When do words like "Rewirable" keep the 'e' from "Rewire"?

Question

I was spelling "rewirable" earlier and could've sworn it should be spelled 'rewireable' but google said otherwise. Whats the deal here? I never paid a lot of attention in my english classes throughout school so I don't always know the correct terminology or names for different parts of speech.

Thanks

try here http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/english-mistakes/dropping-the-final-e/ — Good A.M., Jan 28 '15 at 20:52
Related: Is 'useable' preferred in certain regions, or just an alternate spelling of 'usable'? I don't see much difference between AmE and BrE here — FumbleFingers, Jan 28 '15 at 20:55

Brian Hitchcock · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-03T10:51:52.590

1

Ngram viewer shows NO instances of "rewirable" in the American English corpus. British English shows a real horserace between the two forms, with "rewireable" ahead through the turn (1950s), and then "rewirable" leading for awhile in the backstretch (1960s & 1970s), neck-and-neck through the last turn to the homestretch, and "rewireable" pulling ahead in the end (1990s–present)

So it looks like "rewireable" is now the favored spelling on both sides of the pond. In written publications anyway. As for which spelling you see on the internet. . . "YourMileageMayVary".

edited Feb 03 '15 at 10:51

answered Jan 29 '15 at 07:37

Brian Hitchcock

13,674

Nice pun(err, joke?)! Thanks for the clarification Brian – user1977591 Jan 29 '15 at 16:49

When do words like "Rewirable" keep the 'e' from "Rewire"?

1 Answers1