A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word which makes a new word

SUFFIXS

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word which makes a new word.

words	suffix	new words
forget, use	-ful	forgetful, useful
state, govern	-ment	statement, government
complicate, create	-ion	complication, creation

The new word is most often a different word class from the original word. In the table above, the suffix -ful has changed verbs to adjectives, -ment, and -ion have changed verbs to nouns. If you see a word ending in -ment, for example, it is likely to be a noun (e.g. commitment, contentment).

Suffixes: spelling

Often, the suffix causes a spelling change to the original word. In the table above, the -e ending of complicate and create disappears when the -ion suffix is added. Other examples of spelling changes include:

1. 
   beauty, duty + -ful → beautiful, dutiful (-y changes to i)
   
2. 
   heavy, ready + -ness → heaviness, readiness (-y changes to i)
   
3. 
   able, possible + -ity → ability, possibility (-le changes to il)
   
4. 
   permit, omit + -ion → permission, omission (-t changes to ss)
   

A good learner’s dictionary will give you information on the correct spelling of words with suffixes.

See also:

• 
  Spelling
  

Common suffixes and examples

Noun suffixes

suffix	examples of nouns
-age	baggage, village, postage
-al	arrival, burial, deferral
-ance/-ence	reliance, defence, insistence
-dom	boredom, freedom, kingdom
-ee	employee, payee, trainee
-er/-or	driver, writer, director
-hood	brotherhood, childhood, neighbourhood
-ism	capitalism, Marxism, socialism (philosophies)
-ist	capitalist, Marxist, socialist (followers of philosophies)
-ity/-ty	brutality, equality, cruelty
-ment	amazement, disappointment, parliament
-ness	happiness, kindness, usefulness
-ry	entry, ministry, robbery
-ship	friendship, membership, workmanship
-sion/-tion/-xion	expression, population, complexion

Adjective suffixes

suffix	examples of adjectives
-able/-ible	drinkable, portable, flexible
-al	brutal, formal, postal
-en	broken, golden, wooden
-ese	Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese

Prefixes are letters which we add to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes can, for example, create a new word opposite in meaning to the word the prefix is attached to. They can also make a word negative or express relations of time, place or manner. Here are some examples:

base word	prefixed word	type of meaning
possible	impossible	opposite
able	unable	opposite/negation
payment	non-payment	negation
war	pre-war	time (before)
terrestrial	extraterrestrial	place (outside of/beyond)
cook	overcook	manner (too much)

I’m sorry I was unable to attend the meeting.

Non-payment of fees could result in a student being asked to leave the course.

Has anyone ever really met an extraterrestrial being? (meaning a being from another planet)

The meat was overcooked and quite tasteless.

The most common prefixes

prefix	meaning	examples
anti-	against/opposed to	anti-government, anti-racist, anti-war
auto-	self	autobiography, automobile
de-	reverse or change	de-classify, decontaminate, demotivate
dis-	reverse or remove	disagree, displeasure, disqualify
down-	reduce or lower	downgrade, downhearted
extra-	beyond	extraordinary, extraterrestrial
hyper-	extreme	hyperactive, hypertension
il-, im-, in-, ir-	not	illegal, impossible, insecure, irregular
inter-	between	interactive, international
mega-	very big, important	megabyte, mega-deal, megaton
mid-	middle	midday, midnight, mid-October
mis-	incorrectly, badly	misaligned, mislead, misspelt
non-	not	non-payment, non-smoking
over-	too much	overcook, overcharge, overrate
out-	go beyond	outdo, out-perform, outrun
post-	after	post-election, post-war
pre-	before	prehistoric, pre-war
pro-	in favour of	pro-communist, pro-democracy
re-	again	reconsider, redo, rewrite
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-retired
sub-	under, below	submarine, sub-Saharan
super-	above, beyond	super-hero, supermodel
tele-	at a distance	television, telepathic
trans-	across	transatlantic, transfer
ultra-	extremely	ultra-compact, ultrasound
un-	remove, reverse, not	undo, unpack, unhappy
under-	less than, beneath	undercook, underestimate
up-	make or move higher	upgrade, uphill

Writing prefixes: hyphens (super-hero or supermodel)

There are no absolute rules for when to use a hyphen or when to write a prefixed word as one whole word (see the examples in the table). A good learner’s dictionary will tell you how to write a prefixed word.

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