Lesson 8

Suffixes

. Placed after the stem of a word to change its part of speech *

(A. Noun Suffixes (change words to nouns

Noun Suffixes Verbs Nouns

er (for the person- Write writer
who does an
(activity

paint painter
Work Worker
shop shopper
Teach Teacher
or (for the person- act actor
who does an
(activity
Operate Operator
sail Sailor
Supervise Supervisor
er & -or are also- Sharpen Sharpener
used for things (pencil-sharpener)
which do a
particular job
open Opener (bottle-
(opener
Grate Grater
Project Projector
er & -ee used to- Employ Employee
form opposites #employer
(er (for doers- (employees =staff)
(ee (for receivers-
Send Sender# addressee
address

1
 Pay Payer#payee
ion- complicate complication
pollute Pollution
alternate Alternation
Donate Donation
Promote Promotion
tion- Reduce Reduction
sion- Admit Admission
Noun suffixes –er, -or, -ee, -tion, -ion, -sion change verbs to
.nouns
er, -or are pronounced as–
ə

(ist (a person- (Marx(N Marxist

Used for people's .1
politics, beliefs, &
ideologies, & their
professions
(Type (V Typist
(Physics (N Physicist
(Terror (N Terrorist
(Journal (N Journalist
(Buddha (N Buddhist
(ist (a person- (Piano (N Pianist
Used for people .2
who play musical
instruments
(Violin (N Violinist
(Cello (N Cellist
(.Cellos (pl

ism (an activity or- (Buddha (N Buddhism

2
(ideology (Journal (N Journalism
Used for people's * (Terror (N Terrorism
politics, beliefs, (Marx (N Marxism
professions, &
ideologies
ness (used to make- Good Goodness
nouns from Ready Readiness
(adjectives Forgetful Forgetfulness
Happy Happiness
Sad Sadness
Weak weakness

(B. Adjective suffixes (change words to adjectives

able,- ible- (Drink (V Drinkable
Change verbs to) (Wash (V Washable
(adjectives (Read (V (Readable (legible
(Forgive (V Forgivable
(Eat (V (Edible (eatable
(Flex (V Flexible

(C. Verb suffixes (change words to verbs

ise –British, -ize-) (Modern (Adj Modernise
(American (Commercial (Adj Commercialise
Forms verbs from (Industrial (Adj Industrialise
adjectives

D. Other suffixes
Other noun suffixes *
ment (change verbs- Excite Excitement
(to nouns Enjoy Enjoyment
Replace Replacement
ity (change- Flexible Flexibility
(adjectives to nouns Productive Productivity
Scarce Scarcity
ship(added to- Friend Friendship
( nouns Partner Partnership
member Membership
hood- Child Childhood
(added to nouns) mother motherhood
al (change verbs to- Refuse Refusal
(nouns arrive Arrival

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 Other adjective suffixes*
ive- Passive
(Produce (V Productive
(Act (V
Active
al- (Brute (N Brutal
(Law (N (Legal (lawful
ous- Delicious
(Outrage (N,V Outrageous
(Fury (n Furious
ful- (Forget (V Forgetful
(Hope(N, V Hopeful
(Use (N Useful
less- (Use (N useless
(Home (N Homeless
(Harm (N, V harmless# harmful
ish- (Thirty (n Thirtyish
(Red (Adj Reddish
(Eight (N Eightish

Verb suffixes
ify- (Beauty (N Beautify
(Pure (Adj Purify
(Terror (N Terrify

Karl Marx (1818-1883) is best known as a revolutionary communist, whose

works inspired the foundation of many communist regimes in the twentieth
.century
Buddha
A religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China,
Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeastAsia, holding that life is full of suffering
caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenmentthat
enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is
.otherwise subject

Pronunciation *
(silent letter (written but not prononuced-
h/ is silent in Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist/
/Outrageous /e
/Replacement /e

4
/Excitement /e
/homeless /e

Notes on pronunciation
/Reduce /s
/Reduction /k
/Scarce /k/, /s
/Scarcity /k/, /s
/Useless /s
/Useful /s
/Use (n) /s
/Use (V) /z
/Physicist /FIZISIST

( hidden sound (not written but pronounced-

/Commercial /sh
/Admission /sh
(Cello (ch
/Delicious /sh

Derivatives *
(Act (V
(Actor, actress, activity (N
(Active (adj

(Operation (N
(Operator (N
(Operate (V

(Sharp (adj
(Shopping (N
(Teaching (N
(Supervision (N
(Employment (N
(Alternative (N

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(Readability (N
(Modernization (N
(Industrialization (N
(Excited (Adj
(Hopefully (Adv

(Pay (V
(Paid (Adj
(Payable (Adj
(Payment (N

(Terror (N
(Terrorism (N
(Terrify (V

(Pollution (N
(Polluted (Adj

(Flex (V
(Flexible (Adj
(Flexibility (N

(Produce(V
(Product (N
(Productive (Adj
(Production (N
(Productivity (N

(Brute (N
(Brutal (Adj
(Brutality (N
(Brutalize (V

(Legality (N
(Legalize (V

(Purify (V
(Pure (Adj
(Purity (N

(Donor (N
(Donation (N
(Donate (V

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(Beautiful (Adj
(Beauty (N
(Beautify (V

(Open (v, Adj

(Opener (N

(Weak (Adj
(Weaken (N

(Physical (Adj
(Physics (N
(Physicist (N

(Commercial (Adj
(Commerce (N
(Commercialize (V

Irregular Verbs *
Write wrote written
Teach taught taught
Pay paid paid
Bend bent bent
Forget forgot forgotten
Drink drank drunk
Read read read
Forgive forgave forgiven