ENGLISH GRAMMAR for ESL learners
SUFFIXES WITH THEIR MEANING
What is a suffix?
A suffix in English is a letter or a group of letters
added to the stem of a word to form a new word.
A suffix can change the stem of a word into a noun, a verb, an adverb or
adjective.
For example: rain - rainy, slow – slowly,
music – musical, help – helpful
SUFFIXES IN ENGLISH |
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| -al (relating to) |
-ian (relating to) |
-ary (relating to) |
-ate (cause to act) |
| musical national seasonal |
historian librarian magician |
customary disciplinary monentary |
collaborate eradicate detonate |
| -ful (notable for) |
-less (without) |
-ive (tending towards) |
ic/-ical (pertaining to) |
| graceful helpful powerful |
fearless homeless useless |
attentive informative supportive |
mythic domestic methodical |
| -ish
(of that nature) |
-ity/-ty- (state) |
-ly (manner) |
-y (inclined to be) |
| coldish darkish tallish |
enormity validity veracity |
anxiously badly shyly |
healthy sandy salty |
Adjectives, adverbs and nouns can also be used as suffixes.
Some are used with a hyphen. However, over time, many of the newly-formed words
have been accepted into the English language without a hyphen.
ADJECTIVE, ADVERB and NOUN SUFFIXES |
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| -free (without, not containing) |
-friendly (helpful or suitable to) |
-hood (state, condition) |
-like (similar to) |
| aclohol-free fat-free interest-free salt-free sugar-free tax-free | dog-friendly eco-fiendly family-friendly guest-friendly tourist-friendly user-friendly |
adulthood boyhood childhood manhood priesthood widowhood |
birdlike childlike humanlike lifelike ladylike witchlike |
| -proof (become) |
-ridden (full of, confined to) |
-ware (articles of same type) |
-wise (in the direction of / concerning) |
| fireproof hackproof soundproof stainproof sunproof waterproof |
bedridden debt-ridden crime-ridden drug-ridden flea-ridden guild-ridden |
glassware hardware kitchenware silverware software tableware |
lengthwise clockwise/anticlockwise slantwise health-wise price-wise weather-wise |
See also:
Prefixes
Please note that British English spelling is used on this website.