds like s. It comes before e, i or y, as in decent.
Soft g
A g that sounds like j. It often comes before e, i or y, as in urgent.
Weak vowel (schwa)
The unstressed vowel sound in the ending of hesitant, like the a at the start of about.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

  • Spell words ending in –ant, –ance/–ancy
  • Spell words ending in –ent, –ence/–ency

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: choosing the ending

Complete each word with -ant or -ent: observ___ (watchful), innoc___ (not guilty), hesit___ (unsure), frequ___ (happening often). Then write the noun ending in -cy for hesitant and frequent.

  1. Say the four endings aloud. They sound the same, so sound alone won’t decide it. Look for clues instead.
  2. Observant: the related word observation ends in -ation, which points to -ant. Hesitant: the related words hesitate and hesitation do the same, so it is -ant as well.
  3. Innocent: the letter before the ending is a c followed by e. It is a soft c, so the ending is -ent. Frequent: the letters qu come before the ending, which also points to -ent.
  4. Make the nouns by keeping the same vowel in the family. Hesitant has an a, so the noun is hesitancy. Frequent has an e, so the noun is frequency.
  5. Check against what you know. Innocence, frequency and hesitation are all familiar words, so the families look right.

observant, innocent, hesitant, frequent; hesitancy, frequency

Common mistakes and how to help

Spelling the ending as it sounds

The vowel is weak, so a child hears the same sound in both endings and has to guess, leading to “hesitent” or “innocant”.

What helps: Show that the spelling follows the word family, not the sound. Write out hesitate, hesitation, hesitant and hesitancy, and point to the a that runs through them.

Mixing the two families in one word

A child may know the adjective is spelt -ent but write the noun with -ance, giving “independance”, “importence” or “confidance”.

What helps: Say the rule aloud: a with a, e with e. Independent goes with independence, and important goes with importance.

Treating the clues as rules with no exceptions

Children who have learnt that -ation points to -ant, or that soft c points to -ent, apply the clue everywhere. Words like assistant have no neat clue.

What helps: Make a short list of must-learn words for your child, such as assistant, relevant, obedient and independent, and revisit it. Checking a dictionary is a good habit, not a failure.

Writing -ant after a soft c or g, as in “innocant” or “urgant”

A soft c or g is easy to overlook as the reason for the ending, since the child is concentrating on the end of the word.

What helps: Point out that the c or g is followed by e in the ending, and that the soft sound comes from that e. Before an a, the letter would be hard, as in can or gap, so “innocant” would not say innocent.

How to help at home

  • Sort words into families. Write hesitant, tolerant, innocent, confident and others on cards. Sort them into an a column and an e column, then add the matching noun for each, such as tolerance and confidence.
  • Build word chains. Start with a verb and see how far you can go: hesitate, hesitation, hesitant, hesitancy. Say each word aloud and notice which letters stay the same.
  • Spot them while out and about. Look for ambulance, entrance, residents, parent and distance on signs and notices. Ask which ending each one uses and whether there is a clue.
  • Make a memory hook. Find a trick for a stubborn word, such as independent: it ends with dent, and a dent is a mark on a car. Silly hooks stick better than rules.
  • Check a few words a night. Use look, cover, write, check on three words, and return to the difficult ones in a few days. Short, frequent practice beats one long session.

Related topics

Builds on

More on spelling – English Appendix 1

Everything in Years 5 and 6 English

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