Understanding New Words: Suffixes
English: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 1.1.2
Understanding New Words: Suffixes
We can break down words into different parts to help us figure out new meanings of words. One way to understand the meaning of a word is to look at the suffixes.
Suffix
- A suffix is a word or group of letters at the end of a word which changes the meaning.
Example
- In cycling, 'ing' is a suffix.
- 'Ing' means the root word is happening continuously or right now.
- So cycling means the activity cycling is happening right now.
More examples
- In darkness, '-ness' is a suffix that means a state or quality.
- So darkness means the state of being dark.
- In beautiful, '-ful' is a suffix that means 'full of'.
- So beautiful means full of beuty.
Test yourself on Understanding New Words: Suffixes
How can we call the group of letters '-ness' in the word 'sadness'?
What words have a suffix?