What is a suffix word example?

What is a suffix word example?

countable noun. A suffix is a letter or group of letters, for example ‘-ly’ or ‘-ness,’ which is added to the end of a word in order to form a different word, often of a different word class. For example, the suffix ‘-ly’ is added to ‘quick’ to form ‘quickly.

Do suffixes change the meaning of a word?

A suffix is a group of letters which can be added to the end of a word. A suffix cannot be used alone, and using one will change the meaning of the word it is attached to – but in a way that is different to how prefixes change the meaning of a word.

What are the four most common suffixes?

The four most common suffixes are -ed, -ing, -ly, and -s. (These account for over 95% of suffixed words.)

What is a suffix in English grammar?

A suffix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a word to form a new word or to change the grammatical function (or part of speech) of the word. For example, the verb read is made into the noun reader by adding the suffix -er. Similarly, read is made into the adjective readable by adding the suffix -able.

Can you add a suffix to a root word?

Not all suffixes can be added to all roots. For example, the adjective beautiful is formed by adding the suffix -ful to the noun beauty, and the noun ugliness is formed by adding the suffix -ness to the adjective ugly . Also note that a suffix may have more than one meaning.

What does the-er suffix mean in English?

With adjectives and adverbs, for instance, the – er suffix usually conveys the comparative meaning of “more” (as in the adjectives kinder and longer).

Why do we use inflectional suffixes in English?

These inflectional suffixes are only used to modify the grammatical meaning of a word; they do not change a word from one part of speech to another, nor do they alter the fundamental meaning of the word. For example, the suffix “-s” is used with most nouns to indicate that they are plural (i.e., more than one), as in boys and girls.