Vocabulary
English suffixes: use word endings to understand vocabulary
You may not know the word washable, but its ending gives you a useful clue. If something is washable, you can wash it.
Use common English suffixes to identify whether an unfamiliar word is likely to be a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb, then make a sensible first guess at its meaning.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
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suffix /ˈsʌf.ɪks/
The short answer
Read the base word first, then use the suffix as a clue. Endings such as -ness and -ment often form nouns, -ful and -less often form adjectives, -ize often forms verbs, and -ly often forms adverbs.
Her careful preparation made the journey easier.
Why it works: The suffix -ful in careful helps form an adjective, while -er in easier helps form a comparative adjective.
5 more examples
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Kindness made the new student feel welcome.
The suffix -ness turns the adjective kind into a noun for the quality or state of being kind.
Not this:The
kind neighbourcarried the boxes upstairs. What changes: Without -ness, kind is an adjective describing the neighbour. -
The team reached an agreement after a long discussion.
The suffix -ment helps form a noun from agree. The noun names the result of agreeing.
Not this:The team
agreedon a date for the event. What changes: Agreed is a verb form that describes the action, while agreement names the result. -
A waterproof jacket kept Maya dry in the rain.
The suffix -proof often means able to resist or prevent something. Here it describes a jacket that water cannot pass through easily.
Not this:Maya
driedher jacket beside the heater. What changes: Dried describes what Maya did; waterproof is an adjective describing a property of the jacket. -
The engineer will modernize the old control system.
The suffix -ize often creates a verb meaning to make something have a stated quality.
Not this:The control system needs a
modern design. What changes: Modern is an adjective. Modernize is the action of making something more modern. -
Nora spoke clearly during the presentation.
The suffix -ly commonly turns an adjective into an adverb. Clearly tells us how Nora spoke.
Not this:Nora gave a
clear presentation. What changes: Clear describes the noun presentation; clearly describes the verb spoke.
Read the full guide
Do not treat every ending as a separate vocabulary item. Look for the part of the word that you already know, then ask what the ending does to it. For example, help is a verb, helpful is an adjective, and helpless describes someone without help. The surrounding sentence still decides the exact meaning.
Find the base word first
Many longer words contain a familiar base word. In helpful, the base word is help. In darkness, it is dark. Start there, because the base word gives the main idea before the suffix changes its job.
The guide was helpful when we got lost.
Help is usually a verb or noun. Helpful is an adjective that describes something that gives help.
What familiar word can you see inside hopeless?
The base word is hope. The ending -less suggests the absence of hope.
Recognise common noun endings
Nouns name people, things, ideas, qualities, or results. The endings -ness, -ment, -tion, and -er often appear in nouns. They can help you see whether a word names a thing, a quality, an event, or a person.
The manager thanked the employee for arriving early.
The ending -ee often names a person who receives an action or has a role, while -er often names a person who does an action, as in trainer.
Their decision changed the plan for the afternoon.
Decision is related to decide, but it has a spelling change. Learn frequent word families together instead of assuming every suffix attaches without a change.
Use adjective endings to describe things
Adjectives describe a noun. Common adjective endings include -ful, -less, -able, -ive, and -ous. They often answer a question such as What is it like? or What quality does it have?
The instructions were readable even on a small screen.
Readable means able to be read. The suffix -able often carries this possible or suitable sense.
The empty road looked harmless in daylight.
Harmless means not causing harm. The suffix -less often means without something.
Does useful describe an action or a quality?
It describes a quality. Useful is an adjective meaning that something has practical use.
Notice endings that change an action
The ending -ize often forms a verb. It commonly means to make something become a stated way, as in organize, specialize, and modernize. A verb tells you what someone or something does.
The library plans to digitize its older records.
Digitize names an action: changing records into a digital form. Digital is an adjective that describes the form.
We need to organize the notes before the meeting.
The exact spelling and meaning of a verb can vary. Use the base word and the sentence together when you meet a new -ize word.
Use -ly to ask how an action happens
The suffix -ly often forms an adverb from an adjective. Adverbs can tell us how an action happens: carefully, quietly, or clearly. They often modify a verb, but not every word ending in -ly is an adverb.
Please read the safety notice carefully.
Carefully tells us how to read. Careful would describe a noun, as in a careful reader.
The friendly assistant answered every question.
Friendly ends in -ly but is an adjective here because it describes the assistant.
Which word describes the verb in She answered politely?
Politely describes answered. It tells us how she answered.
Before you go
Remember this
Start with the base word and use the suffix to predict the word class or a broad meaning. Check that prediction against the sentence. This approach can make unfamiliar vocabulary less confusing, especially when you meet several words from the same family.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
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Try the written questionsQuestions about "English suffixes: use word endings to understand vocabulary"
What is a suffix in English?
A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word. It may change the word's grammar or add meaning. For example, kindness is a noun related to kind, and clearly is an adverb related to clear.
Kindness made the new student feel welcome.
How can suffixes help me understand new words?
A familiar suffix can suggest a word's job. The ending -ness often appears in nouns, -ful and -less often appear in adjectives, and -ize often appears in verbs. Use that clue with the sentence before deciding on the meaning.
The kind neighbour carried the boxes upstairs.
What does the suffix -less mean?
The suffix -less often means without. Harmless means not causing harm, and hopeless suggests having no hope. It usually forms an adjective, so it often describes a person, thing, or situation.
The team reached an agreement after a long discussion.
Does -ly always make an adverb?
No. Many -ly words are adverbs, such as clearly in Nora spoke clearly during the presentation. Some are adjectives, however. Friendly describes a noun in The friendly assistant answered every question.
The team agreed on a date for the event.
Can I always guess a word's meaning from its suffix?
No. A suffix gives a useful first clue, but the base word and the sentence decide the full meaning. The ending -er can name a person in teacher or mark comparison in faster, so context matters.
A waterproof jacket kept Maya dry in the rain.
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