Year 6 English · Spelling -cious, -tious, -cial and -tial · Summary
Year 6 English Spelling -cious, -tious, -cial and -tial: summary and key words
Part of the Year 6 English spelling -cious, -tious, -cial and -tial chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| -cious | After a root word that ends in -ce, drop the e and add -cious: grace, gracious. |
| -tious | After a root word that ends in -tion, drop -ion and add -ious: ambition, ambitious. |
| -cial | After a vowel letter (a, e, i, o, u): official, special, crucial. |
| -tial | After a consonant letter: essential, confidential, partial. |
| Exceptions | Initial (-tial after a vowel) and commercial (-cial after a consonant): learn them. |
| Words to learn | Delicious and suspicious have no -ce or -tion root word: learn their spelling. |
| Dictionary check | Look up the word, read the headword and the meaning, then copy the spelling. |
Can you…?
- I can find the root word, and drop -ce or -ion before the ending
- I can spell -cious after a root word ending in -ce, e.g. gracious
- I can spell -tious after a root word ending in -tion, e.g. ambitious
- I can choose -cial after a vowel letter, e.g. official, special
- I can choose -tial after a consonant letter, e.g. essential, confidential
- I know the exceptions initial and commercial
- I can learn words with no root rule, e.g. delicious and suspicious
- I can check a spelling in a dictionary, and read the headword and meaning
Key terms
- root word
- the word that other words are made from, by adding a prefix or a suffix
- suffix
- a group of letters added to the end of a word, such as -ious or -cial
- vowel letter
- one of the letters a, e, i, o or u
- consonant letter
- any letter of the alphabet that is not a vowel letter
- adjective
- a word that describes a noun, such as gracious or official
- headword
- the word at the top of a dictionary entry, which shows the spelling
- exception
- a word that does not follow the usual rule, so it must be learned
- dictionary entry
- the part of a dictionary that gives the spelling, meaning and origin of a word