BGC Senegal

Suffixes are just one way to expand your vocablulary and improve your literacy – and it can be easy and fun! With suffixes, you can take a word you already know and add a syllable or two to create a whole new one. It may seem intimidating, but with a few simple tips, you can start to enhance your vocabulary right away.

To begin, an understanding of basic word forms is essential. Root words consist of the core meaning of a word, without prefixes or suffixes. For example, the root of the word “politics” is “polit” – understanding the root word makes it easier to work with suffixes.

Once you have the basics of root words down, the next step is to begin exploring different types of suffixes. There are many different suffixes out there, and you can start to learn them with some practice. It may be helpful to start with the suffixes that are the most common, such as -ous, -less, -ful, -al, and -ment.

As you become more familiar with suffixes, try experimenting combining them with existing root words. For example, you can take the root “care” and add the suffix “less” to create “careless”. This technique can help you expand your repertoire of words quickly!

Finally, try to create unique words by combining suffixes with different root words. For example, if you take the root word “mini” and add the suffix “-fy”, you can create the word “minify”. These new creations can be expressive and poetic, and will help augment the richness of your writing.

With a little practice and effort, anyone can expand their vocabulary with suffixes. In no time, you’ll be well on your way to increased literacy! Improving your vocabulary is a great way to develop your English skills. One of the best ways to increase your word power is to use suffixes – word endings – to create new words. Understanding how suffixes work can help you transition from a beginner or intermediate learner to proficient and even fluent English speaker.

We’ll start with an explanation of why suffixes are so important. A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word. They can often change the words’ meaning and even its part of speech – from a verb to a noun, or from a noun to an adjective. Thinking of words with suffixes can help you to remember new vocabulary more easily by connecting it to words you already know.

Let’s look at some common suffixes in English.

-able and -ible

Adding -able or -ible to a verb can turn it into an adjective, which describes something or someone. For example, “tolerable” means “able to be tolerated” while “resistible” means “able to be resisted.”

-ment

Adding -ment to a verb often makes the verb into a noun. This suffix is also used to describe a process or state, as in “enjoyment” or “agreement.”

-ness

Using -ness will help you to create adjectives from words which are not verbs. For example, take the word “happy” and add “-ness” to it to get “happiness.” You can also use -ness to create nouns from verbs, as in “joyousness” from the verb “to joy.”

-ity

Adding -ity to a word often turns a noun into an adjective. For instance, if you use this suffix with “solitude,” you’ll get “solitary” – meaning “lonely.”

The best way to become accustomed to working with suffixes is to practice. Take a piece of paper and write down all the words you know, then see if you can add a suffix to make a new word. You might be surprised how many new adjectives and nouns you can come up with!

It’s time to kick-start your reading revolution! By expanding your vocabulary with the help of suffixes, you can become a more confident and comprehensive reader. Reading has never been more interesting than when splitting and mastering the suffixes open up a world of increased literacy!