The 'shun' endings: -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian

Four spellings, one sound

Many nouns end in a sound like “shun”, and English writes it in four main ways. Children who learn the endings as a list of words struggle; children who learn to look at the root word usually get it right.

Start with the root word

The single most useful habit is to ask “what's the word this comes from?” before writing the ending. The root usually keeps its last consonant sound, and that points to the spelling.

• inventionFrom invent: the t stays.
• decisionFrom decide: the de becomes sion.
• permissionFrom permit: the t becomes ss.
• musicianFrom music: a person, and the root ends in -ic.

When there's no obvious root, -tion is the safest guess, because it is far more common than the others.

-tion and -ation

Lots of verbs become nouns by adding -ation: inform, information; admire, admiration; organise, organisation. If the verb ends in e, the e is dropped first. Practising this as a pattern (verb in, noun out) is more effective than learning each noun separately.

When 'shun' isn't 'shun'

The same endings sometimes make different sounds. -sion can say “zhun” (vision, television, decision), and -tion says “chun” in a small group of words such as question and suggestion. These are worth teaching as their own mini-groups so they don't confuse the main rule.

In the SATs

The SATs spelling paper has 20 words, each read aloud on its own and then within a sentence. Words with the 'shun' endings appear often, because they are so common in Year 5 and 6 vocabulary and the curriculum lists them specifically. Accurate spelling of these endings also counts in teacher assessment of writing, where words like information, decision and permission come up constantly.

Common mistakes

• decitionThe root is decide, so it's decision.
• musitionA person, root ends in -ic: musician.
• informatonLetters dropped from the ending: information.

• Writing -shun phonetically.
• Using -tion for every word, including people's jobs.
• Keeping the e before -ation: organiseation.
• Single s in -ssion words: discusion, permision.

Teaching ideas

Root word detectives

Give pupils a list of 'shun' words and ask them to write the root beside each one. They then sort the words into four columns by ending and look for the pattern in the roots. Children who discover the rule themselves remember it far better.

Verb in, noun out

Call out a verb (extend, educate, admit, confuse) and pupils write the noun on mini whiteboards. It's quick, it's repetitive in a good way, and it shows the rules working in real time.

Is it a person?

A fast sorting game for -cian: read out jobs and non-jobs, and children shout “person!” when they hear one. Politician, optician and beautician make good additions to the core list.

Little and often

Choose 10 words from the lists below for each weekly test, mixing endings so pupils have to choose, not just repeat. Use the dictation sentences on the sheets in the same way as the SATs: word, sentence, word.

Try it: five quick questions

SATs-style questions to use as a starter or a quick check. Tap to see each answer.

1. Which is correct? extention / extension

   Show answer

   extension: the root extend ends in d.

2. Add the ending: electri___ (a person who fixes wiring)

   Show answer

   electrician

3. Turn the verb into a noun: admit

   Show answer

   admission

4. Turn the verb into a noun: educate

   Show answer

   education

5. Which is correct? discusion / discussion

   Show answer

   discussion: the root discuss ends in ss.