Exercises on the Japanese Suffix ～性 (せい)

Question 1 of 10

～性

Which description best captures the general function of the suffix ～性 in contemporary Japanese?

It always turns a noun into an adjective. It refers exclusively to an innate characteristic of a person. It can present the preceding element as a property, state, tendency, ability, or criterion of classification. It always creates a word equivalent to an English noun ending in “-ity.”

Question 2 of 10

可能 → 可能性

What does adding ～性 primarily do in 可能性?

It creates a noun that presents possibility as an abstract state or property. It creates an expression that necessarily means “highly probable.” It creates an adjective equivalent to 可能な. It creates a verb meaning “to make possible.”

Question 3 of 10

安全性を高める

Why is a phrase like 安全性を高める especially natural?

Because ～性 turns 安全 into a transitive verb. Because ～性 necessarily creates nouns denoting numerical quantities. Because 高める can only be used with words ending in 性. Because 安全性 presents safety as a property that can be assessed and improved.

Question 4 of 10

彼の発言には攻撃性が感じられる。

What semantic value does ～性 have in 攻撃性?

Geographical origin. A tendency or disposition. Material origin. Duration in time.

Question 5 of 10

新素材は耐水性と耐熱性の両方に優れている。

What do 耐水性 and 耐熱性 mainly express in this sentence?

Two functional or performance-related properties of the material. Two nouns indicating the geographical origin of the material. Two moral qualities of the material. Two alternative words simply meaning “water” and “heat.”

Question 6 of 10

植物性たんぱく質

What is the function of 植物性 in this expression?

It turns たんぱく質 into a verb. It creates an abstract noun meaning something like “plant-ness.” It classifies the following noun by indicating that the protein is plant-based or of plant origin. It indicates that the protein has characteristics resembling a plant's personality.

Question 7 of 10

可能性がある。／植物性タンパク質。

Which description correctly distinguishes the use of ～性 in these two examples?

In both cases, the word ending in ～性 functions exclusively as an adjective. There is no syntactic difference between the two uses. In 可能性がある, 可能性 is a verb; in 植物性タンパク質, 植物性 is an independent noun. In 可能性がある, 可能性 functions as an independent noun; in 植物性タンパク質, 植物性 functions attributively and classifies the following noun.

Question 8 of 10

X + 性

Which statement best describes the productivity of ～性?

～性 can only combine with Western loanwords. ～性 combines especially readily with Sino-Japanese bases and with bases that can be interpreted as classifiable properties, while other combinations generally need to be established in actual usage. ～性 can be freely added to any Japanese word to create a valid new term. ～性 can only follow i-adjectives.

Question 9 of 10

彼女は心配性だから、出発前に三回も切符を確認した。

Which statement about 心配性 is correct?

性 refers to grammatical gender here. 心配性 is a nonstandard colloquial error. In 心配性, 性 is read しょう; this is a lexicalized form rather than a regular instance of productive ～せい. 性 is always read せい, so the word is pronounced しんぱいせい.

Question 10 of 10

可能性・植物性・心配性・女性

Which analysis of these four words is correct?

可能性 and 植物性 illustrate productive uses of ～せい; 心配性 has the lexicalized reading しょう; in 女性, 性 belongs instead to the semantic field of sex or gender. All four contain the same productive suffix ～せい with exactly the same function. 心配性 and 女性 are both regular examples of the productive suffix ～せい, whereas 可能性 is not. Only 女性 actually contains the meaningful element 性; in the other three words, the character is purely phonetic.

～性 (せい)