Today we’ll be talking about nouns with the suffix –ITY. We create such nouns from many adjectives ending in –E. Then, in most cases, we just drop the ending –E and add the suffix –ITY.
Here are some examples:
obese → obesity
Her obese daughter suffered from multiple health issues.
The problem of obesity in teenagers is becoming more and more serious.
rare → rarity
This species is very rare.
It’s a rarity in this region.
dense → density
This substance is very dense.
I don’t know its exact density, though.
false → falsity
His statement was false.
We proved its falsity after some research.
If the adjective ends in –ABLE, -IBLE or –UBLE, we change the endings to –ABILITY, -IBILITY and –UBILITY respectively:
stable → stability
The country is economically stable.
There are some problems with its political stability, though.
responsible → responsibility
Mike is responsible for the accident.
He accepted full responsibility for it.
soluble → solubility
Salt is soluble in water.
But what about its solubility in other substances?
Occasionally we also use this suffix to create nouns from adjectives that don’t end in –E, for example:
eternal → eternity
Their love seems eternal.
At the wedding he promised to love her for all eternity.
real → reality
This phenomenon is real.
No one is even trying to deny its reality.
atrocious → atrocity
It was an atrocious crime.
No one believed someone could be capable of such atrocity.
