Question:medium

It is our responsibility to leave a green and clean world for our _______.

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Use \emph{descendants} in formal writing. Remember: “descend” + “ants” = descendants — those who have descended from you in the family tree.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • descendents
  • decendants
  • descendants
  • descendantes
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The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This question checks the correct spelling of a word built from the root "descend." Recognising the root first makes it much easier to spot which option has altered or damaged it.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Split each option into the root "descend" and its ending, then check whether the root has been changed and whether the ending follows the standard "-ant" pattern used for people, as in "attendant" or "assistant."

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
"Descendents" changes the vowel in the middle syllable from "a" to "e," moving away from the standard form. "Decendants" drops the "s" from "descend," damaging the root itself. "Descendantes" tacks on an extra "es" that does not belong to any normal English plural rule. Only "descendants" keeps "descend" fully intact and adds "-ants," the same pattern seen in words like "attendants," making it the version recognised across formal writing and dictionaries.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The correct spelling is descendants, so option C is correct.
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Approach Solution -2

"Descendants" has a natural opposite, "ascendants" (people earlier in a family line). Since both words are built from the same "-scend-" core with only the prefix changed ("de-" versus "as-"), comparing the target word to its opposite is a quick way to check the spelling.

  1. Descendents: "Ascendants" keeps an "a" in that syllable, not an "e", so a matching word built the same way should also keep the "a", which this option fails to do.
  2. Decendants: "Ascendants" keeps the "s" right after its prefix; dropping that "s" here breaks the shared "-scend-" structure both words are supposed to share.
  3. Descendants: This mirrors "ascendants" exactly, apart from the prefix, keeping "-scend-ants" fully intact, which is exactly how the paired opposite word is spelled too.
  4. Descendantes: "Ascendants" never takes an "-es" ending, so adding one here breaks the parallel between the two opposite words.

Lining the word up against its familiar opposite, "ascendants", shows only one option keeps the shared "-scend-ants" structure both words are built on.

Therefore, the correct answer is descendants.

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