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What are noun suffixes? A summary of common noun suffixes in English
Some nouns are created by combining words with noun suffixes, in addition to the original nouns such as book, girl, etc. Here is a guide to using English noun suffixes.
I. What are noun suffixes?
What are noun suffixes? Noun suffixes are a group of letters added to the end of a word to turn it into a noun. For example:
- The verb "teach" when added with the suffix "-er" becomes the noun "teacher".
- The adjective "sad" when added with the suffix "-ness" becomes the noun "sadness".
II. List of the 15 most common noun suffixes
What are some common noun suffixes? PREP has put together a table with the top 15 noun suffixes to address this question.
Noun suffixes | Example | Meaning |
-ness | happiness | the feeling of being happy |
-ment | development | the process in which someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced |
-tion/-sion | information | facts about a situation, person, event, etc. |
recession | a period when the economy of a country is not successful and conditions for business are bad | |
-ity | creativity | the ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas |
-ism | capitalism | an economic and political system in which property, business, and industry are controlled by private owners rather than by the state, with the purpose of making a profit |
-ance/-ence | importance | the quality of being important |
dependence | the situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating | |
-hood | childhood | the time when someone is a child |
-ship | friendship | a situation in which two people are friends |
-age | marriage | a legally accepted relationship between two people in which they live together, or the official ceremony that results in this |
-er/-or | singer | a person who sings |
doctor | a person with a medical degree whose job is to treat people who are ill or hurt | |
-ist | artist | someone who paints, draws, or makes sculptures |
-ity | university | a place where people study for an undergraduate (= first) or postgraduate (= higher level) degree |
-cy | efficiency | the quality of achieving the largest amount of useful work using as little energy, fuel, effort, etc. as possible |
-ing | reading | the skill or activity of getting information from books |
III. Noun formation in English
Therefore, how may noun suffixes be used with different parts of speech to form nouns? Let's explore the three primary ways below!
1. Verbs combined with noun suffixes
Formula:
Verb + noun suffix = noun.
For example:
Verb | Noun suffix | Noun | Meaning |
Celebrate | -tion | Celebration | a special social event, such as a party, when you celebrate something |
Depend | -ence | Dependence | the situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating |
2. Adjectives combined with noun suffixes
Formula:
Adjective + noun suffix = noun.
Example:
Adjective | Noun suffix | Noun | Meaning |
Free | -dom | Freedom | the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited |
Rich | -ness | Richness | the quality of having a lot of something that is valuable or interesting |
3. Nouns combined with noun suffixes
Formula:
Noun + noun suffix = noun.
Example:
Noun | Noun suffix | Noun | Meaning |
Scholar | -ship | Scholarship | an amount of money given by a school, college, university, or other organization to pay for the studies of a person with great ability but little money |
Journal | -ist | Journalist | a person who writes news stories or articles for a newspaper or magazine or broadcasts them on radio or television |
IV. Exercises on noun suffixes with answers
Let's practice the following exercises to gain more knowledge about noun suffixes!
1. Exercise
Exercise 1: Match the following noun suffixes with the appropriate verbs, nouns, and adjectives to form the correct nouns.
Verb/noun/adjective | Noun suffix |
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Exercise 2: Complete the sentence with the suitable noun form
- Her unique clothing style reflects her______(individual).
- The professor's______(intelligent) is evident in the way he explains complex theories.
- The Olympic team consisted of athletes from various countries, each proud of their______(national).
- The concert provided an evening of great______(entertain) for the audience.
- His______(obsess) with collecting rare coins has turned into a lifelong hobby.
Exercise 3: Choose the correct answer
- The______patiently explained the complex mathematical concept.
- Teach
- Teacher
- Teaching
- The movie offers two hours of ______ for the audience.
- Entertainment
- Entertain
- Entertaining
- Can I get some _______ on uni courses?
- Informative
- Informing
- Information
- As the team leader, Sarah took on the ______of ensuring that each team member completed their tasks on time.
- Responsibility
- Irresponsibility
- Responsible
- We all watched in _______as he juggled three flaming torches.
- Amazing
- Amazed
- Amazement
- Different cultures and eras have different ideas of what makes someone a great _______.
- Beautiful
- Beauty
- Beautifully
- Unfortunately, I lost _______halfway through the film.
- Interesting
- Interested
- Interest
2. Answers
Exercise 1 | Exercise 2 | Exercise 3 |
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Through this post, PREP hopes you have gained an understanding of 15 common English noun suffixes. Let’s follow PREP to enhance your grammar knowledge!
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