How to spell substance

hear itsub·stance/'səbstəns/nounRules and real life

What it means: A material with specific physical properties.

In a sentence: The scientist mixed a blue substance with water in the lab.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as substence or substanse.

Same family: substantial, substantive, substantially, essence, material. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Substance” comes from Latin *substantia*, from *sub* (“under”) + *stare* (“to stand”), originally meaning “that which stands under” something, like the real stuff behind appearances in philosophy.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

argument · prevent · batting · basket · advance · childhood · invent · net

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.