BGC Senegal

Are you ready to unlock your linguistic potential? Ready to add color to your vocabulary and express yourself with greater clarity and creativity? Then you’ve come to the right place!

Suffixes are a valuable tool in every speaker’s arsenal—they provide a primarily rule-based way of adding additional nuances to words, making it easier to express yourself clearly while avoiding awkward monotony. In this beginner’s guide, you’ll learn the basics of suffixes, how to use them, and the five most important suffixes to master.

First of all, let’s cover the basic rules for forming a word with a suffix. To start, identify a root word — this is basically any word without a suffix. Then, take a suffix and attach it to the root, forming a new word — this is known as a derived word.

Now let’s take a look at five powerful suffixes and how they can be used to form derived words.

-ize: This suffix is used to create a verb from a noun. For example, you can turn the noun “nation” into the verb “nationalize”.

-ment: This suffix is used to create a noun from a verb. Take the verb “transform” for example, which can be turned into the noun “transformation”.

-al: This suffix is used to create an adjective from a noun. For example, you can turn the noun “discovery” into the adjective “discoveryal”.

-ly: This suffix is used to create an adverb from an adjective. You can take the adjective “beautiful”, for example, and convert it to the adverb “beautifully”.

-ness: This suffix is used to create a noun from an adjective. Create a noun out of the adjective “thoughtful” by adding the suffix to form the noun “thoughtfulness”.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of suffix use, let’s take a look at some tips and tricks for using them effectively. Always be sure to take context into account when deriving words — different suffixes can be used to create different words, and one suffix may even create multiple forms of the same word. For example, the verb “transform” can also be turned into the noun “transformation” and the adjective “transformative”. Finally, practice, practice, practice — the more you use suffixes, the better you’ll get at them.

So there you have it — your beginner’s guide to expanding your vocabulary with suffixes. Take the knowledge you’ve gained here and unlock your linguistic potential today! Improve Your Vocabulary With Suffixes

Having a large and robust vocabulary will help you in many aspects of life. Whether you are looking to learn a new language, ace a test, or simply have a better understanding of the English language, it can be extremely beneficial to build up your vocabulary with suffixes.

What are Suffixes?

Suffixes are small additions to already existing words that can vastly expand their meaning. While a base word can include a single concept, adding a suffix to the end of the word can make it more specific, plural, past-tense or even give a completely different definition.

Learning the Different Types of Suffixes

There are thousands of common suffixes that you should become familiar with in order to expand your vocabulary. When looking for ways to enhance your word knowledge, begin with the most common suffixes:

1. Able/ible: changes a word to a ‘able’/’ible’ adjective, making it capable of being done or acted upon. For example, the word ‘wish’ becomes ‘wishable’.

2. Ation/ition: generally used to change a verb into a noun, and can also mean the action or state of existing. For example, the word ‘operate’ becomes ‘operation’.

3. Ful/less: used to gives a sense of completeness or lack thereof. For example, the word ‘hope’ becomes ‘hopeful’.

4. Ity/ty: changes a word to a noun form that relates to a state or quality, often a condition. For example, the word ‘courage’ becomes ‘courageous’.

5. Ize: usually used to turn a noun into a verb, as in ‘finalize’.

Using Suffixes to Enhance Your Vocabulary

When it comes to using suffixes to enhance your vocabulary, there are a few key ways to practice.

1. Begin by using common suffixes to create new words from existing words. For example, starting with the noun ‘belief’, the suffixes -ful, -less, and -ity can all be used to create new words: ‘beliefful’, ‘beliefless’, and ‘beliefity’ respectively.

2. Look for terms you don’t recognize and use the suffixes you know to come up with a definition. For example, if you come across a word like ‘editorialize’, you can use the suffix -ize to determine what the word means: ‘to make the content of an editorial more coherent’.

3. Once you have a solid understanding of how the suffixes work, you should challenge yourself by using them in your everyday speech. By practicing and incorporating the words you learn into your material conversations, you will increase your proficiency.

Suffixes are an important part of English. Improving your understanding of their usage and integrating them into your everyday conversations or writing can really take your vocabulary to the next level. So practice often and enjoy the process of enhancing your language skills!

Wetake learning to the next level. Language is an incredible tool to unlock, and by learning the power of suffixes, you can give yourself the opportunity to communicate much more effectively. Once you understand the basics of how suffixes work, your linguistic potential will be unlocked, giving you the ability to take your vocabulary to the next level – and beyond!