Mainly for advanced learners of English! Just recently, a student asked me why some English words end with –ship and what is its meaning. This was a very good question and the answer is interesting. Short Answer! The short answer is that the ending –ship changes a word from concrete to abstract. A concrete thing is something real or something you can see or hear or feel. An abstract thing is an idea or a concept or a principle. leader/leadership So, a leader is concrete. Every country and every business and every organisation has leaders. So a leader is something concrete. But leadership is abstract. It means the ideas or principles that go together with being a good leader. son/sonship In the same way, a son is something concrete. I do not have to explain what a son is –everyone knows. But sonship is an abstract thing. Sonship means the ideas, the principles that go together with being a son. So, another way of explaining what the ending –ship does to a word is to say that it changes the word from something concrete to what it means to be the thing. So leadership is what is required to be a leader. Sonship is what is required to be a son. Friendship is what is required tobe a friend. Membership is what is required tobe a member. Examples: Here are some other words ending in –ship. The first group is words that are very common and worth learning. The second group are not so common but interesting. Group A: relationship, championship, leadership, membership, friendship, sponsorship Group B: sonship, companionship, horsemanship, fellowship, generalship, kingship Examples of the words in a sentence: * Napoleon was a famous French leader who conquered much of Europe. * One of the features of Napoleon’s leadership was that he knew all his officers and their families by name. * In the early years of Australia nearly every person was a horseman – it was often the only means of transport. * The first secret of horsemanship is very simple – ‘Don’t fall off the horse!’ * A person who has no friends is a very lonely person indeed. * Friendship is always two ways; true friends accept you as you are and you must accept your friends as they are. If you have any trouble, send me an email. Have fun! Lindsey |
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