Prefix and Suffix Types
Using prefixes and suffixes correctly are an important part of doing the word formation exercise , which is Part 3 in the Use of English exam. We have seen suffixes we use to talk about people and there is a larger group of noun suffixes which are used to create nouns in general.
Noun Suffixes
When we use these suffixes we are describing an idea.
For example
- Kind – ness is the act of being kind.
- Imagin -ation describes the thing which allows us to imagine ideas.
- Optim -ism describes the action of feeling optimistic.
Suffixes
It is important to learn how these suffixes are used in English and to recognise the different endings to nouns. Some languages way have similar words so it can be interesting to review those kinds of words from your own language if they exist.
- -ism
- -tion/-sion
- -ation
- -ence/-ance
- -ness
- -ment
- -ity
- -ship
- -hood
- -ery
- -age
- -ics
- -acy
optimism
situation / decision
admiration
existence / appearance
happiness
enjoyment
reality
friendship
childhood
bakery
marriage
politics
privacy
NOTE There is also a very small group of words which use -f as a suffix to create a noun.
- prove -> proof
- believe -> belief
- relieve->relief
General Noun Suffixes Practice
Choose the correct noun suffix for each of the following questions.
EXAMPLE
kind, warm, cold, bright
- -ness
- -ism
- -ment
- -tion