Learning English

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/?

ነቲ ድምጺ ብምስማዕ ነቲ ስራሕ ፈጽምዎ

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?

Next

In the next activity we look at some more ways the 'shun' ending can be spelt.