Suffix · forms adjectives/nouns
Forms adjectives describing a quality and nouns naming people with that quality: different, student, assistant.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
The suffixes -ent and -ant are variants of the same Latin origin. They create adjectives describing a quality or state, and nouns naming people who have that quality or perform that action. Adjectives: different, important, confident, patient, silent, violent. Person nouns: student, servant, assistant, participant, resident.
The match with Spanish is almost perfect: different = diferente important = importante student = estudiante assistant = asistente patient = paciente Almost every Spanish adjective or noun in -ente/-ante has an English equivalent in -ent/-ant.
Both forms are so common that there is no simple rule. Some hints: -ent is more frequent: different, patient, student, confident, silent, violent, recent. -ant also very frequent: important, assistant, pleasant, significant, relevant, distant. In practice, if there is an -e verb as the root, it tends to be -ent (differ → different, confide → confident). If the root ends in -a or comes from Latin -are verbs, it tends to be -ant (assist → assistant, import → important).
Verbal or Latin root + ent/-ant. No spelling changes to the root.
The noun derived from -ent is -ence (confidence, difference, silence), and from -ant is -ance (importance, assistance, relevance). Learning the adjective gives you the abstract noun for free.
-ent / -ant/ənt/ · unstressed 'ent' or 'ant'
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
important ends in -ant, not -ent or -and. Remember: im-POR-tant.
different: double -f, one -r, ends in -ent. DIF-fer-ent.
"confident" = self-assured. "confidant" (with a) = a trusted person you share secrets with. Different words.
A trick to remember it
The -ent/-ant pattern in English matches -ente/-ante in Spanish: different = diferente, important = importante, student = estudiante. And the chain: -ent → -ence, -ant → -ance (different → difference, important → importance).
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"confident" means...
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
What is the noun form of "different"?
The suffix -ent / -ant forms adjectives describing a quality and nouns naming people with that quality: different, student, assistant. In Spanish it usually maps to -ente / -ante.
The ending -ent / -ant is pronounced /ənt/ · unstressed 'ent' or 'ant'. For example, "different".
"differ-" becomes "different". It is a typical example of the -ent / -ant suffix.
Turns a verb or adjective into the noun naming that state or quality: import becomes importance.
Turns a verb or noun into an adjective showing tendency or capacity: create becomes creative.
Turns a noun into an adjective meaning "full of" or "having that quality": danger becomes dangerous.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.