Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word which makes a new word. Suffixes combine with words to create new meanings. Suffixes help us to recognize the part of speech to which some word belongs, and that helps us to understand the meaning of the word.

 

Nouns from nouns:

Nouns are formed from nouns by adding the suffixes “ary, ery, ory, dom, hood, ian, ist, ism, ship”: dictionary, slavery, territory, kingdom, childhood, musician, artist, capitalism, friendship.

 

-ship: (abstract nouns denoting different kinds of relationships): relationship, friendship, partnership, membership.

-    His friendship with Carole slowly turned into a relationship.

 

-hood:

Childhood, motherhood , neighbourhood                          , priesthood

-    Childhood and motherhood/fatherhood are two very important stages in our lives.

 

Noun Suffixes:

Many English nouns don't have any suffixes that mark them as nouns; for example, city – noun; pretty – adjective; copy – noun or verb; sparrow – noun; tomorrow – adverb; narrow – adjective; borrow – verb.

At the same time, there are many suffixes that signal that the word is a noun. For example:

-ment: argument, document;

-ness: kindness, happiness;

-ion: station, illusion;

-er, -or: worker, doctor;

-ism: capitalism, idealism;

-ist: idealist, psychologist;

-age: courage, passage;

-ty, -ity: safety, clarity;

-ship: friendship, ownership;

-ance, -ence: distance, absence;

-ency: agency, urgency;

-ure: picture, treasure.

-ing: swimming

Nouns from adjectives:

Nouns are formed from adjectives by adding the suffixes “ance, ence, ness, th, ty”: elegance, intelligence, darkness, warmth, safety.

-ness: Here are some common adjectives whose noun forms are made by adding -ness: happy, sad, weak, good, ready, tidy, forgetful. For example; exact (adj): kesin, exactness(n): kesinlik.

-    Everybody deserves happiness in their life. To be happy is a basic human right.

-    There was a lot of sadness in the office when people learned of his illness.

-    His readiness to have a personal word with everybody at the funeral was much appreciated.

-    He is such a forgetful person. Such forgetfulness cannot be excused.

-    If you want to work for such an organisation, you are expected to maintain a high standard of tidiness in your appearance.

 

-ity: possible, probable, responsible, complex, hilarious, scarce. Note the spelling changes that occur in these conversions.

-    I was given a great deal of responsibility in my new job.

-    It was a complex operation but such complexities are common in cardiac surgery.

-    The scarcity of water was serious, but all natural resources were scarce.

 

Nouns from verbs:

Nouns are formed from verbs by adding the suffixes “age, al, ance, ence, er, or, ion, ment, y”: passage, arrival, appearance, existence, worker, editor, collection, agreement, inquiry.

 

“tion, or, less” frequently “-sion” (both pronounced with a 'sh' sound on the initial letter) are noun suffixes that are used to make nouns from verbs. Here are some common verbs whose noun forms are made by adding “-tion”:admit, alter, inform, decide de, cribe, multiply. Note that adjustments that are necessary to the spelling in each case.

-    He admitted he had lied and this admission landed him in court.

-    The dress will have to be altered and I'm going to have the alteration done professionally.

-    I informed the police that I had seen one of the robbers in Margate and this information led to the arrest of the gang.

-    I decided to give myself up. The decision was easy. My description was in all the newspapers. And I had been on the run for three weeks.

-    Multiplication is the easiest part of arithmetic - much easier than addition, subtraction or division.

 

-ance and -ence are suffixes that are used to make nouns from adjectives and sometimes from verbs: absent, silent, independent, important, admit, appear, exist.

-    Her absence was not noticed during the silence of prayer.

-    The importance of independence for teenagers should not be underestimated.

-    His appearance did not permit him to be admitted.

-    His existence as a writer was threatened when people stopped buying his books.

Adjectives from nouns:

Adjectives are formed from nouns by adding the suffixes “able, ible, al, an, ian, ary, ory, en, ful, ic, ish, less, ous, y”: reasonable, sensible, cultural, American, humanitarian, legendary, compulsory, golden, beautiful, patriotic, foolish, hopeless, famous, windy. For example; memory (n): hafıza, bellek, zeka; meorable (adj): unutulmaz

 

Adjectives from verbs:

Adjectives are formed from verbs by adding the suffixes “able, ible, ant, ent, ory, ive”: reliable, convertible, ignorant, confident, contradictory, attractive.

Adjectives from adjectives:

Adjectives are formed from adjectives by adding the suffixes “al, ish”: poetical, greenish.

Adverbs from adjectives:

Adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the suffix “ly”: exactly, logically.

 

Verbs from nouns and adjectives:

Verbs are formed from nouns and adjectives by adding the suffixes “ate, en, ize, fy”: activate, deepen, apologize, classtify.

 

Inflection:

Inflection (inflexion) is the modification of a word with the help of inflectional affixes (usually, with the help of inflectional suffixes, for example, the endings “s, ed, ing”) to form grammatical forms (plural forms, tense forms) of the same word. Main types of inflection are the following: declension of nouns and pronouns (a play – two plays; he – him); conjugation of verbs (to play – he plays, he is playing, he played); and comparison of adjectives and adverbs (early, earlier, earliest).

 

Main rules for adding “s, ed, ing” are described in adding  the  ending  “s/es”  to  Nouns  and verbs and adding the endings “ed”, “ing” to Verbs. Main rules for adding “er, est” to adjectives and adverbs are described in degrees of comparison.

 

 

In some cases, one and the same suffix (or its homonyms) is used in the formation of words belonging to different parts of speech. Such suffixes require special attention.

•       The suffixes “al, ant, ent, ary, ory, ic, y” are used in the formation of nouns and adjectives: approval (n.), formal (adj.); lieutenant (n.), important (adj.); president (n.), confident (adj.); secretary (n.), necessary (adj.); laboratory (n.), preparatory (adj.); music (n.), basic (adj.); melody (n.), greedy (adj.).

•       The suffix “ate” is used in the formation of adjectives, nouns and verbs: obstinate (adj.), doctorate (n.), calculate (v.). The suffix “ly” is used in the formation of adjectives and adverbs: lovely (adj.), nicely (adv.). The suffix “en” is used in the formation of verbs and adjectives: widen (v.), wooden (adj.).

•       A word containing a suffix is often converted into a different part of speech by zero derivation, and then the suffix does not help us to understand to what part of speech this word belongs.

•       Suffixes that are often found in nouns and adjectives of the same form are “al” (manual), “an” (human), “ian” (vegetarian), “ant” (instant), “ic” (magic), “ive” (detective). The suffix “ate” is found in verbs, nouns and adjectives of the same form: graduate, moderate. The suffix “ly” is found in adjectives and adverbs of the same form: weekly, kindly.

To understand what parts of speech words with these suffixes represent, analyze them in sentences or in word combinations. For example, the word "graduate" in "he graduated from college in 2005" is a verb; the word "graduate" in "he is a Harvard graduate" is a noun; the word "graduate" in "a graduate student" is an adjective.

 

Adding suffixes: General rules

Generally, when a suffix is added to a word ending in a consonant, the spelling of the word and the suffix are not changed:

adopt – adoption; cold – coldness; quick – quickly; pass – passage; act – active;

danger – dangerous.

 

Changes take place mostly in those cases where a suffix beginning with a vowel is added to a word ending in “e” or “y”, and in some cases of adding to “ge, ce, c, de, d, t”. Changes in pronunciation may also take place.

Final “e” is retained. The final mute letter “e” is retained before a suffix beginning with a consonant.

Peace + ful = peaceful; care + less = careless; love + ly = lovely;

sure + ly = surely;

achieve + ment = achievement; pale + ness = paleness;

safe + ty = safety.

 

In some cases the final “e” is dropped before adding a suffix beginning with a consonant. awe + ful = awful;

whole + ly = wholly; wise + dom = wisdom; due + ly = duly;

true + ly = truly; true + th = truth; wide + th = width; five + th = fifth; nine + th = ninth;

argue + ment = argument;

judge + ment = judgment, judgement; abridge + ment = abridgment, abridgement;

acknowledge + ment = acknowledgment, acknowledgement.

Final “e” is dropped. The final mute letter “e” is dropped before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. In many cases, pronunciation of the resulting word is changed.

guide + ance = guidance;

reside + ence = residence; note + ion = notion; starve + ation = starvation;

simple + icity = simplicity; please + ure = pleasure; lie + ar = liar;

type + ist = typist; arrive + al = arrival; like + able = likable;

sense + ible = sensible; fame + ous = famous; compete + ent = competent.

Variants of spelling: likable, likeable; takable, takeable; usable, useable.

The letter “e” in the final “ge” and “dge”, “e” is retained to keep the pronunciation of “g” as [j] before suffixes beginning with “a” or “o”.

manage + able = manageable; knowledge + able = knowledgeable; judge + able = judgeable;

abridge + able = abridgable, abridgeable; courage + ous = courageous.

 

The letter “e” in the final “ce” is retained to keep the pronunciation of “c” as [s] before suffixes beginning with “a” or “o”: notice + able = noticeable; service + able = serviceable. Other cases of spelling and pronunciation of final “ce” before and after the addition of certain suffixes.

announce + ment = announcement; pronounce + ation = pronunciation; produce + tion = production.

 

The letter “e” in the final “ce” is dropped before adding the suffixes “ial, ier, ious”; the combination “ci” (in some cases “ti”) in such words is usually pronounced [sh].

space + ious = spacious; malice + ious = malicious; commerce + ial = commercial; residence + ial = residential.

 

When the suffix “ian” is added to words like "magic, music", the combination “ci” is pronounced [sh].

magic + ian = magician; music + ian = musician; politics + ian = politician.

 

The final “c” is changed to “ck” to keep the pronunciation of “c” as [k] before suffixes beginning with “e”, “i” or “y”:

picnic + er = picnicker; panic + y = panicky; traffic + ing = trafficking.

The final letter “y” that doesn't form a syllable is not changed before adding a suffix: play + ful = playful;

betray + al = betrayal;

employ + ment = employment; pay + ment = payment;

gray + ish = grayish; boy + ish = boyish.

But: day + ly = daily. Variants of spelling: gay, gaily, gayly, gaiety, gayety, gayness.

 

The final letter “y” that forms a syllable (“y” stands alone after a consonant) is usually changed to “i” before adding any suffix except a suffix beginning with “i”:

busy + ness = business; likely + hood = likelihood; pity + ful = pitiful;

easy + ly = easily; library + an = librarian;

memory + al = memorial; family + ar = familiar; mystery + ous = mysterious; marry + age = marriage; rely + able = reliable;

twenty + eth = twentieth; purify + er = purifier.

But: babyhood, everyday, dryness, shyness, slyness, wryness; dryly, shyly, wryly.

 

Variants of spelling:

drier, dryer (noun); drier, driest (adj.); flier, flyer (noun);

shyer, shier, shyest, shiest (adj.); slyer, slier, slyest, sliest (adj.); slyly, slily (adv.).

 

The final “y” that forms a syllable is not changed before adding the suffixes “ish, ist, ism”: baby + ish = babyish;

forty + ish = fortyish; copy + ist = copyist; party + ism = partyism.

 

The final “y” is dropped before adding the suffix “ic” (or “ic+al”):

geometry + ic = geometric; botany + ical = botanical.

 

There are a lot of pairs of adjectives with the suffixes “ic” and “ical” (“ic +al”). If the dictionary indicates the same meaning for the adjectives in the pair, the first variant is usually the most common. Some of such adjectives are different in meaning:

history – historic – historical; economy – economic – economical.

Adverbs are formed from such adjectives by adding the suffix “ly” only to the suffix “ical” (even if such adjectives with the suffix “ical” do not exist):

historic (adj.), historical (adj.) – historically (adv.); ironic (adj.), ironical (adj.) – ironically (adv.); basic (adj.) – basically (adv.).

But: public (adj.) – publicly (adv.).

 

In some cases, final “de, d and t” change to “s or ss” before adding the suffix “ion”: decide + ion = decision;

include + ion = inclusion; extend + ion = extension; submit + ion = submission.

Note the spelling of some derivative adjectives: Decisive, inclusive, extensive, submissive. Rare spelling: suspect + ion = suspicion.

 

In many other similar cases, the suffix “ion” (or its variants “tion, ation”) is added without peculiarities.

Add– addition;

recommend – recommendation; devote – devotion;

invite – invitation; limit – limitation.

 

If a final single consonant ends a stressed syllable containing a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. If either of these conditions is absent, the final consonant is not doubled (except final “l”).

 

Adding “er”: ban, banner; cut, cutter; dig, digger; rob, robber; rub, rubber; tip, tipper. Other examples:

stop, stoppage; drop, droppable;

fun, funny; red, reddish; sad, sadden.

 

Adding to final “r”: refer, referral; occur, occurrence; stir, stirring. But: prefer, preferable; refer, reference.

Adding to final “i”:

excel, excellent; cancel, cancellation;

(BrE) travel, traveller; (AmE) travel, traveler.

 

Adding “ly” to final “l” always gives double “l” in the adverb: awful, awfully;

gradual, gradually; normal, normally; official, officially; real, really.

Note: full + ly = fully.

Many adverbs end in “-ly”. If you are not sure of the part of speech a word would be, and it ends with “-ly”, it is probably an adverb:

financially, abruptly, endlessly, firmly, delightfully, quickly, lightly, eternally, delicately, wearily, sorrowfully, beautifully, and truthfully. Sıfat ya da ismin sonuna “ly” ekleyerek oluşan zarflar genellikle “… bir şekilde”, ya da “bir biçimde” anlamını alır.

 

Diğer anlamlar ise:

Şüpheli – Şüpheyle; Nadir – Nadiren; Tamam – Tamamen; Akıllı – Akıllıca; Usta – Ustaca; Zeki – Zekice; Fena – Fena halde; Aşırı - Aşırı derecede; En son – En sonunda; Geniş – geniş olarak; Kusurlu – Kusurlu olarak; Bol – Bol bol