Spelling tion, cian and sion words

The most common way to spell the /sh/ sound at the beginning or end of a word is sh, but in the middle of a word it is usually ti or ci:

action

education

musician

beautician

For more words with ti and ci in the middle, see
Unit 30: the endings tial cial tious cious.

1. Only a few words use sh in the middle, for example:

fashion

cushion

2. These words end in tion but the sound is more like /chn/:

question

digestion

suggestion

3. Two words use cion to spell the /shn/ sound :

coercion

suspicion

	To remember these words, think of the root words, which have the letter c:
	coerce	suspect

Try this final test of the spellings tion, cian, sion. Guess the word from the first few letters. Listen to the syllables, work out the rest of the spelling and type the whole word in the box.

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Work out which letters are missing then type the whole word.
Number of people in a place: pop___
Bridge which hangs from cables: susp___
Person who repairs machines: tech___
Let's celebrate this great occa___.
Medication can be given by inj___.
Another word for occupation: prof___
Management, oversight: super___
Volcanic activity: eru___
Totalling some figures: add___
Worry about the future: appre___
Thank you for the inv___ to the party.
Another word for surgeon: phys___

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Unit 28: Spelling -tion -cian and -sion words

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