4.3.7

State & Quality

Test yourself

Acy - State

Words ending in 'acy' are generally nouns of state or quality.

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Democracy

  • A democracy has the quality of being democratic. In other words, power is held by elected officials or by the people themselves. We can use the term democracy to talk about a ruling system or country.
    • Example: There are elections every four years in the UK because it is a democracy.
    • Alternative: There are elections every four years in the UK because power is held by elected officials.
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Supremacy

  • Supremacy is the position of being at the top or better than everyone else in terms of power or status.
    • Example: Hitler had supremacy in Nazi Germany.
    • Alternative: Hitler had total power in Nazi Germany.
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Delicacy

  • Delicacy is the state of being or looking easily breakable or precious. In other words, the state of being delicate.
    • Example: Because of their delicacy, the vases needed to be handled carefully.
    • Alternative: Because they could break easily, the vases needed to be handled carefully.
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Autocracy

  • An autocracy is a form of government in which one person or a group has total power. It can also mean a country with this ruling system.
    • Example: The leader wanted to have absolute power, so he turned his country into an autocracy.
    • Alternative: The leader wanted to have absolute power, so he turned his country into a one-leader state.
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Privacy

  • Privacy is the state of being alone or in private.
    • Example: After a busy week of seeing friends, Jenny longed for some privacy.
    • Alternative: After a busy week of seeing friends, Jenny longed for some alone time.

Ity - Quality Of

Words ending in 'ity' generally mean having the quality of something.

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Serenity

  • Serenity is the state of being serene (calm).
    • Example: Jacqueline experienced serenity on her yoga retreat.
    • Alternative: Jacqueline experienced total calmness on her yoga retreat.
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Inactivity

  • Inactivity is the state of doing nothing or being inactive.
    • Example: Terence was starting to gain weight because of his inactivity.
    • Alternative: Terence was starting to gain weight because he was doing nothing.
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Enormity

  • Enormity is the great size or significance of something.
    • Example: Eugene was put off by the enormity of the task.
    • Alternative: Eugene was put off by the size of the task.
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Validity

  • Validity is the quality of being true or sound.
    • Example: The psychologist confirmed that the results had validity.
    • Alternative: The psychologist confirmed that the results were true.

Ness - State of Being

Words ending in 'ness' generally indicate a certain state.

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Happiness

  • Happiness is the state of being happy.
    • Example: Shannon was in complete happiness on holiday.
    • Alternative: Shannon was in such a happy state on holiday.
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Sadness

  • Sadness is the state of being sad.
    • Example: Esme was filled with such sadness after her colleague left work that she had to leave too.
    • Alternative: Esme became so unhappy after her colleague left work that she had to leave too.
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Readiness

  • Readiness is the state of being ready.
    • Example: Gus' readiness to get married was surprising.
    • Alternative: Gus' eagerness to get married was surprising.
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Rudeness

  • Rudeness is the act of not showing manners.
    • Example: Ben was known for his rudeness in public.
    • Alternative: Ben was known for being rude in public.
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Preparedness

  • Preparedness is the state of being prepared.
    • Example: The German army showed great preparedness for war.
    • Alternative: The German army proved to be very prepared for war.

Jump to other topics

1Spelling

2Punctuation

3Grammar

4Decoding Words

5Reading & Writing

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