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Lesson 6 of 16
  • Year 6

Spelling words with the suffixes -ent and -ence

I can spell words with the suffixes -ent and -ence for the sounds 'unt' and 'unce'.

Lesson 6 of 16
New
New
  • Year 6

Spelling words with the suffixes -ent and -ence

I can spell words with the suffixes -ent and -ence for the sounds 'unt' and 'unce'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The -ent and -ence suffixes generally come after a soft 'c', soft 'g' and 'qu'.
  2. Words ending in -ent sometimes have related words where the ‘e’ vowel sound is clearer, like resident - residential.
  3. Changing the suffix -ent to the suffix -ence or -ency can change the word from an adjective to an abstract noun.
  4. How to spell the curriculum words: hindrance, excellent and relevant.

Keywords

  • Suffix - a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning

  • Root word - the base word from which other words are formed often by adding prefixes or suffixes

  • Noun - a naming word for a person, place or thing

  • Abstract noun - a type of noun that names an idea or quality that cannot be seen

  • Adjective - describes a noun

Common misconception

Some pupils may think all words ending in -ent are the same word class.

Whilst the suffixes -ent and -ence can change word class, not all words ending in -ent are the same word class. Give examples in a sentence to demonstrate, using the words contentment, (to) frequent, and silent.


To help you plan your year 6 English lesson on: Spelling words with the suffixes -ent and -ence, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You can use well-established etymology websites to identify the etymology of words of interest as a class.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the word to the suffix it contains.

Correct Answer:assistant,-ant

-ant

Correct Answer:assistance,-ance

-ance

Correct Answer:excellent,-ent

-ent

Correct Answer:toleration,-ation

-ation

Q2.
Select the words with a 'soft g'.

Correct answer: intelligence
Correct answer: urgent
arrogance
elegantly

Q3.
Select the correct spelling.

Correct answer: reliant
relient
relyant
relyent

Q4.
Select the correct spelling.

arogant
Correct answer: arrogant
arrogent
arogent

Q5.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'She was hezitent to speak in front of the large audience.'

Correct Answer: hesitant

Q6.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The discovery of ancient artefacts was signiffikent for understanding history.'

Correct Answer: significant

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Select the correct spelling.

acidant
acident
accidant
Correct answer: accident

Q2.
Select the correct spelling.

frequint
Correct answer: frequent
frequant

Q3.
Select the correct spelling.

urjensy
urjency
Correct answer: urgency
urgancy

Q4.
Select the correct spelling.

innosence
inosense
innocense
Correct answer: innocence
innocance

Q5.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'This is egsellant work.'

Correct Answer: excellent

Q6.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'My teacher has enormous confedance in my abilities.'

Correct Answer: confidence