A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or function, or to form a new word. It can alter a word’s part of speech, tense, number, or nuance. Subtopics to consider
- What suffixes do: They can create nouns, adjectives, verbs, or adverbs from a base word. For example, adding -ness turns a word into a noun (kindness), -ly turns an adjective into an adverb (quickly), or -ed indicates past tense (jumped).
- Types of suffixes: Derivational suffixes (change meaning or part of speech, e.g., -tion, -able, -ment) and inflectional suffixes (adjust grammar without significantly changing meaning, e.g., -s for plurals, -ed for past tense, -ing for present participles).
- How to identify them: A suffix appears at the end of a word after the base or root. If removing the suffix leaves a recognizable stem, the suffix is likely adding a specific grammatical or lexical meaning.
- Examples across categories:
- Noun formation: beauty → beautiful + -y but more directly, trust + -worthiness → trustworthiness
- Adjective formation: nation → national, create → creative
- Verb formation: operate → operation (noun), teach → teacher (agent noun)
- Adverb formation: quick → quickly
- Spelling and pronunciation: Some suffixes change spelling or pronunciation due to phonotactics (for example, -eous, -ious, -able), and some may cause minor spelling adjustments in the base word.
If you have a specific suffix or word in mind, share it and the context (e.g., what you want the word to mean or its part of speech), and the exact effect you’re aiming for.
