English
What is a suffix?
Quick answer
A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or job, like -ful in helpful, -ness in kindness or -ed in jumped.
In one sentence
A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make a new form or a new word.
Explained
Add -ful to help and you get helpful. Add -ness to kind and you get kindness. The endings -ful and -ness are suffixes, and help and kind are the root words.
Some suffixes change the form of a word without changing its basic meaning: -s and -es for plurals, -ed and -ing for verbs, -er and -est for comparing (tall, taller, tallest).
Other suffixes make a new word, often a different word class:
| Suffix | Makes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ful | adjective (full of) | hopeful, careful, joyful |
| -less | adjective (without) | hopeless, careless, fearless |
| -ness | noun | kindness, darkness, sadness |
| -ment | noun | enjoyment, payment, movement |
| -ly | adverb | quickly, sadly, gently |
| -er / -or | noun (a person who) | teacher, baker, actor |
| -tion / -sion | noun | action, invention, television |
| -able | adjective (can be) | washable, enjoyable |
| -y | adjective | rainy, sunny, cloudy |
Spelling rules to learn:
- Drop the e before a suffix starting with a vowel: make → making, hope → hoping, nice → nicer. Keep it before a consonant: hopeful, lovely.
- Double the consonant after a short vowel in a short word: run → running, big → bigger, stop → stopped, sun → sunny.
- Change y to i after a consonant: happy → happiness, happily; carry → carried. But keep the y before -ing: carrying, crying.
rain
sun
cloud
Examples
- The painter finished the wall.
- That was a thoughtful present.
- We waited in silence, then cheered loudly.
- Thank you for your kindness.
- The puppy was playful and fearless.
Common mistakes
- Keeping the e: hopeing should be hoping; makeing should be making.
- Forgetting to double: runing, swiming, hoped (for hopped). Hoped and hopped are different words.
- Writing -full: the suffix has one l: beautiful, careful.
- Missing the y rule: happyly should be happily.
Quick quiz
Suffixes
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Question 1 of 5
Which word has a suffix?
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For grown-ups
Related topics
Prefixes
A prefix is a group of letters added to the start of a word to change its meaning, like un- in unhappy, re- in replay or dis- in disappear.
Plurals
A plural means more than one. Most nouns add -s (cats) or -es (boxes), but some change in other ways, like babies, leaves, mice and children.
Past tense
The past tense is the verb form we use for things that have already happened, like walked, ate or was playing. Regular verbs add -ed; irregular verbs change in other ways.
Adverbs
An adverb gives more information about a verb, adjective or another adverb, telling how, when, where or how often, like slowly, tomorrow, outside or always.
Greek and Latin roots
Greek and Latin roots are word parts that carry a meaning, like bio (life), graph (write) and port (carry). Knowing them helps you work out words such as biography or transport.
Homophones
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and usually different spellings, like there, their and they're, or see and sea.