suffix

«suffix» in Mova's school dictionary: a group of letters added to the end of a word to make a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a suffix, suffixes)

meaning for a pupil

1) A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to make a new word or change how it is used, like -ful in «hopeful», -ness in «kindness» or -ed in «jumped». tree →

2) In maths and computing, a suffix can be letters or a number added to the end of a name or code. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English grammar and spelling lessons (and SATs), suffixes are key: -s and -es make plurals, -ed and -ing change verb tense, -er and -est compare, and -ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -ly, -tion make new words. Spelling rules apply: double the consonant (run → running), drop the e (hope → hoping), change y to i (happy → happiness). Phrases: add a suffix, the suffix -ly, root word and suffix.

examples

• Add the suffix -ful to «help» to make «helpful». tree →
• «-ly» is a suffix that turns «quick» into «quickly». tree →
• The suffix -less means «without», as in «homeless». tree →
• Underline the suffix in «enjoyment». tree →
• Adding -ing to «swim» doubles the m. tree →
• The suffix -er can mean «a person who does it», as in «teacher». tree →
• When you add the suffix -ness to «happy», y changes to i. tree →
• Some words have two suffixes, like «care-ful-ly». tree →

note

Countable: a suffix, suffixes (add -es after x). Pronounced «SUF-ix». A suffix goes at the END; a prefix goes at the START (un- in «unhappy»). The word you add it to is the root or base word. A suffix can change the word class: «kind» (adjective) → «kindness» (noun).

In the corpora

• A suffix is a few letters added to the end of a word that change its job or meaning.
• Each suffix has its own spelling, and it stays the same.
• Chanting lists can help you remember, as Grandma did, but understanding root plus suffix lets you spell words you have never met.
• The suffix -ful has one l: careful, hopeful, beautiful.
• Splitting a word into root and suffixes helps you spell words you have never seen.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «suffix» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.