Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell sensible

hear itsen·si·ble/'sɛnsəbəl/adjectiveSchwa and roots

What it means: Showing good judgment or reason.

In a sentence: It's sensible to wear a helmet when riding a bike.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as sensable or sensibel.

Same family: sensed, sensibly, sensitivity, sensation. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Sensible” comes from Latin “sensibilis,” meaning “that can be perceived by the senses,” from the verb “sentire” (to feel). Over time, English added the idea of being ‘reasonable’ to the original meaning of ‘able to feel or perceive.’

Patterns it uses: -able or -ible? · The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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