Spelling 06 - Choose the Right Ending
English is a treasure house of knowledge on account of the fact that it has thousands of books written by thousand of authors all well versed in the language. These authors take recourse to the innumerable words that are available to them to construct their stories and entertain us. If we learn the workings of the English language then the multitude of words it contains will be at our disposal.
This treasure trove of words consists of base or root words and many more words which are derived from them. Words also draw inspiration from pronunciation and this can help in creating more words. The ‘SHUN’ sound is one that is borrowed to create words that end in ‘TION’, ‘SION’, ‘SSION’, ‘TIAN’ and ‘CIAN’.
The addition of the SHUN sound to a word is not random - there is a method to the formation of new words:
The TIAN and CIAN ending (found in words such as OPTICIAN or DIETITIAN) generally relate to naming hobbies, jobs or skills.
Words that end with TION (such as DIFFRACTION) are words that are formed from base words that are generally verbs (such as DIFFRACT).
Words ending with SION or SSION are also words that are formed from base words that are verbs. For instance, DISCUSSION is formed from DISCUSS.
In the past three quizzes you have learnt the rules to form the words with the suffixes TION, CIAN, TIAN, SION and SSION. While some of the rules are straightforward others need some adjustment. Nevertheless, as with any rules there are always exceptions. It will be a rewarding experience to learn new words and use them to understand the language better and thus communicate more effectively. The following quiz will help you to recap all that you have learnt earlier.