A suffix is a letter or a group of letters placed at the end of a word in order to give it an additional meaning or to change its grammatical function.

Let’s see a few suffixes for nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Suffixes for nouns:

– acy

meaning: state or quality of someone or something
example: Knock at the door next time, please! Respect my privacy.
other examples: accuracy, legacy, pharmacy

– age

meaning: the process of something
example: Our marriage is not working anymore.
other examples: carriage, passage, sabotage

– al

meaning: act or the process of
example: The arrival of the King was spectacular.
other examples: refusal, survival, tutorial

– ance, -ence

meaning: state or quality of
example: We have maintenance 3 more hours.
other examples: performance, appearance, distance, absence, difference, coincidence.

– dom

meaning: place or state of being
example: Freedom is all we need.
other examples: boredom, kingdom, wisdom

– er, -or, -ist

meaning: a person who does something
examples: Our English teacher is the best.
He is our protector.
Is she the jurist we need to talk to?
other examples: trainer, baker, rider, possessor, agressor, inspector, protagonist, opportunist, zoologist

– ism

meaning: condition, state, the belief in something
example: Racism is a problem all over the nations.
other examples: alcoholism, communism, liberalism

– ity

meaning: quality of
example: Our inactivity affected the company income.
other examples: simplicity, diversity, rarity

– ment

meaning: condition of
example: Your punishment is to leave the city as soon as possible.
other examples: agreement, engagement, investment

-ness

meaning: state of being
example: His sadness affected us all.
other examples: weakness, darkness, sickness

-ship

meaning: state, condition, position
example: Friendship can last years if it is real.
other examples: relationship, citizenship, internship

Suffixes for Verbs:

-ate

meaning: state or quality of
example: Can you activate this device, please?
other examples: stagnate, eradicate, incriminate

meaning: to become
example: In order to lighten the palace, you have to pay a tax.
other examples: strenghten, sharpen, threaten

-ify

meaning: make or become
example: Can you clarify all this theory, please?
other examples: simplify, terrify, rectify

-ise (British English)

meaning: quality, condition, to become
example: Does he realise all you do for him?
other examples: apologise, rationalise, improvise

Suffixes for Adjectives:

-able

meaning: capable of
example: Sam is a reliable person.
other examples: adaptable, sociable, reasonable

meaning: pertaining to
example: Your son has a criminal behaviour.
other examples: natural, emotional, actual

-ful

meaning: full of, ability of
example: My daughter is a joyful girl.
other examples: painful, helpful, useful

-ible

meaning: ability
example: She is an incredible person.
other examples: sensible, flexible, terrible

meaning: relating to
example: Who’s that enthusiastic girl?
other examples: artistic, scientific, realistic

-ous

meaning: full of
example: She is a suspicious person!
other examples: ambitious, ridiculous, serious

-ish

meaning: having the quality of
example: Your childish imagination went too far!
other examples: selfish, foolish, oldish

-ive

meaning: having the nature of, tend to
example: Your impulsive mood affect our activity!
other examples: creative, aggressive, effective

-less

meaning: without
example: It’s a hopeless situation for our family right now.
other examples: useless, meaningless, careless

-y

meaning: characterized by
example: It’s a rainy day!
other examples: salty, dirty, healthy