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:
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| 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.
