суть vs. сущность

Question

There is also существо and существование which seem quite different but I fail to differentiate those two in the title.

Would somebody give a hint on what's суть and in what it differs from сущность?

Answer 1

In some contexts these would be synonimous. I'd differentiate them as follows:

• суть is the "main point",the most important and essential thing in something..Has a shade of "summary", a short variant of "the main thing" rather than the comprehensive collection of everything important. Also, just a more popular word.
• сущность is what the thing is, its essense, nature , meaning and all there is, central to its being itself. More bookish. Also, a person can have "сущность"/"существо" ("Он раскрыл свою подлую сущность!") but a least for me it sound weird to use "суть". Connected to the idea of being and existence, so you use it when discussing nature of something rather than "the main point". I like the example "Классовая сущность государства"(the class nature of the state) — you just cannot use "суть" here.

As for set expressions, try not mixing this up:

• по существу/по сути
• в сущности
• вникнуть в суть
• суть дела/вопроса/проблемы and also сущность. I like "суть" better as it is shorter (if you want to get to the essense, why bother using cumbersome "сущность дела" to convey that idea)
• В чём суть?
• Сути это не меняет.
• А суть процесса сводится к тому, что.. ~ "And the main idea is, in essense, as follows ..." → the direct corollary of "the main point": "the nature of the proccess" cannot come down to some simple explanations, because it cannot be changed just by you speaking about it.

А суть в чем? When in doubt, analyze it like that: "суть"="the main point", "сущность"="essense, nature"

Bonus knowledge: "суть" also used to be a 3rd person plural of "to be". Still used, often in singular (who cares?) in bookish contexts when people want to sound clever while expressing complicated ideas about the nature of things and laws of nature.

Answer 2

• Суть - Meaning; main point
• Сущность - Essence
• Существо - A being
• Существование - Existence

Answer 3

суть - essence, main point of the idea, speech, text, demonstrative act.

сущность - essence, real, may be hidden nature of a being, thing, object, person

существо - being (as an object, not as action)

существование - existence (action)

Answer 4

Would like to add to Shady_arc's answer.

существо means living being, organism.

сущность might mean any entity, not just living being.

существование means being, existence. Much broader term than living.

Answer 5

суть дела - the essence of a matter
сущность вопроса - an essence of the issue
существо - a creature
существование - an existence