CHAPTER 39

Using tion, sion, ssion, tian, cian,

cion, shion, xion, sian, cean

The tion ending, in all its variations, is usually used to turn a verb into a noun. There are hundreds of

examples. This “shun” ending can be produced in about ten different ways. If this seems rather excessive,
there is a logical pattern. Interestingly, there is no commonly used English word that uses shun as an
ending, apart from the word shun.

Spelling rule #1: By far the majority of words in this category will use the tion ending:

(^) Spelling rule #2: The suffix sion is a variation of tion and is usually used after roots ending in d, s
with a silent e, and sometimes t:
(^) Words ending in double s will be spelled ssion:
(^) Words ending in mit will also use the double s:
(^) Words ending in cede and ceed also use the double s:
(^) Spelling rule #3: The cian ending is almost always used to indicate a trade, skill, or a profession:
(^) The tian ending is similar to cian, but usually indicates a place of origin or a belief:
(^) Note that sometimes these suffixes appear to be interchangeable, but they are not. They may have to be
spelled with a c or an s or another consonant, depending on the root word.
(^) Fewer than half a dozen words use xion. Some writers still insist on inflexion and genuflexion instead
of inflection and genuflection, but these are archaic forms. There are only five words remaining, and one
of these is slowly changing. Complexion is becoming complection.
(^) There is also a very small group of words with other endings:
(^) Considering the hundreds of words that use the shun ending, it is truly astonishing how many of them fit