Word Formation: Suffixes

There are four main kinds of word formation: prefixes, suffixes, conversion and compounds. Lots of words are formed with suffixes. In English, there are hundreds of suffixes. Derivational suffixes  are used to create new words by changing the meaning or part of speech. A suffix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a word to form a new word or change the grammatical function (or part of speech) of the word.

Here are some common noun suffixes in English:

-er / -or → teacher, actor, worker, driver, doctor, director, inspector
-ist → artist, scientist, physicist, agronomist
-ian → musician, historian, electrician, librarian
-ant / -ent → assistant, student, servant, resident
-ee → employee, refugee, payee, trainee, nominee
-ness → kindness, happiness, darkness, sadness, weakness
-ment → development, government, argument, employment
-ion / -ation / -ition → celebration, education, competition, decoration, connection
-sion → conversion, decision, confusion, explosion, division
-ity / -ty → ability, honesty, beauty, simplicity, identity, difficulty
-ance / -ence → importance, existence, maintenance, assurance
-acy → privacy, delicacy, democracy, privacy
-ship → friendship, leadership, partership, membership
-hood → childhood, neighborhood, brotherhood
-dom → freedom, kingdom, wisdom, boredom
-ism → realism, optimism, feminism, patriotism

Have Practice 

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences by adding the correct noun suffix to the words in parentheses.

  1. She showed great ________ (kind) to the new student.
  2. His ________ (assist) was very helpful during the project.
  3. They celebrated their 10-year ________ (friend).
  4. The company’s ________ (develop) has been very fast.
  5. We need more ________ (educate) on climate change.
  6. The king ruled over a large ________ (king).
  7. His ________ (honest) made him a trustworthy person.
  8. The new law will help improve ________ (safe) in the city.
  9. She is a talented ________ (music).
  10. The ________ (compete) was very tough this year.

Exercise 2. Match the noun with the correct definition.

artist   leadership    childhood    freedom    employment

a) the time when a person is a child
b) the state of having a job
c) the ability to make decisions and guide others
d) the state of being free
e) a person who creates art

scientist    honesty     kingdom    friendship     creativity

a) the ability to think of new ideas
b) a person who studies and experiments in science
c) the quality of being truthful
d) a close and trusting relationship between people
e) a country or region ruled by a king or queen

Exercise 3. Each sentence below contains a mistake. Find and correct it.

  1. She is a great teachership.
  2. The governation announced a new policy.
  3. His friendlyness makes him popular.
  4. She is an experience acter.
  5. The protectment of animals is important.
  6. He is a successness businessman.
  7. The developion of the city took many years.
  8. Their childing was full of happy memories.
  9. She wants to become a professionist chef.
  10. The celebrateion was full of music and dance.

Common Suffixes for Verbs

Suffixes are added to words to form verbs, changing their meaning or function. Here are some common verb suffixes with examples:

Suffix Example Words Meaning
-ate activate, educate, celebrate to make or cause something to happen
-en strengthen, darken, widen to become or make something more
-ify simplify, beautify, classify to make or turn into
-ise / -ize organize, realize, advertise to make or perform an action

Do these exercises:

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences by adding the correct verb suffix to the words in parentheses.

  1. The new rules will _______ (simple) the process.
  2. We need to _______ (dark) the room for the presentation.
  3. He wants to _______ (beauty) his garden with flowers.
  4. The company will _______ (modern) its office building.
  5. The coach helps to _______ (strong) the team’s skills.

Exercise 2. Select the correct word for each sentence.

  1. The teacher tried to (educate / education) the students about history.
  2. We need to (advertise / advertisement) our new product.
  3. Can you (organize / organization) the files properly?
  4. She wants to (classify / classification) the documents by date.
  5. The artist decided to (simplify / simple) the design.

Exercise 3. Each sentence contains a mistake. Find and correct it.

  1. The teacher encouragened the students to read more books.
  2. We need to beautifull our schoolyard with plants.
  3. The government plans to moderning the transport system.
  4. The manager organizated a big event for the company.
  5. This exercise will help you strongness your muscles.

Exercise 4. Complete the table by changing the base words into verbs using the correct suffix.

Noun/Adjective Verb Form
beauty ___________
strength ___________
modern ___________
simple ___________
class ___________
real ___________
active ___________
dark ___________
terror ___________
critic ___________

Common Suffixes for Adjectives

Adjective suffixes help form adjectives from nouns or verbs, often indicating quality, condition, or relation.

Suffix Example Words Meaning
-able / -ible comfortable, visible can be done or capable of
-al personal, cultural related to or having the quality of
-ful hopeful, beautiful full of
-ic heroic, poetic related to
-ive active, creative having a certain quality
-less fearless, helpless without
-ous dangerous, famous full of, having
-y sunny, happy having the quality of
-ish childish, foolish like or similar to
-en golden, wooden made of

Have Practice on Using Adjective Suffixes

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences by adding the correct adjective suffix to the words in parentheses.

  1. The weather is very _______ (sun) today.
  2. She gave me a _______ (hope) smile.
  3. This bag is not _______ (wash), so be careful.
  4. He is a very _______ (act) child.
  5. That was a very _______ (fame) singer.

Exercise 2. Choose the correct adjective to complete each sentence.

  1. The mountain path is very (dangerous / dangerful) in winter.
  2. I need a more (comfort / comfortable) chair for my desk.
  3. His idea was very (create / creative) and unique.
  4. The children were being (childish / childful) and silly.
  5. That wooden sculpture is truly (beauty / beautiful).

Exercise 3. Each sentence contains a mistake. Find and correct it.

  1. She is a very helpness person who never supports others.
  2. The story was very emotionable and made me cry.
  3. His new car is so expenseless that nobody can afford it.
  4. He is a talentic musician with great skills.
  5. I love the goldy color of this dress.

Exercise 4. Complete the table by changing the base words into adjectives using the correct suffix.

Noun/Verb Adjective Form
care ___________
use ___________
beauty ___________
wonder ___________
color ___________
power ___________
child ___________
fame ___________
create ___________
success ___________

Common Suffixes for Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and often describe how, when, where, or to what extent something happens. Here are some common suffixes for adverbs:

Suffix Example Words Meaning
-ly quickly, easily, happily describes how something is done
-ward / -wards forward, backwards direction or movement
-wise otherwise, clockwise in a particular manner or direction
-fully hopefully, carefully full of or in a manner of
-some winsome, bothersome in a certain way, usually describing a quality

Exercises on Adverb Suffixes

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences by adding the correct adverb suffix to the words in parentheses.

  1. She worked _______ (quick) to finish the project on time.
  2. The children played _______ (care) in the park.
  3. I think he will respond _______ (positive) to your suggestion.
  4. They arrived _______ (early) at the station to catch the first train.
  5. We should approach the problem _______ (careful).