Suffix · forms nouns
Names a doctrine, system, movement or practice: capital becomes capitalism.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
The suffix -ism creates nouns that name a doctrine, belief system, movement, practice or characteristic. From "capital" you get "capitalism"; from "social" you get "socialism"; from "tour" you get "tourism". It covers three main groups: (1) ideologies and doctrines (capitalism, socialism, feminism); (2) practices and activities (tourism, journalism, vandalism); (3) style or behavioural traits (heroism, criticism, realism).
-ism almost always has two companion words: -ist (the person) and -istic (the adjective). capitalism = capitalist = capitalistic tourism = tourist = touristic journalism = journalist = journalistic Learn one, get three. Whenever you study a -ism word, look for the -ist and -istic forms — they almost always exist.
Noun, adjective or root + ism. No complicated spelling changes.
In almost all cases just add -ism directly to the base. "heroism" keeps the -o from "hero". For most words there are no extra spelling rules.
-ism/ɪzəm/ · sounds like 'iz-um'
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
In English it is -ism, not -ismo. Drop the final -o: capitalismo = capitalism.
tour + ism = tourism. No -e or -us ending.
critic + ism = criticism. No -e at the end.
A trick to remember it
Think of tourism and capitalism: -ism names a system, belief or practice. The people end in -ist: tourist, capitalist.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
What is the person who practises "journalism" called?
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
"tourism" in Spanish is...
The suffix -ism names a doctrine, system, movement or practice: capital becomes capitalism. In Spanish it usually maps to -ismo.
The ending -ism is pronounced /ɪzəm/ · sounds like 'iz-um'. For example, "capitalism".
"capital" becomes "capitalism". It is a typical example of the -ism suffix.
Names a person who practises, believes in, or specialises in something: art becomes artist.
Turns an adjective into the noun that names that abstract quality: active becomes activity.
Turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make" or "to convert into": modern becomes modernize.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.