What does an - ite or - ate ending in a polyatomic ion mean?

Sulfur is in the formula.

Nitrogen is in the formula.

Bromine is in the formula.

Oxygen is in the formula.

An - ate polyatomic is one that contains oxygen, and an - ite has one of the oxygen atoms removed from the - ate form. For example, chlorate would be ClO3-, and chlorite would be ClO2-. For both, the suffixes mean that oxygen is in the formula.

The ite or ate ending in a polyatomic would refer to the presence of oxygen in the chemical formula.

For example

nitrate = NO3 - or sulphate = (SO4) ^-2.