The 'ness' nouns may be derived from adjectives. E.g.: illness (from- ill).
The 'ness' nouns may be derived from adjectives or nouns. E.g.: affectionateness (affect-affection-affectionate-affectionateness).
I have shortened Shaw's sentences to facilitate easy reading.
QUIZ
affectionateness
business
cheerfulness
illness
kindliness
readiness
selfishness
sensitiveness
stillness
weakness
CHOICE BOX
Fill in the blanks using above nouns.
1: He is incapable of breaking his word: That was his only real ___ness; and now
it is conquered and done with for ever. ANSWER
2: I have more serious and pressing ____ness with you. ANSWER
3: I am his wife: I know he has little faults: impatiences, ___nesses, even little _____nesses that are too trivial for him to notice: I know that he sometimes
shocks people about money because he is so utterly above it, and cant
understand the value ordinary people set on it.ANSWER
4: His combination of soft manners and responsive ____ness, with a certain unseizable
reserve and a familiar yet foreign chiselling of feature, reveal the
Jew. ANSWER
5: My ____ness is that I have never been able to say No, even to the
most thoroughly undeserving people. ANSWER
6: Out, out, brief candle:
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
The ___ness is all. ANSWER
7: The dearest and greatest of all my friends had a sort of beauty and ____ness that only animals have. ANSWER
8: Cloudless summer night; nothing disturbs the ____ness except from time to time
the long trajectory of a distant train and the measured clucking of oars
coming up from the Thames in the valley below. ANSWER
9: I thought you might like to let us have a few words about-about-er-well, a few words on your ____ness, and your plans for the season. ANSWER
10: No tonic like a charming woman; no medicine like ___ness;ANSWER
