Why can't kids hear which spelling to use?

The vowel is a schwa, the relaxed uh sound, identical in both endings. The -ance in distance and the -ence in silence sound exactly alike, uhns, so the eye has to carry what the ear cannot.

How should the families be learned?

As membership lists, sorted and re-met: the -ance club and the -ence club. Sorting builds the visual memory that spelling these words runs on.

4th grade suffixes -ance and -ence

4th grade suffixes -ance and -ence worksheets

Fourth graders sort -ance and -ence nouns by family, meeting the endings' shared job (turning ideas into nouns) and their identical sound, which makes the spelling a matter of sight.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.4.4.b.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of words you'll complete and sort

Fill in the missing letters to make a real word, then write the whole word in its column.

presimportexperiattendassistindepend

Columns: -ance and -ence. Only ance turns "attend_" into a real word, so attendance goes under -ance; Only ence turns "experi_" into a real word, so experience goes under -ence.

Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 20 words, 14 to a page. 4th to 6th grade print from the same 20 words. What changes is the standard (L.4.4.b here) and the teaching notes below.

Some of the words:

distanceentranceperformanceappearancedisturbancepresenceabsenceconfidencepatienceevidence

Complete and sort. Fill in the missing letters to make a real word, then write the whole word in its column. 14 words per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Read the columns aloud and let your child notice they cannot HEAR the difference. Naming that fact matters: this page is honest eye-memory work, and knowing why makes the memorizing feel fair.

Watch for: The vowel is a schwa, a quick uh that sounds the same in both endings, which is why these are among the most misspelled endings in English. This sort is eye training, openly and on purpose. Relatives share spellings: important/importance, different/difference, confident/confidence. The -ant and -ent words end in the same uh sound, so they don't help the ear. They help the eye: if your child can already spell the relative, the noun keeps its vowel.

Common questions about 4th grade suffixes -ance and -ence

Why can't kids hear which spelling to use?: The vowel is a schwa, the relaxed uh sound, identical in both endings. The -ance in distance and the -ence in silence sound exactly alike, uhns, so the eye has to carry what the ear cannot.
How should the families be learned?: As membership lists, sorted and re-met: the -ance club and the -ence club. Sorting builds the visual memory that spelling these words runs on.

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Aligned to Common Core L.4.4.b. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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