Words ending in -EZA and -ESA

Have you ever had questions about orthography about when a word ends in -ESA or -EZA? If so, it is a common question, since these two endings sound the same. However, there are some rules that help us better understand when to use one and when to use the other. Let's meet them!

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When should the -EZA ending be used?

• Nouns formed from adjectives

When one substantive is formed of a adjective, it usually has the ending -EZA. These are abstract nouns and derivatives of these adjectives. See some cases to better understand:

Adjective	Substantive derivative
high	highness
beautiful	beauty
right	certainty
delicate	delicacy
strange	strangeness
firm	firmness
weak	weakness
strong	strength
cold	coldness
kind	kindness
Beautiful	beauty
skinny	thinness
noble	nobility
poor	poverty
real	Royals
rich	wealth
sad	sadness

When should I use the -ESA termination?

• Nouns related to verbs ending in -ENDER

finished verb in -ender	Substantive
defend	defense
spend	expense
undertake	company
to secure	arrested/prisoned*
scold	dam
amaze	surprise

*The word “prisoner” or “prey” can also be an adjective.

• Feminine of nouns ending in -ÊS

Nouns ending in -ÊS
Male	Feminine
bourgeois	bourgeois
farmer	peasant
Siamese	siamese

• Female of nobility titles

Although nobility ends in -EZA (because it originates from the adjective “noble”), female titles of nobility ending in -ESA are written with an S. Watch:

title of nobility
Male	Feminine
Prince	Princess
duke	duchess
marquis	gurney
baron	baroness
baronet	baroness

• Native adjectives in the feminine

When the male of a homeland adjective ends in -ÊS, the feminine ends in -ESA. Watch:

homeland adjective
Origin	Male	Feminine
Calabria (region of Italy)	Calabrian	pepperoni
Cameroon	Cameroonian	Cameroonian
China	Chinese	chinese
Congo	Congolese	Congolese
Denmark	Danish	danish
France	French	french
Ghana	Ghanaian	Ghanaian
England	English	English
Japan	Japanese	japanese
Lebanon	Lebanese	Lebanese
Milan (region of Italy)	Milanese	milanese
Portugal	Portuguese	portuguese
Thailand	thai	thai

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• Latin words

Some words end in -ESA simply because of the Latin word that originated them, leading to the form ending in -ESA. This is the case for the following words:

• table
• dessert
• tigress
• unharmed
• obese
• cohesive
• turquoise
• raspberry