Grammar: Suffix

Posted January 11, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Grammar Explanations, Self-Editing, Writing

Revised as of
30 Oct 2023

Like the prefix, a suffix is a handy little group of letters — a bound morpheme which occurs after a base, a.k.a. a free morpheme. It enables you to create alternative meanings from existing words. ‘Cause English doesn’t have enough words, lol. Actually I do love the precision of English, the richness of it.

In contemplating the suffix, you will find that a particular word retains its base meaning and adding a suffix allows you to fine-tune it to be more specific.

Consider bag and baggage. Bag is quite general and could call up images of a grocery sack, a lunch bag, a purse, or a bratty old woman. Baggage, well, that sounds like luggage or an overly full carload of kids.

Music can make you think of the store where you can buy a CD, downloading tunes, album covers, sheet music, instruments, a song you particularly like (or dislike). Now add -ian to create a musician. And that suffix automatically narrows down the possibilities. It could, of course, be any musician from rock ‘n roll to symphony, jazz to country, but it is specially a person who plays an instrument.

The Difference Between a Root Word and a Base Word

A root word and a base word can both accept suffixes (or prefixes or affixes) but only base words are consistently standalone words, e.g., cycle, kitchen, box, etc., can become bicycle, kitchenware, boxcar.

Root words come from the Latin or Greek and cannot always stand alone as a word in English, e.g., aud, which is all about hearing and is combined with words like auditorium, audio, audience, and audition. Or struct is combined into words such as instructor, destruction, structural, or obstruction.

Of course there are root words that can stand alone, such as act, which can become actor, action, react, activity, etc. Don can become
don to give/grant donor, condone, pardon, etc.

Credit to: What

Root Base
Parts of words which contain meaning, usually stemming from Latin and Greek.

They often cannot stand alone as words.

The main part of a word once prefixes and suffixes have been stripped away.

They can always stand alone.

Aud – hearing. It does not make sense on its own, but linked with other letters it does: audible.

Most words have Greek and Latin roots.

E.g., “The origin of audible is from the late Latin audibilis, from audire meaning hear.”

happy
impress
kind
loud
necessary
quick

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Exploring Later . . .

You may want to look into “Morpheme & Allomorph” or “Prefixes“.

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Grammar Explanations is . . .

. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.

If you found this post on “Suffix” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Suffix
Definition: A letter or group of letters that is put or attached after a word to change or refine its meaning. They may be adjectives, adverbs, nouns, or verbs. The opposite of a prefix.

Affix is a general term for infix, prefix, and suffix.


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Three types of suffixes:

Suffix Exceptions Include Words Ending in . . .

A.k.a. postfix, ending

Types of Suffixes
Causative Definition: A type of verb tense attached to intransitive verbs to make them transitive.

They also attach to transitive verbs to indicate another object.

See also causative verb.

Credit to: Crystal

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Intransitive Verb Transitive Verb
Corn grows. Grow corn.

He grew a pair of mustaches.

The dinner bell rang. He rang the bell.
He dined with us. We dined him.
The box stood on the floor. He stood the box on the floor.

Credit to: Jesperson

Derivational
Definition: Adding the suffix creates a new meaning for the word, the new word derives from its base word.
Ending Base Word Altered Word Ending Base Word Altered Word
-able
-ible
approach
eat
approachable
edible
-ish elf elfish
-al adjective adjectival -ism real realism
-ary diction dictionary -ist alarm
xenobiology
alarmist
xenobiologist
-ate hyphen hyphenate -less back
smoke
backless
smokeless
-ation adore adoration -ly pure purely
-ce two twice -ment govern
treat
government
treatment
-cian music musician -ness good goodness
-ee employ employee -ology sediment sedimentology
-er read reader -or advice advisor
-ess butcher butcheress -ship relation relationship
-fy
-ify
beauty beautify -sion persuade persuasion
-ful beauty beautiful -th bread breadth
-hood brother
neighbor
brotherhood
neighborhood
-tion realize realization
-ic myth mythical -ways side sideways
-ive create creative -wise length lengthwise
-ise
-ize
real realize -y easy
jealous
easy
jealousy

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Noun Suffix Definition: Adding a suffix to a root/base word that makes the new word a noun.

Credit to: Commonly

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Noun-forming Suffix Base Word New Noun
-ant account
assist
defend
(de is the prefix) odor
accountant
assistant
defendant
deodorant
-ee address
employ
interview
lease
refer
refuge
retire
train
trust
addressee
employee
interviewee
lessee
referee
refugee
retiree
trainee
trustee
-ent preside
reside
president
resident
-er buy
dance
supervise
teach
work
write
buyer
dancer
supervisor
teacher
worker
writer
-ism criticize
human
journal
vegetarian
criticism
humanism
journalism
vegetarianism
-ist art
fem
journal
piano
violin
artist
feminist
journalist
pianist
violinist
-ment develop
enjoy
govern
improve
manage
development
enjoyment
government
improvement
management
-ness forgive
good
happy
kind
forgiveness
goodness
happiness
kindness
-or act
advise
supervise
actor
advisor
supervisor
-sion discuss
excur
discussion
excursion
-tion communicate
inform
populate
quest
communication
information
population
question
-ship citizen
friend
leader
member
citizenship
friendship
leadership
membership
-ity able
curious
secure
similar
ability
curiosity
security
similarity
Inflectional
Definition: Changes the word from singular to plural or present tense to past tense, AND the basic meaning of the word does not change.
Third Person Singular Present Rule: Uses an -s to create verb agreement

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like he likes
run she runs
Past Tense & Past Participle Rule: Adds an -ed or a -t to create a past tense form.

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boat boated
spend spent
paint she has painted
open he has opened
Plural Rule: Uses an -s for a regular plural.

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truck trucks
run runs
Irregular Plural Rule: Words that end in -s, keep the -s and adds -es

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brass brasses
glass glasses
Rule: An irregular plural uses -en
backwoodsman backwoodsmen
snowman snowmen
ox oxen
Comparative / Superlative Rule: To compare is to add -er, to be better, the very best is to add -est

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Root Word Comparative Superalative
good better best
red redder reddest
big bigger biggest
princely princelier princeliest
Continuous /
Progressive
Rule: Adds an -ing

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speed speeding
race racing
Negative Definition: Attaches a negative meaning to the word or word-stem preceding it.

A.k.a. pejorative

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-n’t could couldn’t
-ard dull
slug
dullard
sluggard
-aster philosophy philosophaster
-er stone stoner
-ite Shia Shiite
-nik peace peacenik
-rel wast wastrel
Suffix Exceptions Include Words Ending in . . .
c Rule: Words ending in c usually have a k inserted when adding a termination beginning with e, i, or y so that c will not be pronounced like an s.

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arc arced
arcked
bivouac bivouacked
colic colicky
frolic frolicked
havoc havocking
mimic mimicking
picnic picnicker
panic panicky
politic politicking
shellac shellacked
traffic trafficker
ce or ge Rule: Words ending in ce or ge keep the e before suffixes beginning with a, o, or u, so that the c or g is not pronounced with a hard sound.

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advantage advantageous
change changeable
enforce enforceable
peace peaceable
Exceptions include:
advise advisor
mortgage mortgagor
pledge pledgor
e Rule: Words ending in a silent e generally drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

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age aging
blue bluing
bluish
cringe cringing
force forcible
line linage
route routing
sale salable
true truism
Exceptions include:
enforceable hoeing
mileage shoeing
toeing
Rule: Keep the e in certain words to distinguish them from others.
dyeing vs. dying
singeing vs. singing
tingeing vs. tinging
Rule: Derivatives formed from proper names keep the e and add -an
Coleridgean
European
Nietzschean
Shakespearean
Rule: Words ending in a silent e generally keep the e before a suffix beginning with a consonant.
awe awesome
hate hateful
move movement
polite politeness
Exceptions include:
Many words ending in silent e immediately preceded by another vowel . . . except e . . . drop the e when forming derivatives.
due duly
argue argument
abridge abridgment
acknowledge acknowledgment
awe awful
judge judgment
nurse nursling
whole wholly
wise wisdom
ie Rule: Words ending in ie generally drop the e and change the i to y when adding an -ing.

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die dying
vie vying
y Rule: Words ending in y preceded by a vowel generally keep the y before any suffix.

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annoy annoyance
buy buying
enjoy enjoyment
Exceptions include:
day daily
gay gaily
lay laid
pay paid
say said
saith
slay slain
consonant Rule: Double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel IF the emphasis is on the last syllable

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allot allotted
bag baggage
control controller
corral corralled
forget forgettable
occur occurrence
prefer preferred
run running
Rule: Do NOT double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel IF the word is accented anywhere but on the last syllable
benefit benefited
bias biased
cancel cancelled
cancellation
combat combated
kidnap kidnaper
repeal repealed
tranquil tranquilize
transfer transferee
Exceptions include:
cobweb cobwebbed
diagram diagrammatic
diagramed
handicap handicapped
humbug humbugged
monogram monogrammed
outfit outfitted
outfitter
zigzag zigzagged
-able
-ible
Rule: There are no hard-and-fast rules for these two endings; memorize ’em or look ’em up.

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advise advisable
combust combustible
comprehend comprehensible
defense defensible
define definable
depend dependable
digest digestible
repair repairable
reverse reversible
-ance
-ancy
-ant
Rule: Words ending with:

  • c sounding like a k
  • g has a hard sound

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extravagance
extravagant
signify significance
significant
-ence
-ency
-ent
Rule: Words ending with:

  • s sound that is -sede preceded by a c
  • g having the sound of j

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benefice beneficence
coalesce colaescence
indigent indigence
negligent negligence
-cede
-ceed
-sede
Rule: In English, three words end in -ceed; one word ends in -sede.

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-ede -ceed -sede
accede exceed supersede
antecede proceed
concede succeed
-ise
-ize
Rule: American English uses -ise. A few centuries back, when scholars were trying to regularize spelling, the rule was to use -ize if the original word was Greek or Latin while -ise was used if the word was originally French.
advertise demise improvise
advise despise incise
apprise devise merchandise
chastise disguise premise
circumcise enterprise reprise
comprise excise revise
compromise exercise supervise
exorcise surmise
franchise surprise

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Grammar Explanations by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Suffix

“Commonly Used Noun Suffixes.” ABC Education. 3 Feb 2021. Web. 30 Jan 2023. <https://www.abc.net.au/education/learn-english/commonly-used-noun-suffixes/13117528>.

Crystal, David. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003. 93.

Jesperson, Otto. Essentials of English Grammar. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006. 117.

Merriam-Webster: suffix (<http://i.word.com/dictionary/suffix>)

Skillin, Marjorie E., Robert M. Gay, and other authorities. Words into Type. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1974. Third edition. Print. 470-473.

More Sites on Suffixes

“English Language Roots: Quick Chart.” PrefixSuffix.com. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php>.

“English Language Roots: Search Engine.” PrefixSuffix.com. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootsearch.php>. Lists and explains the more common suffixes to root words and is a small part of their 2,000 word root database.

“Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes.” Thoughtful Learning. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.thoughtfullearning.com/inquireHSbook/pg166>.

“What is the Difference Between Base Words and Root Words?” Literacy. PLD. n.d. Accessed 30 Oct 2023. <https://support.pld-literacy.org/en-au/article/what-is-the-difference-between-base-words-and-root-words-bo9j3q/>.

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