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# ness

«ness» in Mova's school dictionary: **added to an adjective to make a noun that names a quality…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a ness, nesses — rare); suffix (-ness)

### meaning for a pupil

1) As a suffix, «-ness» is added to an adjective to make a noun that names a quality or state: kind → kindness, happy → happiness, dark → darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#m1)

2) As a word, a ness is a headland, a piece of high land sticking out into the sea; it appears in place names like Dungeness, Sheerness and Loch Ness area names. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#m2)

3) (a name) Loch Ness is a long deep lake in Scotland, famous for the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, «Nessie». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#m3)

4) (a name) Ness can also be a surname, such as Eliot Ness, an American lawman. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In English grammar lessons -ness is a key suffix for making abstract nouns from adjectives, and spelling rules apply: a final y changes to i (happy → happiness, lazy → laziness), but a final n is kept (sudden → suddenness). In geography a ness is a coastal feature, and Loch Ness is in lessons about Scotland and myths. Phrases: the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie.

### examples

- Add -ness to «kind» to make «kindness». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x1)
- Happiness is spelt with an i because the y changes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x2)
- The darkness made the forest feel scary. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x3)
- Dungeness is a ness on the coast of Kent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x4)
- We read about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x5)
- Nobody has ever proved that Nessie is real. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x6)
- Her gentleness made the shy puppy come closer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x7)
- «Openness» keeps both n's: open + ness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x8)
- One of these soldiers was a no-ble-man, whom everybody loved for his gen-tle-ness and kindness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/#x9)

### note

As a suffix, -ness makes uncountable nouns (kindness, sadness), though some can be countable (a kindness, many illnesses). Spelling: consonant + y becomes i before -ness (busy → business, happy → happiness); words ending in n keep it, so you get double n (keenness, thinness). On its own «ness» is rare outside place names, so if you see it alone it is probably a suffix or a name. The Loch Ness Monster is a legend, not a proven animal.

### In the corpora

- [Split «hopelessness» and it is just hope + less + ness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/15/)
- [«Business» is busy + ness, with the y changed to i.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/13-words-to-know-years-3-4/21/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «ness» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/ness/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.