Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2022)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Words / Words ending in -ic and-ical

Words ending in -ic and-ical

May 16, 2011 - pdf

Many adjectives end in –ic or –ical.

Adjectives ending in –ic

Academic, artistic, athletic, catholic, domestic, dramatic, emphatic, energetic, fantastic, linguistic, majestic, neurotic, pathetic, public, systematic, tragic

In older English, some of these words used to end in –ical. Examples are: tragical and majestical.

Adjectives ending in –ical

Biological, chemical, critical, cynical, grammatical, logical, mathematical, mechanical, medical, musical, physical, radical, tactical, topical
A few adjectives can have both forms with no difference in meaning.

Examples are: arithmetic and arithmetical

Egoistic and egoistical
Fanatic and fanatical
Geometric and geometrical

In some cases both forms exist, but there is a difference of meaning.

Classic and classical

Classic refers to a famous example of its type.
Classical refers to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome.

It is hard to learn classical music.

Comic and comical

Comic is the normal adjective for artistic comedy.

I like to watch comic opera.

Comical means ‘funny’.

There was a comical expression on his face.

Economic and economical

Economic refers to the science of economics. Economy means ‘not wasting money’.

The country faces many economic problems at the moment.
We are looking for an economical little car.

Magic and magical

Magic and magical have similar meanings, but magic is the more common word.

A magic wand, a magic carpet etc

Magical can mean ‘wonderful’ or ‘exciting’.

I had a magical experience the other day.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,127,749 
185,564 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Verbs Exercise May 3, 2022
  • Other, Another Or Others May 2, 2022
  • Conjunctions Exercise April 30, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise April 28, 2022
  • Prepositions Quiz April 27, 2022
  • Subject-Verb Concord Quiz April 25, 2022
  • Pronouns Exercise April 22, 2022
  • Phrasal Verbs Exercise April 21, 2022
  • Conjunctions Exercise April 20, 2022

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2022 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap