BGC Senegal

The six suffixes (word endings) shown in the charts below are powerful shortcuts that can multiply your vocabulary easily and quickly.

 

STRUCTURE
BASE WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERB NOUN
power powerful powerfully powerfulness
powerless powerlessly powerlessness
ADJECTIVE SUFFIX
-ful to be full of a certain quality He’s a careful driver.
-less to be without a certain quality He’s a careless driver.
ADVERB SUFFIX
-fully to do something with a certain quality He drives carefully.
-lessly to do something without a certain quality He drives carelessly.
NOUN SUFFIX
-fullness to have the presence of a quality His driving is characterized by carefulness.
-lessness to have the absence of a quality His driving is characterized by carelessness.

 

Some base words take all six suffixes:

BASE WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERB NOUN
care careful carefully carefulness
careless carelessly carelessness
faith faithful faithfully faithfulness
faithless faithlessly faithlessness
fear fearful fearfully fearfulness
fearless fearlessly fearlessness
grace graceful gracefully gracefulness
graceless gracelessly gracelessness
harm harmful harmfully harmfulness
harmless harmlessly harmlessness
help helpful helpfully helpfulness
helpless helplessly helplessness
hope hopeful hopefully hopefulness
hopeless hopelessly hopelessness
joy joyful joyfully joyfulness
joyless joylessly joylessness
meaning meaningful meaningfully meaningfulness
meaningless meaninglessly meaninglessness
mercy merciful mercifully mercifulness
merciless mercilessly mercilessness
pain painful painfully painfulness
painless painlessly painlessness
power powerful powerfully powerfulness
powerless powerlessly powerlessness
rest restful restfully restfulness
restless restlessly restlessness
shame shameful shamefully shamefulness
shameless shamelessly shamelessness
tact tactful tactfully tactfulness
tactless tactlessly tactlessness
taste tasteful tastefully tastefulness
tasteless tastelessly tastelessness
thank thankful thankfully thankfulness
thankless thanklessly thanklessness
thought thoughtful thoughtfully thoughtfulness
thoughtless thoughtlessly thoughtlessness
use useful usefully usefulness
useless uselessly uselessness

 

Some base words take only the -ful and -fully suffixes:

BASE WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERB
beauty beautiful beautifully
bliss blissful blissfully
cheer cheerful cheerfully
delight delightful delightfully
disgrace disgraceful disgracefully
dread dreadful dreadfully
duty dutiful dutifully
fate fateful fatefully
force forceful forcefully
hate hateful hatefully
peace peaceful peacefully
play playful playfully
respect respectful respectfully
right rightful rightfully
sin sinful sinfully
skill skillful skillfully
success successful successfully
truth truthful truthfully
wonder wonderful wonderfully
youth youthful youthfully

 

Some base words take only the -less, -lessly, or -lessness suffixes:

BASE WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERB NOUN
aim aimless aimlessly aimlessness
breath breathless breathlessly breathlessness
effort effortless effortlessly effortlessness
heart heartless heartlessly heartlessness
life lifeless lifelessly lifelessness
motion motionless motionlessly motionlessness
sense senseless senselessly senselessness
sleep sleepless sleeplessly sleeplessness
weight weightless weightlessly weightlessness
worth worthless worthlessly worthlessness

 

Some base words take only the -less suffix:

BASE WORD ADJECTIVE
age ageless
back backless
bone boneless
bottom bottomless
child childless
collar collarless
cord cordless
direction directionless
face faceless
father fatherless
flaw flawless
home homeless
job jobless
limit limitless
mother motherless
name nameless
regard regardless
self selfless
sense senseless
sleeve sleeveless
speech speechless
stain stainless
word wordless
The more you practice these suffixes the easier they become part of your regular vocabulary.