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Years 3 and 4 English · Key Stage 2 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Years 3 and 4 spelling: -tion, -sion, -cian, -ous, -sure, -ture

Some of the sounds at the ends of longer words can be written several different ways, and in Years 3 and 4 children learn the patterns that decide which spelling to use. They meet the endings -sure and -ture, the endings -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian that all sound like “shun”, the “zhun” ending -sion, and the suffix -ous. These endings turn up in a great deal of the vocabulary children read and write from now on.

Endings -tion, -sion, -cian, -ous, -sure, explained

The trouble with these endings is that they sound far less varied than they look. In “station”, “mission”, “extension” and “musician” the ending sounds almost identical, yet it is spelt four different ways. Children can’t simply write what they hear, so teachers show them where the spelling comes from. Strictly speaking the endings are -ion and -ian, and the letters before them are a clue taken from the end of the root word.

The guidance in the National Curriculum is that -tion is the most common spelling and is used when the root word ends in t or te: “invent” becomes “invention” and “complete” becomes “completion”. If the root ends in ss or -mit, the ending is -ssion: “discuss” becomes “discussion” and “permit” becomes “permission”. If the root ends in d or se, the ending is -sion: “extend” becomes “extension” and “confuse” becomes “confusion”. There are exceptions, and the guidance names “attention” and “intention”. If the root ends in c or cs, the ending is -cian: “magic” becomes “magician” and “music” becomes “musician”.

Two further endings round off the set. The sound “zhuh” at the end of a word, as in “measure”, “treasure” and “pleasure”, is always spelt -sure, while the sound “chuh”, as in “creature”, “picture” and “adventure”, is very often spelt -ture. Children are warned to check that a word isn’t simply a root that ends in (t)ch with -er added, such as “teacher” or “stretcher”. The “zhun” sound, as in “division”, “television” and “decision”, is always spelt -sion.

The suffix -ous means “full of” or “having the quality of”, and it is added to many root words: “poison” becomes “poisonous” and “danger” becomes “dangerous”. Some need a small change first. A root ending in -our loses the u, so “humour” becomes “humorous”. Where the e after a g has to stay to keep the soft g sound, it is kept, as in “courageous” and “outrageous”. A few words with an “ee” sound before the ending, such as “serious” and “curious”, use i, while words like “hideous” use e.

Schools usually teach these as short, regular spelling sessions, with children sorting words into groups, finding the root word and testing themselves. Spellings for the term are often sent home. The word lists in the National Curriculum are examples, so schools add their own choices of words to practise.

Words your child will hear

Root word
The main word before anything is added to it. “Invent” is the root of “invention”.
Suffix
A group of letters added to the end of a word, such as -ous in “famous”.
Ending
The last letters of a word, such as -tion, -sion, -ssion or -cian.
Exception
A word that breaks the usual pattern. “Attention” has -tion even though “attend” ends in d.
Sound
How a word is said aloud. The National Curriculum writes sounds between slashes, such as /ʃən/ for “shun”.
Spelling pattern
A reliable link between letters and a sound that helps you choose a spelling.
Soft g
The g that sounds like j, as in “courage”. An e often keeps it soft.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to:

  • Spell words with endings sounding like /ʒə/ or /tʃə/
  • Spell words with endings which sound like /ʒən/
  • Spell words with the suffix –ous
  • Spell words with endings which sound like /ʃən/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked example: choosing the right ending

Add the correct ending to each root word so that it sounds like “shun”: invent, discuss, extend, magic.

  1. Start from the root word, not from the sound. Write the root and look at its last letters.
    invent   ends in t
discuss  ends in ss
extend   ends in d
magic    ends in c
  2. Root ends in t: -tion is the most common ending. Write “invention”.
  3. Root ends in ss: use -ssion, keeping both s letters from the root. Write “discussion”.
  4. Root ends in d: drop the d and add -sion. Write “extension”.
  5. Root ends in c: use -cian, which usually names a person with a skill. Write “magician”.
  6. Check each one by saying the root and the new word together. “Extend, extension” still sounds related, so the spelling seems sensible. If the word is on the exception list, such as “attend” and “attention”, learn it separately.

invention, discussion, extension, magician

Common mistakes and how to help

Spelling every “shun” ending as -shun, such as “inventshun”, “stashun” or “magishun”

Children spell what they hear and these endings sound the same, so they have nothing else to go on. In the early years that approach worked well, which makes it hard to give up.

What helps: Ask for the root word first. Practise sorting word cards into four piles by the last letters of the root. Over time children start to see “magic” hiding inside “magician”.

Writing -sion where the word needs -tion, or the other way round, in words like “decition” and “televition”

The /ʒən/ in “television” and “decision” is different from the “shun” in “station”, but the two sounds are close enough to confuse. Some words need a z-like sound, not a sh sound.

What helps: Say the word slowly. If it sounds like “zhun”, as in “division” and “confusion”, it is always -sion. If it sounds like “shun”, look at the root word instead.

Writing “picher”, “creecher” or “treazher” for -ture and -sure words

The endings are said very lightly, almost as a single sound, so children don’t hear the t or the s they need.

What helps: Say the ending in an exaggerated way, “pic-ture”, “mea-sure”, then link words in families. Remember that an ending that sounds like “zhuh” is always spelt -sure, as in “treasure”.

Adding -ous to a root without changing it, such as “humourous” or “couragous”

Children correctly think of adding a suffix to a root, but forget the small adjustments: -our becomes -or, and the e is needed after a soft g.

What helps: Look at the root as well as the ending. “Humour” loses the u. “Courage” needs its e to keep the g sounding like j, which is why it is “courageous”.

How to help at home

  • Root word detectives. Pick a word such as “discussion” or “magician” from a newspaper, menu or book and take the ending off. Say what the root is, then guess which ending its last letters would lead to before you check.
  • Four-pile sort. Write 12 to 16 words on slips of paper and let your child sort them into -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian piles. Mix in a few -sure and -ture words as well. Ask them to explain why each word belongs where it does.
  • Say it, then spell it. Read a spelling aloud slowly and ask your child to say the ending twice before writing it. Then look at the root together. This builds the habit of using patterns rather than guessing.
  • Hunt for -ous words. Look through a favourite story and jot down words ending in -ous, such as “famous”, “dangerous” or “enormous”. Work out the root word and any change needed, like “humour” to “humorous”. Some, like “enormous”, have no obvious root word, and spotting those is part of the game.
  • Little and often. Five minutes of testing a few words two or three times a week works better than one long session. Re-test the words that went wrong a few days later to see whether they have stuck.

Related topics

Builds on

Leads on to

More on spelling – English Appendix 1

Everything in Years 3 and 4 English

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