8th Grade spelling
8th Grade Words Ending in Ient
Words ending in ient: patient, ancient, client, ingredient, convenient, sufficient. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: The ending ient can be said /shunt/ (patient) or /ee-unt/ (ingredient).
The ending ient is a spelling that hides two different sounds. In patient, ancient and client the ie is a single sound, /shunt/. In ingredient, convenient and obedient the i and e are separate syllables, said /ee-unt/. Both are the Latin ending ient, and both mean one that does something. A student cannot know from the sound alone, so ient is a pattern that rewards grouping.
Thirty words appear on this list, including patient, ancient, client, sufficient, convenient, recipient, insufficient, ingredient, nutrient, resilient, gradient, inconvenient, deficient, proficient and obedient. Eighth grade is a good home for the ending because many of the words are used in science (ingredient, nutrient, gradient, coefficient), in civics (recipient, client) and in descriptive writing (ancient, resilient). Some, such as sufficient and proficient, are better known from their noun forms, sufficiency and proficiency.
30 entries. Our solver needed 0.7 wrong guesses on average: 26 easy, 4 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is client (3 misses), the quickest sufficient (0).
- patient Easy · 1
- ancient Easy · 1
- client Medium · 3
- sufficient Easy · 0
- convenient Easy · 1
- recipient Easy · 1
- insufficient Easy · 0
- ingredient Easy · 0
- ambient Easy · 1
- impatient Easy · 1
- nutrient Easy · 1
- resilient Easy · 0
- gradient Easy · 1
- inconvenient Easy · 0
- inefficient Easy · 0
- orient Medium · 2
- coefficient Easy · 0
- deficient Easy · 1
- outpatient Easy · 0
- proficient Easy · 0
- obedient Medium · 2
- inpatient Easy · 1
- lenient Medium · 2
- salient Easy · 0
- quotient Easy · 1
- expedient Easy · 0
- subservient Easy · 0
- omniscient Easy · 0
- disobedient Easy · 0
- prescient Easy · 0
Words worth a closer look
- patientThe ti spells sh, as in nation. Also a noun, so the sentence matters.
- ancientCi spells sh. Students often write ansient.
- ingredientFour syllables, with the i and e separated. Ingredient has no sh sound.
- convenientCon, ven, i, ent: the ie says two vowels. Inconvenient adds a prefix.
- sufficientSuf, fi, cient: double f in the middle. Insufficient and deficient share the ending.
Teaching it
A good approach is to sort the words by sound first: those where the vowels merge into shunt (patient, ancient, client, sufficient) and those where the vowels separate (convenient, ingredient, obedient). Then draw attention to the shared spelling. The typical errors are writing the shunt sound as it is heard (ansient, pashent), swapping the i and e (pateint), and treating ient as ent (convenent).
In hangman, the ending i, e, n, t is easy to guess, so the interest is in the letters before. Ask players to read the solved word aloud and say which sound group it belongs to. Print the worksheet and ask students to add one prefix-based opposite, such as in or de, to three of the words.
Print a 8th Grade Words Ending in Ient worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 8th Grade Words Ending in IbleWords ending in ible: visible, possible, edible, tangible, irresistible, audible. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words Ending in Cious and TiousSort words ending in cious and tious: gracious, spacious, cautious, nutritious, infectious. Play hangman or print a worksheet with answers.
- 8th Grade PH WordsWords where ph spells the f sound: physical, philosophy, atmosphere, alphabet, dolphin. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Ceed, Cede and Sede WordsSpell the /seed/ ending: exceed, proceed, succeed, precede, concede, supersede. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Advanced Silent Letter WordsSilent letters in psychology, rhythm, column, design and foreign. Sort ps, rh, mn and gn words, then play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words With Two Sets of Double LettersWords with two sets of double letters: committee, accommodate, embarrass, necessary, occasionally. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.