Suffixes

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Noun forming suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
age belongs to Latin
ance state of being Latin
ant thing or one who Latin
ar relating to, like Latin
ary relating to, like Latin
ence state, fact, quality Latin
ent to form Latin
ic like, having the nature Latin & Greek
ine nature of-feminine ending Latin
ion, tion, ation being, the result of Latin
ism act, condition Latin & Greek
ist one who Latin
ive of, belonging to, quality of Latin
ment a means, product, act, state Latin
or person or thing that Latin
ory place for Latin
ty condition of, quality of Latin
y creats abstract noun Greek & Anglo-Saxon

Adjective forming suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
able capable of being Latin
al like, suitable for Latin
ance state of being Latin
ant thing or one who Latin
ar relating to, like Latin
ary relating to, like Latin
ate to become associated with Latin
ent to form Latin
ial function of Latin
ible capable of being Latin
ic like, having the nature of Latin & Greek
ine nature of-feminine ending Latin
ive of, belonging to, quality of Latin
ory place for Latin
ous characterized by, having quality of Latin
y quality, somewhat like Greek & Anglo-Saxon

Verb forming suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
ate to become associated with Latin
fy make, do Latin
ise, ize to become like Latin

Adverb forming suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
ic like, having the nature of Latin & Greek
ly like, to extent of Latin
Word Formation-Suffixes
LACKING an exact correspondence between its sounds and its written symbols, English spelling can be frustratingly inconsistent and can pose problems for even the best spellers. Although it would be impossible to formulate a set of rules that would cover the spelling of all English words, many spelling difficulties arise in connection with suffixes, and the six basic rules given here for determining spelling changes in a word root when a suffix is added are intended as an aid in learning and understanding the correct spelling of a large number of English words.
 

Adding a Suffix to a Word
 

  1. Adding a suffix to a one-syllable word:
    1. Words of one syllable that end in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel: bag, baggage; hop, hopper; hot, hottest; red, redder; run, running; stop, stopped. There are two notable exceptions to this rule: bus (buses or busses; busing or bussing) and gas (gasses or gases; gassing; gassy).
    2. If a word ends with two or more consonants or if it ends with one consonant preceded by two or more vowels instead of one, the final consonant is not doubled: debt, debtor; lick, licking; mail, mailed; sweet, sweetest.
  2. Adding a suffix to a word with two or more syllables:
    1. Words of two or more syllables that have the accent on the last syllable and end in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel: admit, admitted; confer, conferring; control, controller; regret, regrettable. There are a few exceptions: chagrin, chagrined; transfer, transferred, transferring but transferable, transference.
    2. When the accent shifts to the first syllable of the word after the suffix is added, the final consonant is not doubled: prefer, preference; refer, reference.
    3. If the word ends with two consonants or if the final consonant is preceded by more than one vowel the final consonant is not doubled: perform, performance; repeal, repealing.
    4. If the word is accented on any syllable except the last the final consonant is not usually doubled: benefit, benefited; develop, developed; interpret, interpreted. However, some words like cobweb, handicap, and outfit follow the models of web, cap, and fit, even though these words may not be true compounds. A few others ending in g double the final g so that it will not be pronounced like j: zigzag, zigzagged.
  3. Adding a suffix beginning with a vowel to a word ending in a silent e:
    Words ending with a silent e usually drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel: force, forcible; route, routed; glide, gliding; operate, operator; trifle, trifler. However, there are many exceptions to this rule:
    1. Many words of this type have alternative forms (the preferred form is given first): blame, blamable or blameable; blue, bluish or blueish. And in certain cases, alternative forms have different meanings: linage or lineage (number of lines) but lineage (ancestry).
    2. Many words ending in ce or ge keep the e before the suffixes -able and -ous: advantage, advantageous; change, changeable; trace, traceable.
    3. Words ending in a silent e keep the e if the word could be mistaken for another word: dye, dyeing; singe, singeing.
    4. If the word ends in ie, the e is dropped and the i changed to y before the suffix -ing. A word ending in i remains unchanged before -ing: die, dying; ski, skiing.
    5. Mile and acre do not drop the e before the suffix -age: mileage, acreage.
  4. Adding a suffix beginning with a consonant to a word ending in a silent e:
    Words ending with a silent e generally retain the e before a suffix that begins with a consonant: plate, plateful; shoe, shoeless; arrange, arrangement; white, whiteness; awe, awesome; nice, nicety. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. Some of the most common are abridge, abridgment; acknowledge, acknowledgment; argue, argument; awe, awful; due, duly; judge, judgment; nine, ninth; true, truly; whole, wholly; wise, wisdom.
  5. Adding a suffix to a word ending in y:
    1. Words ending in y preceded by a consonant generally change the y to i before the addition of a suffix, except when the suffix begins with an i: accompany, accompaniment; beauty, beautiful; icy, icier, iciest, icily, iciness; but reply, replying.
    2. The y is retained in derivatives of baby, city, and lady and before the suffixes -ship and -like: babyhood, cityscape, ladyship, ladylike.
    3. Adjectives of one syllable ending in y preceded by a consonant usually retain the y when a suffix beginning with a consonant is added: shy, shyly, shyness; sly, slyly, slyness; wry, wryly, wryness; but dryly or drily, dryness. These adjectives usually also retain the y when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added, although most have variants where the y has changed to i: dry, drier or dryer, driest or dryest; shy, shier or shyer, shiest or shyest.
    4. Words ending in y preceded by a vowel usually retain the y before a suffix: buy, buyer; key, keyless; coy, coyer, coyest; gay, gayer, gayest; but day, daily; gay, gaily or gayly.
    5. Some words drop the final y before the addition of the suffix -eous: beauty, beauteous.
  6. Adding a suffix to a word ending in c:
    Words ending in c almost always have the letter k inserted after the c when a suffix beginning with e, i, or y is added: panic, panicky; picnic, picnicker. This is done so that the letter c will not be pronounced like s.

 

 

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