State & Quality
English Language: KS3, topic 4.3.6
Acy - State
Words ending in 'acy' are generally nouns of state or quality.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Readiness
- Readiness is the state of being ready.
- Example: Gus' readiness to get married was surprising.
- Alternative: Gus' eagerness to get married was surprising.
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.
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.
Test yourself on State & Quality
What does the suffix 'acy' generally mean?
Norman was not very social. He craved being alone a lot of the time.
Which word ending in 'acy' could replace 'being alone' in this sentence?What does the suffix 'ity' generally mean?
What does the suffix 'ness' mean?