Part of speech: Suffixes
There are many endings of words (known as “suffixes”) which are associated with different parts of speech. Here are some examples:
Part of Speech | Suffixes | Examples |
---|---|---|
Nouns | -ance | appearance, performance, significance |
-ence | dependence, existence, reference | |
-tion | definition, distribution, organisation | |
-sion | conclusion, dimension, tension | |
-ment | assessment, employment, environment | |
-ure | literature, procedure, structure | |
-ity | clarity, identity, majority | |
-age | advantage, package, percentage | |
Adjectives | -ant | important, relevant, significant |
-ent | consistent, dependent, evident | |
-ive | effective, informative, productive | |
-cial | beneficial, commercial, financial | |
-tial | artificial, influential, residential | |
-ous | ambiguous, obvious, serious | |
-ic | dramatic, economic, specific | |
Verbs | -en | strengthen, tighten, widen |
-olve | involve, revolve, solve | |
-ide | coincide, decide, divide | |
-ise | generalise, organise, revise |
It’s important to note that these are general patterns and there are many words which do not follow them. For example:
initiative (noun), mention (verb), sudden (adjective), statistic (noun), ensure (verb), wooden (adjective).
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