-ance vs -ence Endings | 50 Words Sorted

⚖️Commonly Misspelled

Words Ending in -ance vs -ence

Is it ‘importance’ or ‘importence’? ‘Difference’ or ‘differance’? The -ANCE vs -ENCE ending causes endless confusion because they sound exactly the same! There’s no perfect rule, but there ARE helpful patterns.

This page sorts 50 words into -ANCE and -ENCE groups with memory tricks. The biggest help: if the related word has a clear A or E sound, that tells you which ending to use!

🅰️ -ANCE Words (25)

importanceimportence ✗⭐⭐

im-POR-tunss

Being important

💡 importANT → importANCE

“Education is of great importance.”

appearanceappearence ✗⭐⭐

uh-PEER-unss

How things look

💡 APPEAR → appearANCE

“First appearances matter.”

performanceperformence ✗⭐⭐

pur-FOR-munss

A show/result

💡 PERFORM → performANCE

“An excellent performance!”

maintenancemaintenence ✗⭐⭐⭐

MAYN-tuh-nunss

Upkeep

💡 mainTENANCE (not TAIN!)

“Regular maintenance needed.”

guidanceguidiance ✗⭐⭐

GY-dunss

Help, direction

💡 GUIDE → guidANCE

“Thank you for guidance.”

insuranceinsurence ✗⭐⭐

in-SHOOR-unss

Financial protection

💡 INSURE → insurANCE

“Health insurance is vital.”

assistanceassistense ✗⭐⭐

uh-SIS-tunss

Help

💡 ASSIST + ANCE

“Need any assistance?”

resistanceresistense ✗⭐⭐

rih-ZIS-tunss

Opposition

💡 RESIST + ANCE

“Resistance to change.”

distancedistense ✗⭐⭐

DIS-tunss

How far

💡 DISTANT → distANCE

“A long distance away.”

tolerancetolerence ✗⭐⭐

TOL-uh-runss

Accepting differences

💡 TOLERANT → tolerANCE

“Practice tolerance.”

🅰️ More -ANCE Words

ignoranceignorence ✗⭐⭐

IG-nuh-runss

Lack of knowledge

💡 IGNORANT → ignorANCE

“Ignorance is not bliss.”

entranceenterance ✗⭐⭐

EN-trunss

Way in

💡 ENTER → entrANCE

“The main entrance.”

eleganceelegence ✗⭐⭐

EL-uh-gunss

Grace, style

💡 ELEGANT → elegANCE

“Pure elegance.”

abundanceabundence ✗⭐⭐

uh-BUN-dunss

Plenty

💡 ABUNDANT → abundANCE

“An abundance of food.”

acceptanceacceptence ✗⭐⭐

ak-SEP-tunss

Agreeing to receive

💡 ACCEPT → acceptANCE

“Letter of acceptance.”

allianceallience ✗⭐⭐

uh-LY-unss

A partnership

💡 ALLY → alliANCE

“A strong alliance.”

balancebalence ✗⭐⭐

BAL-unss

Equilibrium

💡 BALANCE — just memorize!

“Keep your balance.”

nuisancenuisence ✗⭐⭐

NOO-sunss

Annoyance

💡 NUISANCE — just memorize!

“Mosquitoes are a nuisance.”

substancesubstence ✗⭐⭐

SUB-stunss

Material/matter

💡 SUBSTANCE — just memorize!

“A harmful substance.”

relevancerelevence ✗⭐⭐

REL-uh-vunss

Being relevant

💡 RELEVANT → relevANCE

“The relevance of education.”

🅴 -ENCE Words (25)

differencedifferance ✗⭐⭐

DIF-runss

Not being the same

💡 DIFFERENT → differENCE

“Spot the difference!”

experienceexperiance ✗⭐⭐

ik-SPEER-ee-unss

Knowledge from doing

💡 EXPERIENCE — has ‘PER’ inside

“A wonderful experience.”

independenceindependance ✗⭐⭐

in-dih-PEN-dunss

Freedom

💡 INDEPENDENT → independENCE

“Indian Independence Day!”

sentencesentance ✗⭐⭐

SEN-tunss

Words making meaning

💡 SENTENCE — just memorize!

“Write a complete sentence.”

confidenceconfidance ✗⭐⭐

KON-fih-dunss

Self-belief

💡 CONFIDENT → confidENCE

“Build your confidence.”

patiencepatiance ✗⭐⭐

PAY-shunss

Ability to wait

💡 PATIENT → patiENCE

“Have patience.”

silencesilance ✗⭐⭐

SY-lunss

No sound

💡 SILENT → silENCE

“Silence in the library!”

violenceviolance ✗⭐⭐

VY-uh-lunss

Physical force/harm

💡 VIOLENT → violENCE

“Say no to violence.”

existenceexistance ✗⭐⭐

ig-ZIS-tunss

Being alive

💡 EXIST + ENCE

“The existence of aliens?”

intelligenceintelligance ✗⭐⭐

in-TEL-ih-junss

Mental ability

💡 INTELLIGENT → intelligENCE

“Artificial intelligence.”

🅴 More -ENCE Words

referencereferance ✗⭐⭐

REF-runss

Source/mention

💡 REFER + ENCE

“A reference book.”

preferencepreferance ✗⭐⭐

PREF-runss

Liking more

💡 PREFER + ENCE

“Any preference?”

occurrenceoccurrance ✗⭐⭐⭐

uh-KUR-unss

An event

💡 OCCUR + RENCE

“A common occurrence.”

influenceinfluance ✗⭐⭐

IN-floo-unss

Power to affect

💡 INFLUE + NCE

“A positive influence.”

evidenceevidance ✗⭐⭐

EV-ih-dunss

Proof

💡 EVIDENT → evidENCE

“Show me the evidence.”

consequenceconsequance ✗⭐⭐

KON-sih-kwunss

Result of action

💡 CONSEQUENT → consequENCE

“Face the consequences.”

obedienceobediance ✗⭐⭐

oh-BEE-dee-unss

Following rules

💡 OBEDIENT → obediENCE

“Obedience to rules.”

excellenceexcellance ✗⭐⭐

EK-suh-lunss

Being outstanding

💡 EXCELLENT → excellENCE

“A centre of excellence.”

absenceabsense ✗⭐⭐

AB-sunss

Not being present

💡 ABSENT → absENCE

“Absence from school.”

presencepresance ✗⭐⭐

PREZ-unss

Being there

💡 PRESENT → presENCE

“Your presence is required.”

🎯 The Trickiest -ANCE/-ENCE Words

dependencedependance ✗⭐⭐

dih-PEN-dunss

Relying on

💡 DEPENDENT → dependENCE

“Drug dependence.”

correspondencecorrespondance ✗⭐⭐

kor-uh-SPON-dunss

Letters/matching

💡 CORRESPOND + ENCE

“Business correspondence.”

convenienceconvienence ✗⭐⭐

kun-VEEN-yunss

Ease, handiness

💡 CONVENIENT → conveniENCE

“For your convenience.”

perseveranceperseverence ✗⭐⭐⭐

pur-suh-VEER-unss

Keeping going

💡 PERSEVERE + ANCE (exception!)

“Perseverance wins!”

surveillancesurveilance ✗⭐⭐⭐

sur-VAY-lunss

Monitoring

💡 SURVEILL + ANCE

“CCTV surveillance.”

remembrancerememberance ✗⭐⭐

rih-MEM-brunss

Memory, tribute

💡 REMEMBER → remembrANCE

“Remembrance Day.”

permanencepermanance ✗⭐⭐

PUR-muh-nunss

Lasting forever

💡 PERMANENT → permanENCE

“Nothing has permanence.”

prominenceprominance ✗⭐⭐

PROM-ih-nunss

Being important/visible

💡 PROMINENT → prominENCE

“Rose to prominence.”

diligencediligance ✗⭐⭐

DIL-ih-junss

Careful hard work

💡 DILIGENT → diligENCE

“Due diligence.”

competencecompetance ✗⭐⭐

KOM-pih-tunss

Being capable

💡 COMPETENT → competENCE

“Professional competence.”

📐 5 Spelling Rules

Check the -ANT/-ENT Adjective

If the adjective ends in -ANT → use -ANCE: important→importance, tolerant→tolerance. If -ENT → use -ENCE: different→difference, confident→confidence.

✅ -ANT→-ANCE: importance | -ENT→-ENCE: difference

After Hard G or C → Usually -ANCE

elegance, significance, arrogance — after hard G/C sounds, use -ANCE.

✅ elegance, arrogance, significance, extravagance

After Soft G, C, or Vowel → Usually -ENCE

intelligence, innocence, influence — after soft sounds, use -ENCE.

✅ intelligence, innocence, influence, patience, silence

-ATE Verbs → -ANCE

If the verb ends in -ate, the noun often uses -ance: tolerate→tolerance, dominate→dominance.

✅ tolerance, dominance, performance, acceptance

When In Doubt → Check the Adjective!

Don’t know -ANCE or -ENCE? Find the adjective form! importANT → importANCE. differENT → differENCE. This works ~90% of the time.

✅ Important→importance, different→difference, excellent→excellence

🐝 Spelling Quiz

1. important → import___?

2. different → differ___?

3. patient → pati___?

4. ignorant → ignor___?

5. confident → confid___?

6. elegant → eleg___?

7. excellent → excell___?

8. tolerant → toler___?

9. independent → independ___?

10. Best trick for -ance/-ence:

🔀 Word Scramble

Unscramble the letters

CANTEPROMI

CENERFDIFE

CENEAITP

CENARUNGI

CENEELXCEL

✏️ Fill in Missing Letters

Type the missing letters

import_nce

differ_nce

pati_nce

ignor_nce

excell_nce

❓ FAQ

Is there a rule for -ance vs -ence?

The best trick: check the adjective! importANT→importANCE. differENT→differENCE. If the adjective ends in -ANT, the noun uses -ANCE. If -ENT, use -ENCE. Works ~90%.

Why do they sound the same?

English reduced these Latin endings to the same ‘unss’ sound over centuries. In Latin, they were pronounced differently (-antia vs -entia). The spelling preserves the original Latin distinction.

Which is more common?

-ENCE words slightly outnumber -ANCE words in English. But both are very common — you’ll encounter hundreds of each.

What about ‘maintenance’?

Tricky! maintain→maintenance (ANCE not ENCE). The adjective isn’t ‘maintainant’ — you just have to memorize it. TEN+ANCE is the trick.

Does this apply to -ant/-ent adjectives too?

Yes! The same patterns work in reverse: importANCE→importANT, differENCE→differENT. Noun and adjective always match their A or E.

🐝 All Spelling Bee Guides — 49 Topics