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Suffixes, along with prefixes and word roots, are a useful way to build vocabulary. This page explains what suffixes are and gives some examples of common suffixes. At the end there are some exercises to help you practise.

What are suffixes?

As noted in the section on vocabulary building, suffixes are word components which are added to the end of a word. They usually change the word form rather than the meaning. For example, adding -ity to the word similar creates the word similarity and changes the word from an adjective to a noun.

• similar (adj) + -ity (suffix) → similarity (n)



There are, however, some suffixes which change the meaning of a word. Examples are -ful and -less, which make the word positive or negative respectively. For example:

• thought (n) + -ful (suffix) → thoughtful (positive adjective)
• thought (n) + -less (suffix) → thoughtless (negative adjective)



Common suffixes

The following table shows some common suffixes, along with some example words. As the majority of these suffixes simply change the word form, the meaning of the suffix is not given unless it changes or contributes to the meaning of the word in some way.




Type	Suffix	Meaning	Examples
adjective	-able, -ible	capable of, worthy of	comfortable, likable, enjoyable, predictable, terrible, sensible, incredible, visible, believable, incredible
	-(i)al		personal, refusal, regional, proposal, fatal, cordial, territorial, spatial, social
	-ant		significant, pleasant
	-en	made of	wooden
	-ent		obedient, independent
	-er	more	higher, stronger
	-est	most	biggest, brightest
	-ful	full of	careful, beautiful, wonderful, colourful
	-ic(al)	relating to	linguistic, energetic, historic, caustic, volcanic, comical, historical, magical, logical
	-ish		fiendish, childish, selfish, boyish
	-(at)ive, -itive		creative, supportive, argumentative, festive, responsive, positive, negative, inventive
	-less	without	careless, fearless, endless, fruitless, worthless, powerless, bottomless, relentless, selfless
	-(e)ous, -ious	full of	joyous, nutritious, portentous, pretentious, curious, furious, prosperous
	-y	characterized by	happy, sleazy, pudgy, funny, foggy, risky, milky, crazy, shiny
adverb	-ly		quickly, easily, happily, majestically, nonchalantly, literally, barely, carefully, abruptly
	-ward	in the direction of	forward, homeward, northward
noun	-cy		privacy, occupancy, democracy, buoyancy, saliency, literacy, secrecy
	-age	result of an action	marriage, pilgrimage
	-al		rehearsal
	-ance, -ence		appearance, endurance, maintenance, independence, dominance, coincidence
	-ary	place for, collection of	glossary, library
	-dom	place or state of being	freedom, kingdom, wisdom, fiefdom, boredom, martyrdom
	-hood		neighborhood, falsehood, childhood
	-(s)ion, -tion		concession, transition, action, erosion, vision, invitation, conclusion, condemnation
	-ism	doctrine, belief	communism, socialism, pragmatism, realism, feudalism, racism, Catholicism, Buddhism, capitalism
	-(i)ty		creativity, infinity, veracity, honesty, clarity, laxity, sanity, vanity, rigidity, velocity, curiosity, responsibility
	-ment		requirement, enjoyment, argument, judgment, apartment, contentment, resentment, basement
	-ness		kindness, heaviness, happiness, openness, harshness, cleanliness, carelessness
	-ology	study of	biology, mineralogy, ecology
	-(e)s	plural	books, boxes, hotels, amendments, wishes, prefixes
	-ship	art or skill of, group of	leadership, citizenship, ownership, companionship, friendship
	-ure	action, result	closure, pleasure
noun (person)	-ary		secretary, dignitary
	-(e)er, -or		worker, teacher, actor, mentor, engineer, pioneer
	-ee	the subject of an action	trainee, interviewee, employee
	-ian		librarian, technician
	-ist		chemist, socialist, biologist, publicist, realist, romanticist, pragmatist
verb	-ate		complicate, agitate, eradicate, placate, demonstrate, procrastinate, ruminate
	-en		enlighten, tighten, frighten, brighten, dampen, fasten, heighten, loosen, straighten
	-(i)fy		simplify, terrify, verify, clarify, dignify, rectify, magnify, classify
	-ize, -ise		plagiarise, chastise, italicise, romanticize hypnotize, fertilize, civilize, rationalize, criticize, categorize, polarize, modernize,
verb form	-ed	past	walked, jumped, helped
	-ing	present	walking, jumping, helping
	-(e)s	present	looks, kisses





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Checklist

The following checklist summarises the information on this page. Use it to check your understanding.




Area	OK	Comments
I know what suffixes are.
I understand the suffixes generally change the word form, not the meaning of a word.
I know some common suffixes.

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