1.05: Building Vocabulary with Suffixes

Suffixes are word roots and parts that are put at the end of the word. They usually change the meaning of the word as well as the part of speech. Learning them can help you guess new vocabulary in addition to helping improve your word choice when writing. Below are tables describing common suffixes, what they mean, and examples of words using these suffixes. 

Adjective suffixes
 

adjective suffix	meaning	example words
-able/-ible	can, be able to – created with a verb	adorable, excusable, credible
-al	related to – created with a noun	emotional, ethical, logical
-ant/-ent	related to – created with a verb	defiant, different, confident
-ful	full of – created with a noun	colorful, wonderful, beautiful
-less	without – created with a noun	homeless, hopeless, worthless
-ic	similar to – created with a noun	athletic, empathetic
-ish	similar to – created with a noun	selfish, childish
-ive	has qualities of – created with a verb	imaginative, creative
-ous	full of – created with a noun	delicious, ferocious, furious
-y	full of – created with a noun	happy, lucky, sleepy

 

Noun suffixes
 

Noun Suffix	Meaning	Example words
-er/-or/-ar	person/thing that does (verb)	author, painter, teacher
-ist	person	dentist, artist, racist
-ance/-ence	the act of doing something	confidence, independence
-tion/-sion	the act of doing something	passion, dictation, action
-ment	the act of doing something	environment, discernment, agreement
-ness	the state of being (adjective)	happiness, kindness, darkness
-ity	the state of being (adjective)	charity, purity, clarity
-ship	the idea, quality of a group (noun)	kinship, sportsmanship, friendship

 

Verb suffixes

Verb suffix	Meaning	Example words
-ate	to make	venerate, exonerate, relate
-ify	to make (from an adjective)	magnify, beautify, clarify
-ize	to make (from a noun or adjective)	familiarize, sympathize, fertilize

It is great that we can usually predict the part of speech of a word using the suffix and sometimes guess the meaning. However, how does that help us improve our vocabulary in writing?

Unfortunately, you can’t just put together any noun and the suffix -al to make an adjective to fit in your sentence ( “tigeral” isn’t a word). Also, it doesn’t mean that all words that end in -al are adjectives (approval, for example).

In the following practice exercise is a chart with some general rules that you can use to build new words to use in writing, by adding more suffixes at the end or changing to a different suffix with a different part of speech. But be careful–sometimes it’s not possible to add or change the suffix. For example, I can’t put -al on “action” to make the adjective “actional”–it’s just not a word used in English. Please check a dictionary if you are unsure.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\): Using Suffixes to Build Vocabulary

In the chart below, add or change the suffix to create a new word.

Suffix Exercise
 

Question	Suffix	Add or change	Will make...	Practice: Write the new word.
1	-less	-ness	adj. ➔ noun	homeless ➔
2	-y	-iness	adj. ➔ noun	tasty ➔
3	-ish	-ness	adj. ➔ noun	selfish ➔
4	-able	-ity	adj. ➔ noun	stable ➔
5	-ist	-ism	person ➔ idea	sexist ➔
6	-tion	-al	noun ➔ adj.	function ➔
7	-ance/-ence	-ant/-ent	noun ➔ adj.	defiance ➔
8	ment	-al	noun ➔ adj.	element ➔
9	-ic (noun)	-al	noun ➔ adj.	magic ➔
10	-ive	-ity	adj. ➔ noun	passive ➔
11	-ous	-ness	adj. ➔ noun	rebellious ➔
12	-ate	-tion	verb ➔ noun	graduate ➔
13	-ify	-ification	verb ➔ noun	personify ➔
14	-ize	-ization	verb ➔ noun	organize ➔
15	-de	-sion	verb ➔ noun	invade ➔

 

 

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\): Using Suffixes to Build Vocabulary 2

Using the previous charts, make a new form of the word in the blank provided.

1. NOUN of capitalize:                                                                        
2. NOUN of exclude:                                                                         
3. NOUN of capable:                                                                         
4. NOUN of levitate:                                                                         
5. NOUN of simplify:                                                                         
6. ADJ. of logic:                                                                                
7. ADJ. of childishness:                                                                       
8. ADJ. of adaptability:                                                                       
9. VERB of authorization:                                                                    
10. VERB of elevation:                                                                         
11. VERB of erosion:                                                                           
12. IDEA of racist:                                                                              
13. ADJ. of deviance: