Q: What are the rules for using the suffixes “-tion,” “-sion,” and “-cion”? Very Interested, Busy and Confused Teachers.
A: English borrowed all three endings from French in the Middle Ages, but they ultimately come from the same word fragment in Latin. So etymologically they’re three different spellings of the same term.
However, the suffixes have evolved in English and are used in so many different ways, depending on placement and pronunciation, that we’d recommend consulting a dictionary when in doubt.
But since you’ve asked for specific guidelines, we’ll pass along a usage note from Lexico, a defunct dictionary website with content from Oxford University Press. Although Lexico is gone, the usage note can still be seen in Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine digital archive:
Words ending in -sion, -tion, and -cion
These endings are part of many everyday English nouns but people often have problems with their spelling. Here are some guidelines to help you choose the right one:
Words ending in -sion
- If the ending is pronounced as in confusion, then it should be spelled -sion. Here are some examples:
collision; division; revision; persuasion; explosion; decision; seclusion.
- When the ending comes after an -l, it’s always spelled -sion:
compulsion; revulsion; expulsion; emulsion; propulsion.
- When the ending follows an -n or -r, it’s often spelled -sion, especially if the word is related to one that ends in -d or -se. For example: immersion (from immerse); comprehension (from comprehend). Here are some more examples:
aversion; conversion; apprehension; diversion; extension; version.
- Nouns based on words that end in -ss or -mit always end in -sion: permission comes from permit and discussion comes from discuss. Here are some more examples:
commission; expression; aggression; admission; succession; impression; emission.
Words ending in -tion
- If the ending is pronounced as in station, then it’s spelled -tion. For example:
addition; duration; nation; solution; ambition; edition; caution; position.
- If the noun is related to a word ending in -ate, then the ending will be -ation, e.g. donation (from donate) or vacation (from vacate). Here are some more examples:
accommodation; location; creation; rotation; education; mediation.
- If the ending comes after any consonant apart from -l, -n, or -r, then the ending is spelled -tion:
action; connection; reception; affection; interruption; description; collection; infection; deception.
- After -n and -r, the ending can be -tion or -sion. It’s more likely to be -tion if the word’s related to another one that ends in –t or –tain, e.g. assertion (from assert) or retention (from retain) Here are some more examples:
exertion; distortion; abstention; invention.
Words ending in -cion
There are just two common nouns that end in -cion: suspicion and coercion.
The Oxford English Dictionary refers to these terms as suffixes, even though the first letter is often part of the base. We’re using “ending” and “suffix” interchangeably here.
The OED says the usual function of the suffix is to form “a noun of action, equivalent to the native ending -ing” and with its “kindred uses.”
The OED says the three suffixes, plus “-xion” in variant spellings like “connexion” and “inflexion,” are ultimately derived from the classical Latin -tion-, a word fragment combining the -t of a past participial stem and the word-forming element -ion-.
“The Latin meaning was primarily ‘the state or condition of being (what the past participle imports),’ ” the dictionary says, adding, “But already in Latin -tiō was used for the action or process of relating, completing, suspending, etc., and also concretely or quasi-concretely, as in dictiō, the condition of being said.”
Middle English borrowed the suffix from the Old French -cion and the Middle French -tion, which were derived from the classical Latin word fragment.
In Middle English, spoken in England from abut 1100 to 1500, the ending could begin with “c,” “s,” “t,” or “x.” There are medieval versions of all four in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written from 1387 until the author’s death in 1400:
- “He was so gentil of condicioun” (“The Knight’s Tale”).
- “Youre inconstance is youre confusioun” (“The Summoner’s Tale”).
- “Wher me was wo, that is no questioun” (“The Squire’s Tale”).
- “Of his complexioun he was sangwyn” (“The General Prologue”).
We’ll end with an excerpt from “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” In the story, an ugly old woman helps save the life of a young knight and as payment demands he marry her. He responds in horror:
My love? quod he, nay, my dampnacioun!
Allas! that any of my nacioun
Sholde evere so foule disparaged be!(“My love?” cried he, “nay, my damnation!
Alas! that any of my kindred
Should ever so fouly dishonored be.”)
Ultimately, the two have a long, happy marriage.
Help support the Grammarphobia Blog with your donation. And check out our books about the English language and more.
