Suffixes – ‘tion’ Vs ‘sion’ Vs ‘ssion’
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word to alter its meaning or to ensure it fits grammatically into a sentence.
The ‘tion’ ending is so widespread because it is the more straightforward. In most cases, ‘ion’ simply attaches to words ending in ‘t’ or ‘te’ (in which case it replaces the silent final ’e’), so ‘tion’ is just the natural product of forming the noun.
However, some words also end in ‘sion’ and ‘ssion’. The prefix ‘sion’ is much less common.
A full explanation can found on this PowerPoint.
Sometimes you might see the prefix ‘cian’. This would normally refer to a person (eg. magician, electrician).
Task:
Write out the words below and add the correct suffixes to the words, using ‘tion’, ‘sion’ or ‘ssion’ and use 5 of these new words in a sentence. The first one has been done for you:
- tense – tension
- admit
- impress
- prevent
- concentrate
- disperse
- divert
- locate
- rotate
- obsess
You can check your knowledge with this online quiz:
https://primaryleap.co.uk/activity/suffixes—–tion—–sion—–ssion—–cian
