Checklist 5
In this list, the noun is formed by adding either –ance or –ence to the verb. The
pronunciation of the endings is the same and there are no useful rules to determine which
ending is used. In the first group, the noun is spelled with –ance.
VERB NOUNS ADJETIVES ADVERBS
assist Assistance
assistant
assure assurance assured Assuredly
ignore ignorance ignorant ignorantly
Inherit Inheritance Inherited
Disinherit Heredity Hereditary
heritage
Maintain Maintenance
Rely Reliance (un)reliable (un)reliably
reliability
signify (in)significance (in)significant (in)significantly
In the following group, the noun is spelled with –ence
Adhere Adherence Adherent
adhesion Adhesive
Cohere (in)coherence (in)coherent
cohesion cohesive
Correspond Correspondence corresponding Correspondingly
correspondent
Infer inference Inferential
insist insistence insistent Insistently
Occur Occurrence
Persist persistence persistent Persistently
Precede Precedence Preceding
Precedent Unprecedented
transcend transcendence Transcendent
Transcendental
Exercise 5
Each of the following groups of sentences is preceded by a verb. For each sentence in the
group, decide on the correct word form –verb, noun, adjective or adverb –and write it on
the line at the right.
To inherit
1. When his father dies, the eldest son will _______ all the money. ____________
2. The plays of Shakespeare are part of the literary _______ of the
English-speaking people. ____________
3. Many Indian tribes in the United States are now claiming their _______
rights to their homelands ____________
To persist
4. Ricardo has shown great _______ in his determination to understand
vector components in physics. ____________
5. Mary _______ asked her son to clean up his room. ____________
6. Billy _______ in asking his parents to let him sleep with his pet frog. ____________
To rely
7. Joe puts too much _______ on pills from the drugstore and does not
listen to his doctor. ____________
8. Mr. Jensen´s memory is not very _______. He often forgets the names
of his students. ____________
9. When Jim´s car broke down last week, he had to _______ on his
neighbor to give him a ride to work. ____________
Select the one word from the four choices that best completes the sentence. Write the
correct form of the word on the line at the right.
10. We would be wise not to _______ the health warnings printed on each
pack of cigarettes. ____________
Assure ignore adhere transcend
11. The election of a woman as president of the local plumber´s union set
a _______ for the future. ____________
signify precede persist transcend
12. Olga didn´t need any _______ from her father to do her physics
homework. ____________
assist maintain adhere insist
13. Everyone must agree to _______ to the plan. Once we begin, there can
be no changes at all. ____________
Inference coherence adherence assurance
____________
14. John´s actions do not always _______ to his words.
correspond adhere signify occur
15. Joe was unable to _______ his lead in the race. ____________
maintain condense inherit assist
16. The pilot _______ Alice that flying is safe. ____________
precede assure persist retain
17. Ms. Lee told Ken that because his ideas were disorganized, his
composition lacked ______. ____________
transcend cohere correspond adhere
18. Ali put _______ tape over his bandage. ____________
Various adhesive coherent ignorant
19. Uncle Edward _______ the noise of his wife´s party and continued to
read his newspaper. ____________
ignorant coherent persistent transcendent
20. Billy´s mother became angry and told him to stop shouting or he
would _______ her patience. ____________
transcend inherit precede imply
21. It is a rare _______ when Ms. O´Malley is wrong. ____________
assist maintain infer occur
Notice the difference in meaning between infer and imply.
To infer means to arrive at a conclusion by reasoning from facts or evidence: “I infer
from your remarks that you think I am a liar.”
To imply means to state an idea indirectly, to hint or suggest: “Are you implying that I
am not telling the truth?”
Remember that I infer something from what you imply.
In the following sentences, use implied, implication, inferred and inference.
22. Amy´s _______ that Joe was stupid didn´t bother him at all. ____________
23. From her tone of voice, the student’s _______ that their teacher was ____________
angry with them.
24. Maxine´s posture and attitude _______ boredom. ____________
25. Lou´s _______ from his boss´s criticism was that the boss considered
him unfit for the job. ____________
