French -able and -ible Cognates in Context
Learn selected French-English -able/-ible adjective pairs, meaning limits, agreement and usage.
French and English share some very usable adjectives in -able and -ible. Their similar spelling helps you notice them, but the safest unit to learn is an adjective with a noun and, when needed, a preposition. These are checked examples, not a conversion rule for every English adjective.
Seven pairs you can put to work
| French | English clue | French phrase |
|---|---|---|
| possible | possible | une solution possible |
| visible | visible | un changement visible |
| responsable | responsible | responsable de ce projet |
| acceptable | acceptable | une réponse acceptable |
| accessible | accessible | un bâtiment accessible au public |
| confortable | comfortable | un fauteuil confortable |
| flexible | flexible | des horaires flexibles |
Five more checked adjectives
| French | English clue in context | French phrase |
|---|---|---|
| durable | lasting; durable in some technical uses | une solution durable |
| admirable | admirable | un effort admirable |
| imaginable | imaginable | toutes les solutions imaginables |
| variable | variable | un coût variable |
| comparable | comparable | deux situations comparables |
Durable is especially context-dependent: a long-lasting solution and l'agriculture durable may need different English wording. Variable can describe a cost that changes; it also has grammatical and mathematical senses. Do not assume that an identical spelling carries an identical range of uses.
Some spellings are identical in both languages; others differ, as with responsable/responsible and confortable/comfortable. The French forms shown here have the same singular spelling with masculine and feminine nouns, but they take a plural -s: des solutions possibles. A word can still have more than one sense: accessible may describe a reachable place, an understandable work, or an approachable person.
Two near-matches that need a dictionary
In a connected planning example, Nous comparons deux solutions possibles. La première est acceptable, mais la seconde est plus durable. Notre budget est variable, alors nous restons flexibles. The cognates make much of the message recognizable. The French sentences still require agreement (possibles, flexibles) and a comparative phrase (plus durable). A list of isolated English equivalents would miss those choices.
Sensible commonly means sensitive, not the English adjective sensible meaning reasonable. Compréhensible means understandable or intelligible, not English comprehensive. Similar endings can hide different roots and meanings.
Practice: keep the relationship intact
- Complete "She is responsible for the project": Elle est responsable _____ projet.
- Write "flexible schedules" in French: des horaires _____.
- For "an understandable explanation," choose une explication compréhensible or une explication sensible.
Answers and why
- de ce. The full phrase is responsable de ce projet; do not drop de because the English pair looks familiar.
- flexibles. The adjective agrees with plural horaires.
- une explication compréhensible. Compréhensible describes something that can be understood. Sensible has different senses.
Production check
Write a short contrast between one acceptable option and one better option. A possible answer is Cette solution est acceptable, mais l'autre est plus durable. Acceptable evaluates whether the first option can be accepted; plus durable explains the advantage of the second. Do not use sensible as an English-style synonym for "reasonable"; French raisonnable is a more direct choice for that meaning.
Continue with false friends if you want a focused check on misleading look-alikes.