Unit 24: From rags to riches
Conditionals review
Select a unit
- 1 Pop-ups
- 2 Hidden talents
- 3 Can't buy me love
- 4 Travellers' tales
- 5 The colleague from hell
- 6 Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
- 7 Career changes
- 8 Art
- 9 Project management
- 10 The dog ate my homework!
- 11 The diary of a double agent
- 12 Fashion forward
- 13 Flat pack skyscrapers
- 14 Extreme sports
- 15 Food fads
- 16 Me, my selfie and I
- 17 Endangered animals
- 18 A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19 I'm really sorry...
- 20 Telling stories
- 21 Fakes and phrasals
- 22 Looking to the future
- 23 Becoming familiar with things
- 24 From rags to riches
- 25 Against the odds
- 26 Our future on Mars?
- 27 Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
- 28 Dodgy dating
- 29 Annoying advice
- 30 I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 1
Are you paying attention? Lots of English words end with the suffixes -ion, -sion and -tian. But which suffix goes with which word? In this session, we'll share some suffix-related spelling tips.
Activity 2
The disappearing spy
A spy story
Let's test your listening skills. Listen to this spy story (it's about a minute long) How many words can you find in this extract from a spy story that end with the sound 'shun' - /ʃ(ə)n/ or 'jhun' - /ʒ(ə)n/?
Listen to the audio and complete the activity
Agent X came under suspicion after the communication he had with an Egyptian politician was discovered. His mission was blown. After a brief investigation the decision was made to bring him home. Before he could return though, he disappeared. The authorities claim he had drowned while swimming in the ocean.
However, a week later, much to the consternation of the foreign government, he appeared safe and well in London. For his own safety he was sent into seclusion until the resolution of the diplomatic incident.
To do
Same sound, different spelling
Did you find all the words? There were eleven in all. Here are the words from the spy story which have the 'shun' or 'jhun' ending.
- suspicion
- communication
- investigation
- consternation
- resolution
- Egyptian
- politician
- mission
- decision
- seclusion
- ocean
Working out the spelling
Although there are some words you just have to learn, we do have some advice that might help you to work out or remember the correct spelling.
-tion
This is the most common way to spell the 'shun' ending. These words are all nouns. They are often, but not always, noun versions of verbs. For example, verbs ending in te - drop the e and add tion:
complete - completion
accommodate - accommodation
communicate - communication
-sion
This is less common than -tion and is used with verbs ending in -d, -de, and -se. Any endings that are pronounced junn /ʒ(ə)n/ are also spelt -sion
collide - collision
comprehend - comprehension
televise - television
If the ending is after an 'l', the spelling is -sion.
emulsion
revulsion
For verbs ending in -el change the e to u and add -sion to make a noun.
propel - propulsion
expel - expulsion
To do
Have a look at these root words. If you add a suffix to them, will the suffix be spelt -tion or -sion?
-tion or -sion?
5 Questions
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-te'?Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-el'?Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-de'?Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-te'?Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs ending in '-se'?Question 1 of 5
-tion
-sion
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
-tion or -sion?
5 Questions
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-te'?Question 1 of 5
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-el'?Question 2 of 5
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-de'?Question 3 of 5
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs that end in '-te'?Question 4 of 5
Help
Activity
Drag each word to the correct column based on the spelling of its noun form.
Hint
What's the advice for verbs ending in '-se'?Question 5 of 5
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Next
In the next activity we look at some more ways the 'shun' ending can be spelt.
Session Vocabulary
Ways of spelling the 'shun' / 'jhun' ending
-tion
This is the most common way to spell the 'shun' ending. These words are all nouns.
They are often, but not always, noun versions of verbs.
For example, verbs ending in te - drop the e and add tion:
complete - completion
accommodate - accommodation
communicate - communication-sion
Used with verbs ending in -d, -de, and -se. Any endings that are pronounced jhun /ʒ(ə)n/ are also spelt -sion
collide - collision
comprehend - comprehension
televise - televisionIf the ending is after an 'l', it is spelt -sion.
emulsion
revulsionFor verbs ending in -el change the e to u and add -sion to make a noun.
propel - propulsion
expel - expulsion