A suffix is a letter or group of letters that come at the end of a word and have meaning. A derivational suffix is a type of suffix that creates a new word; the new word is derived from the base word, e.g., adding -er to the word teach creates a new word teacher. Meanings of the Most Common
A suffix is a letter or group of letters that are found at the end of a base word or root. They often signify part of speech and can add meaning. There are two types of suffixes:
-
Derivational suffixes
This type of suffix creates a new word with a different meaning. As its names implies, the derivational suffix makes a new word that is “derived” from the base word or root. For example, the addition of ship to friend, creates a new word, friendship.
-
Inflectional suffixes
This type of suffix indicates the grammatical form of a word. For example, adding an “s” to the end of a noun indicates more than one. Adding an “ed” to the end of a verb, indicates past tense. Many nouns and verbs can be altered using a suffix and many adjective can be changed to adverbs by adding the suffix, ly.
Most Common Suffixes
The following 20 suffixes are commonly used; representing approximately 93%.
| Rank | Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | s, es | plural | boys & boxes |
| 2 | ed | past-tense verb | loved & liked |
| 3 | ing | present participle verb | running & jumping |
| 4 | ly | resembling; similar to | quietly & loudly |
| 5 | er, or | person connected with | farmer & professor |
| 6 | ion, tion, ation & ition |
act or process | direction & narration |
| 7 | ible, able | capable of, worthy of being |
likeable & comfortable |
| 8 | al, ial | having characteristics of | denial & spinal |
| 9 | y | characteristics by | funny & silly |
| 10 | ness | state or quality of: condition | happiness, & goodness |
| 11 | ity, ty | state of | activity & honesty |
| 12 | ment | action or process | enjoyment & experiment |
| 13 | ic | having characteristics of | poetic & historic |
| 14 | ous, eous & ious |
possessing the qualities of |
religious & virtuous |
| 15 | en | made of | wooden & enliven |
| 16 | er | comparative; more | better & smaller |
| 17 | ive, ative, & itive |
adjective form of a noun | attentive & affirmative |
| 18 | ful | full of | joyful & cheerful |
| 19 | less | without; not having | hopeless & careless |
| 20 | est | comparative; most | smartest & biggest |
Source:
Fry, E.B., Ph.D. & Kress, J.E., Ed.D. (2006). The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists 5th Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.