Suffixes are busy little word segments. They affect the meaning of a word and usually tell you what part of speech a word is (which comes in handy when you’re navigating through Word Knowledge questions that you can’t answer immediately).
TABLE 4-3 Suffixes
| Suffix | Part of Speech It Indicates | Meaning | Original Word: Suffixed Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| -able or -ible | Adjective | capable of | agree: agreeable |
| -age | Noun | act of | break: breakage |
| -al | Adjective | relating to | function: functional |
| -ance or -ence | Noun | instance of an action | perform: performance |
| -ation | Noun | action, process | liberate: liberation |
| -en | Adjective, verb | made from | silk: silken |
| -ful | Adjective | full of | help: helpful |
| -ic | Adjective | relating to, like | anemia: anemic |
| -ical | Adjective | possessing a quality of | magic: magical |
| -ion | Noun | result of, act of | legislate: legislation |
| -ish | Adjective, noun | resembling | child: childish |
| -ism | Noun | condition or manner | hero: heroism |
| -ist | Noun | one who or that which does | anarchy: anarchist |
| -ity | Noun | quality of or state of | dense: density |
| -less | Adjective, noun | not having | worth: worthless |
| -let | Noun | small one | book: booklet |
| -ly | Adjective, adverb | like | fearless: fearlessly |
| -ment | Noun | act or process of | establish: establishment |
| -ness | Adjective, noun | possessing a quality |
good: goodness
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