Learn to Spell Words with the Suffixes -ible, -ibly

We can use prefixes and suffixes to change the meaning of some words.  

We call the original word a root word.

 

Suffixes go at the end of words.

For example: cheer + ful = cheerful

The suffix -ful turns a noun (naming word) into an adjective (describing word).

 

 

In this activity, we will look at the use of the suffixes -ible, and -ibly. 

There are similar sounding words that end in -able, and -ably.  You can practise spelling these words in another activity.

 

The -ible suffix creates an adjective (describing word).

For example:  horrible

 

 

The suffix -ibly creates an adverb (word describing a verb or adjective)

For example: terribly

 

But how do we know when to use -ible and -ibly rather than -able and -ably?

The -ible ending is usually used if a complete root word cannot be heard before it.  

For example: possible

 

However, there are some exceptions to this, and -ible is occasionally used when you can hear a whole word in front of the ending.  Unfortunately, there is not a rule for these words - we just have to learn them!

For example: sensible (we can hear the word sense before the suffix).

 

Here are some examples of words that use these suffixes that we will practise in this activity.  

 

possible​

horribly

terrible

visible

incredibly

sensibly

 

You can listen to them here:

 

You can break the words up into the root and suffix to help you to spell them

poss ible​

horr ibly

terr ible

vis ible

incred ibly

sens ibly

Use Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check to practise spellings a few times before we begin the activities.