Suffix · forms nouns
Turns a verb into a noun naming the result or process: fail becomes failure.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
The suffix -ure takes a verb and creates a noun naming the result, process or state of that action. From "fail" you get "failure"; from "mix" you get "mixture"; from "press" you get "pressure". It is one of the most frequent suffixes in English, but irregular: it does not always sound or form the same way. The best strategy is to learn the most common -ure words directly as vocabulary.
1. Result of an action: failure, mixture, closure, exposure. 2. Abstract state or condition: pressure, pleasure, leisure, measure. 3. Fixed -ure words with no obvious root: nature, culture, future, figure, picture. The third group is fixed vocabulary to be learned by heart.
-ure is pronounced two ways depending on the preceding consonant: After t, s, x: sounds like /tʃər/ = "cher": nature = NAY-cher, picture = PIK-cher, mixture = MIK-cher. After other consonants: sounds like /ər/ = "er": failure = FAIL-yer, pleasure = PLEH-zher, measure = MEH-zher. The final /r/ is soft in American English and nearly silent in British English.
Verbal root + ure, with variable spelling adjustments.
-ure is not as productive as -ness or -ment. Many -ure words are borrowings from French or Latin and are best learned as fixed vocabulary. If you wonder whether a new word can take -ure, it most likely cannot.
-ure/ər/ or /jʊər/ · sounds like 'er' or 'yer'
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
fail + ure = failure (two syllables: FAIL-yer). No -t- in the middle.
"nature" is the complete word. Nothing is added to it.
pressure = press + ure. Double s: pressure, not "presure".
A trick to remember it
The most frequent -ure words are: failure, mixture, pressure, pleasure, nature, culture, future, picture, feature, measure. Learn them as fixed vocabulary.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
How is the -ure pronounced in "picture"?
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
"exposure" means...
The suffix -ure turns a verb into a noun naming the result or process: fail becomes failure. In Spanish it usually maps to -ura / -ión / -ura.
The ending -ure is pronounced /ər/ or /jʊər/ · sounds like 'er' or 'yer'. For example, "failure".
"fail" becomes "failure". It is a typical example of the -ure suffix.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.