Spanish · Chapter 46 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
Noun suffixes: -cion, -dad, -miento, -eza
Turning verbs and adjectives into nouns, and the gender each suffix gives: -cion and -dad are feminine (construccion, realidad), -miento is masculine (movimiento). The suffix tells you gender and meaning.
The short version
The suffix hands you the gender for free
Every productive noun suffix carries a fixed gender, so the ending settles el or la before you reach a dictionary. The endings -dad, -eza and -ura are feminine, along with the busiest of them all; -miento, -aje and -ismo are masculine. Construir gives la construcción, mover gives el movimiento. One glance buys you the gender and half the meaning.
la construcción
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