Suffixes, Prefixes,

A letter or a group of letters placed after a word to form a new word is called a suffix.

Some suffixes are s, es, ed, ing, er, est, ly, ful.

For older students you can add these: able, ible, ment, ive, ance, ence, ion, tion, ition, ation, sion, ous, ious, less, and al.

Sometimes a word will have two suffixes. For example, respectfully has the two suffixes ful and ly added to the root word respect.

You would add -es to the end of a root word if the word ends in: ch, sh, ss, zz, x

Most words add -s to the root forms without any change. Example: run to runs.

Adding a suffix sometimes changes the spelling of a root word, and the kids need to be taught the suffixes that cause changes.  The three most common spelling changes are:

     1.  Consonant doubling (rip, ripping): If a word has a consonant -vowel-consonant it is usually doubled up.  Most will also contain a short vowel sound.

     Other examples are:  chop - chopping     wrap - wrapping     grin - grinning     shop - shopping 

     Notice how the consonant is doubled so that the first syllable will form the original word.

Go to worksheet to print for practice.

Adding suffixes to words ending with y.

A syllable placed before a word to change its meaning is called a prefix. Some prefixes are im, un, in, co, dis, inter.