suffixation

Everyday

(grammar) Suffixation is making a new word or a new form of a word by adding a suffix (a word ending) such as -ness, -ful, -ly, -ed or -s to the end of it. tree →

In the lessons

In English spelling and grammar lessons, pupils study suffixes: «kind» + «-ness» = «kindness», «hope» + «-ful» = «hopeful», «quick» + «-ly» = «quickly». Suffixation can change the word class (an adjective becomes a noun) and sometimes changes spelling (happy → happiness, run → running). Phrases: «suffixation and prefixation», «spelling rules for suffixation».

Examples

• Suffixation turns «teach» into «teacher». tree →
• «Careless» is made by suffixation: care + less. tree →
• Our spelling list is all about suffixation with -ly. tree →
• Suffixation can change a verb into a noun, like «move» to «movement». tree →
• We learned that suffixation sometimes needs a spelling change, like «happy» to «happiness». tree →
• Prefixation adds to the front; suffixation adds to the end. tree →

Note

A linguistics word; teachers usually just say «adding a suffix». Watch spelling rules: drop the final e (hope → hoping), double the consonant (run → running), change y to i (happy → happier). Opposite place: «prefixation» (adding to the front: un-, re-, dis-).