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Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word or change the part of speech or grammatical function of the original word. There are two main types of suffixes: inflectional suffixes, which change verbs or nouns without altering the core meaning, and derivational suffixes, which derive new words from the original with related but new meanings. Some common examples of suffixes and how they change words are provided.

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138 views3 pages

Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word or change the part of speech or grammatical function of the original word. There are two main types of suffixes: inflectional suffixes, which change verbs or nouns without altering the core meaning, and derivational suffixes, which derive new words from the original with related but new meanings. Some common examples of suffixes and how they change words are provided.

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louie21
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Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters placed at the end of a word to make a new word. A suffix
can make a new word in one of two ways:
1. inflectional (grammatical): for example, changing singular to plural (dog > dogs),
or changing present tense to past tense (walk > walked). In this case, the basic
meaning of the word does not change.
2. derivational (the new word has a new meaning, "derived" from the original
word): for example, teach > teacher or care > careful

Inflectional suffixes
Inflectional suffixes do not change the meaning of the original word. So in "Every day I
walk to school" and "Yesterday I walked to school", the words walk and walked have the
same basic meaning. In "I have one car" and "I have two cars", the basic meaning of the
words car and cars is exactly the same. In these cases, the suffix is added simply for
grammatical "correctness". Look at these examples:
suffix grammatical change
-s
-en
-s
-ed
-en
-ing
-er
-est

example
original word
plural
dog
plural (irregular)
ox
3rd person singular present like
past tense
work
past participle
past participle (irregular)
eat
continuous/progressive
sleep
comparative
big
superlative
big

example
suffixed word
dogs
oxen
he likes
he worked
he has worked
he has eaten
he is sleeping
bigger
the biggest

Derivational suffixes
With derivational suffixes, the new word has a new meaning, and is usually a different
part of speech. But the new meaning is related to the old meaning - it is "derived" from
the old meaning.
We can add more than one suffix, as in this example:
derive (verb) + tion = derivation (noun) + al = derivational (adjective)
There are several hundred derivational suffixes. Here are some of the more common
ones:
suffix making
-ation nouns

example
example
original word suffixed word
explore
exploration

hesitate
-sion
persuade
divide
-er
teach
-cian
music
-ess
god
-ness
sad
-al
arrive
-ary
diction
-ment
treat
-y
jealous
victor
-al
adjectives accident
-ary
imagine
-able
tax
-ly
brother
-y
ease
-ful
sorrow
forget
-ly
adverbs
helpful
-ize
verbs
terror
private
-ate
hyphen

hesitation
persuasion
division
teacher
musician
goddess
sadness
arrival
dictionary
treatment
jealousy
victory
accidental
imaginary
taxable
brotherly
easy
sorrowful
forgetful
helpfully
terrorize
privatize
hyphenate

Note that -er can convert almost any verb into the person or thing performing the action
of the verb. For example: a teacher is a person who teaches, a lover loves, a killer kills, an
observer observes, a walker walks, a runner runs; a sprinkler is a thing that sprinkles, a
copier copies, a shredder shreds.
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a word to form a new word
or to alter the grammatical function of the original word. For example, the verb read can
be made into the noun reader by adding the suffix -er; read can be made into the
adjective readable by adding the suffix -able.
Understanding the meanings of the common suffixes can help us deduce the meanings of
new words that we encounter. The table below defines and illustrates 26 common
suffixes.
Common Suffixes
Suffix
-acy

Noun Suffixes
Meaning
Example
state or quality
privacy

-al
-ance, -ence
-dom
-er, -or
-ism
-ist
-ity, -ty
-ment
-ness
-ship
-sion, -tion

act or process of
state or quality of
place or state of being
one who
doctrine, belief
one who
quality of
condition of
state of being
position held
state of being

refusal
maintenance, eminence
freedom, kingdom
trainer, protector
communism
chemist
veracity
argument
heaviness
fellowship
concession, transition

-ate
-en
-ify, -fy
-ize, -ise

Verb Suffixes
become
eradicate
become
enlighten
make or become
terrify
become
civilize

-able, -ible
-al
-esque
-ful
-ic, -ical
-ious, -ous
-ish
-ive
-less
-y

Adjective Suffixes
capable of being
edible, presentable
pertaining to
regional
reminiscent of
picturesque
notable for
fanciful
pertaining to
musical, mythic
characterized by
nutritious, portentous
having the quality of
fiendish
having the nature of
creative
without
endless
characterized by
sleazy

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