Knowing Spanish suffixes and their easy translation to English will greatly help you to understand written Spanish and put it on your way to also understand the spoken language when you learn the Spanish pronunciation.
Spanish Suffixes: Words Ending in -ción
Out of all the prefixes that can help the English Student of Spanish, in my opinion, the king is this:
-ción
that’s almost the exact equivalent to the English suffix:
–tion
It’s just incredible the number of words of Latin origin that the 2 languages have in common! Here are just a few examples:
| la nación = the nation | la información = the information |
| la automación = the automation | la associación = the association |
| la vacación = the vacation | la tradición = the tradition |
| la motivación = the motivation | la participación = the participation |
| la simplificación = the simplification | la evaluación = the evaluation |
| la distribución = the distribution | la operación = the operation |
A Quick Video about Spanish Suffixes (Words Ending in -ción)
More Common Spanish Suffixes (Words Ending in -ción)
| the abbreviation = la abreviación | the action = la acción |
| the addition = la adición | the adoption = la adopción |
| the affirmation = la afirmación | the application = la aplicación |
| the association = la asociación | the attention = la atención |
| the attraction = la atracción | the audition = la audición |
| the authorization = la autorización | the celebration = la celebración |
| the collection = la colección | the combination = la combinación |
| the condition = la condición | the conservation = la conservación |
| the construction = la construcción | the contradiction = la contradicción |
| the declaration = la declaración | the decoration = la decoración |
| the definition = la definición | the direction = la dirección |
| the discrimination = la discriminación | the distribution = la distribución |
| the education = la educación | the election = la elección |
| the elevation = la elevación | the evaluation = la evaluación |
| the exception = la excepción | the exemption = la exempción |
| the fraction = la fracción | the identification = la identificación |
| the immigration = la inmigración | the information = la información |
| the inspection = la inspección | the instruction = la instrucción |
| the introduction = la Introducción | the investigation = la investigación |
| the invitation = la invitación | the nation = la nación |
| the operation = la operación | the pronunciation = la pronunciación |
| the punctuation = la puntuación | the segregation = la segregación |
| the tradition = la tradición |
Visit the Wikipedia page that lists many Spanish words ending in -ción. You will understand almost all of them without the help of a dictionary!
Spanish Suffixes: Words Ending in -sión
As seen above, when translating the suffix -cion from Spanish to English you have to change the letter “C” to the letter “T”. Can something be easier? The simple answer is “YES!” because we have another great similarity between the Spanish and English lexicons:
The Suffix -SION
In this case, you don’t have to change any letter, just remove the accent & the double “S” (if present) from the Spanish word to get the exact English equivalent:
Here are just a few examples:
| la expresión = the expression | la misión = the mission |
| la commisión = the commission | la pasión = the passion |
| la visión = the vision | la lesión = the lesion |
| la fusión = the fusion | la tensión = the tension |
| la decisión = the decision | l’occasión = the occasion |
| la versión = the version | la pensión = the pension |
Click Here to See Many More Spanish words ending in -sión
Spanish Suffixes: Spanish Words Ending in -ad
The Spanish suffix
-dad
is equivalent, in several Spanish nouns, to the English suffix
-ty
Here are just a few examples:
| La universidad = the university | la actividad = the activity |
| la humanidad = the humanity | la agilidad = the agility |
| la mentalidad = mentality | la curiosidad = the curiosity |
| la celebridad = the celebrity | la fertilidad = the fertility |
| la personalidad = the personality | la identidad = the identity |
| la credibilidad = the credibility | la necesidad = the necessity |
As you can see, you just have to change the English suffix “TY” to the Spanish suffix “-DAD” and you have the correct Spanish Word!
Click Here to See Many More Spanish words suffixed with –AD
More Spanish Suffixes: An Insightful Video
12 Common Spanish Words – Learn Them to Avoid Awful Mistakes
Back to the Table of Contents – Spanish Suffixes