English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce -tion and -sion
The endings -tion and -sion are among the most common in English, and they are never said the way they are spelled. -tion is /ʃən/, “shun”: nation, information. -sion is /ʒən/, the sound in the middle of “measure”, after a vowel (decision, television) and, in American English, after r (version); after n, l and ss it is /ʃən/ (tension, mission). After s, the t keeps its bite: question is /tʃən/. The vowel of the ending is always a weak schwa, and the stress almost always falls on the syllable just before it.
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-tion, and -sion after n, l or ss
Like “shun”, with a weak vowel. The tongue pulls back from the s position and the lips push forward a little.
nation, station, mission, tension
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-sion after a vowel or r
The voiced version, as in the middle of “measure”. Keep your voice on through the whole ending.
decision, vision, confusion, version
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-stion
After s, the t is not lost: the ending is “chun”.
question, suggestion, digestion
How to make the sounds
- Ignore the letters: the t of -tion and the s of -sion are not said as t or s. Read the ending as one unit.
- For /ʃən/, start from the “sh” of “she”, then drop straight into a short, weak “un”. There is no clear “o”: nation is “NAY-shun”, not “na-see-on”.
- For /ʒən/ after a vowel, keep your voice on: decision is “di-SI-zhun”. With a finger on your throat, you should feel the buzz carry into the ending.
- Stress the syllable before the ending and keep the ending itself short: in-for-MA-tion, e-du-CA-tion, de-CI-sion. Television, stressed on TEL, is the best-known exception.
The stress rule holds even when the vowel before the ending changes in related words: nation has the vowel of “say”, national the vowel of “cat”, and both keep /ʃ/.
/ʃən/ or /ʒən/?
The first word of each pair ends in /ʃən/, the second in /ʒən/.
- mission vision
- tension decision
- passion version
- Russian confusion
- mention explosion
- expansion invasion
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it. Scored against the US English model.
- Thank you for the information.Practice
- I have a question about the station.Practice
- It was a difficult decision.Practice
- We watched the news on television.Practice
- Please pay attention to the instructions.Practice
- The situation needs a quick solution.Practice
- She has a real passion for education.Practice
- Is there a newer version of the application?Practice
Common mistakes
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Reading the letters
Speakers of Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese often say “na-see-on” or “na-syon”, because the ending is spelled almost the same in their languages. In English the whole ending shrinks to “shun”.
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A full vowel in the ending
Saying “shon” or “shen” with a clear vowel pulls the stress to the end. The ending is always weak; the stress goes on the syllable before it.
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“sh” where it should buzz
Decision or television said with “sh” sounds slightly off. After a vowel, -sion is voiced: /ʒən/.