3.12 Words ending in a silent e

The final e is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel:

• debate
  • debatable
• desire
  • desirable
• dine
  • dining
• excite
  • excitable
• like
  • likable
• love
  • lovable
• make
  • makable
• move
  • movable
• rate
  • ratable
• sale
  • salable
• size
  • sizable
• subdue
  • subduing

but

• age
  • ageing
• mile
  • mileage

However, when e follows c or g it is retained before the vowels a and o to preserve the soft sound of these consonants:

• change, changeable but changing
• courage, courageous
• gauge, gaugeable but gauging
• knowledge, knowledgeable
• notice, noticeable but noticing
• peace, peaceable
• trace, traceable but tracing

Note that the e is retained even before i in some cases in order to distinguish a word from a similarly spelled one or to preserve a particular pronunciation:

• dyeing
• singeing
• shoeing
• toeing

but

• routing

Words ending in a silent e generally retain the e before a suffix beginning with a consonant:

• complete
  • completeness
• hope
  • hopeless
• waste
  • wasteful
• whole
  • wholesome

Words ending in a silent e, Exceptions

• due
  • duly
• subtle
  • subtly
• true
  • truly
• whole
  • wholly

Abridgment, acknowledgment and judgment can be spelled with or without the e, but the preferred spelling is as given.

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