Spanish words ending in -ente (from English -ent)
Add a vowel and English -ent becomes Spanish -ente: president → presidente, different → diferente, accident → accidente. Nouns and adjectives both live in this family, and the adjectives are refreshingly lazy.
How the rule works
- Adjectives in -ente do not change for gender: un caso diferente, una idea diferente.
- Plural is -entes.
- Watch the double consonants — Spanish drops most of them: different → diferente, but accident → accidente keeps the cc.
- Some describe people and take natural gender through the article: el presidente, la presidenta (this one does have a feminine form in modern use).
Start with these
- president → presidente
- current → corriente
- present → presente
- patient → paciente
- accident → accidente
- client → cliente
Every verified word in this family (112)
Each pair below was checked on both sides: the Spanish word exists in a spell-checker and a frequency list, and the meaning was cross-checked rather than assumed from the spelling. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
- absorbent→absorbente
- abstinent→abstinente
- accident→accidente
- adherent→adherente
- adolescent→adolescenteLatin adolēscēns
- ambient→ambiente
- ambivalent→ambivalente
- antecedent→antecedente
- astringent→astringente
- benevolent→benevolenteLatin benevolēns
- cadent→cadente
- clement→clemente
- client→cliente
- coefficient→coeficiente
- coherent→coherenteLatin cohaerēns
- competent→competenteLatin competens
- component→componente
- concurrent→concurrente
- congruent→congruente
- consequent→consecuente
- consistent→consistente
- constituent→constituyente
- continent→continente
- contingent→contingente
- convenient→convenienteLatin conveniēns ‘convenientem’
- convergent→convergente
- covalent→covalente
- crescent→creciente
- current→corriente
- decent→decenteLatin decēns ‘decentem’
- dement→demente
- deponent→deponente
- descendent→descendente
- detergent→detergente
- diligent→diligente
- dissident→disidente
- divergent→divergente
- emergent→emergente
- equivalent→equivalente
- evanescent→evanescente
- evident→evidenteLatin ēvidēns ‘ēvidentem’
- excipient→excipiente
- exigent→exigente
- existent→existente
- expedient→expediente
- exponent→exponente
- fluorescent→fluorescente
- gradient→gradiente
- impudent→impudente
- incandescent→incandescente
- incident→incidente
- incipient→incipiente
- incontinent→incontinente
- indigent→indigente
- indolent→indolente
- indulgent→indulgente
- influent→influente
- ingredient→ingrediente
- inherent→inherenteLatin inhaerēns ‘inhaerentem’
- insistent→insistente
- insolent→insolente
- insolvent→insolvente
- insurgent→insurgente
- latent→latenteLatin latēns
- medicament→médicamente
- negligent→negligenteLatin negligens ‘negligentem’
- nutrient→nutriente
- obedient→obediente
- occident→occidente
- omnipotent→omnipotente
- omnipresent→omnipresente
- omniscient→omnisciente
- opalescent→opalescente
- orient→oriente
- patent→patente
- patient→paciente
- penitent→penitente
- permanent→permanente
- persistent→persistenteLatin persistens
- pertinent→pertinenteLatin pertinens
- pestilent→pestilente
- potent→potenteLatin potēns ‘potentem’
- precedent→precedente
- present→presente
- president→presidente
- prominent→prominenteLatin prōminēns ‘prōminentem’
- proponent→proponente
- prudent→prudenteLatin prūdēns
- pubescent→pubescente
- recipient→recipienteLatin recipiens ‘recipientem’
- recurrent→recurrente
- referent→referente
- regent→regente
- relent→relente
- resident→residente
- resilient→resilienteLatin resiliō
- reticent→reticente
- reverent→reverente
- salient→salienteLatin saliens ‘salientem’
- sargent→sargente
- semitransparent→semitransparente
- serpent→serpienteLatin serpēns
- solvent→disolvente
- subcontinent→subcontinente
- subsistent→subsistente
- superintendent→superintendente
- tangent→tangente
- torrent→torrente
- transparent→transparenteLatin transpārēns ‘transparent’
- trident→tridenteLatin tridens
- urgent→urgenteLatin urgēns ‘urgentem’
- vehement→vehemente
Traps in this family
- actualmente is not actually — it means currently. For “actually” say en realidad.
FAQ
Is it la presidente or la presidenta?
Both are heard; la presidenta is now standard in most of the Spanish-speaking world. Most other -ente words stay invariable.
Why does Spanish add the final -e?
Spanish avoids ending words in most single consonants other than n, s, r, l and d, so the Latin -entem surfaces as -ente.
Other Spanish word keys
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72 verified words