Suffixes worksheets

Ready to teach your child about suffixes? Then use these suffixes worksheets to help your child master their lesson on suffixes. English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is used in educational institutions and businesses worldwide. Right from education to business, socializing and entertainment, science and research, you’ll find English spoken everywhere. Learning the language will give you an edge over others. One of the most important parts of learning English is grammar. To be able to read, write and speak the language fluently, one must be well versed in English grammar. 

One of the key lessons in English grammar that children must learn is affixes. Affixes are a string of letters, which are added to a root word. These words can either change the meaning of the root word or ensure that it fits grammatically in a sentence. There are two kinds of affixes, they’re called prefixes and suffixes. The easiest way to help your kids learn about affixes is with grammar worksheets like suffixes worksheets. 

Suffixes worksheets

To understand how to add suffixes to words, students need to practice a lot. Here are some suffixes worksheets for beginners to learn how to add suffixes to root words. These worksheets for kids will help them learn to add different suffixes to root words to change the meaning of the word.

Suffixes Worksheets for Beginners

Suffixes worksheets

Suffix Worksheets for 2nd Grade

Suffixes worksheets

3rd Grade Suffixes Worksheets

Suffixes worksheets

Suffixes Worksheets for Suffixes Ending with ‘-er’

Suffixes worksheets

What is a Suffix?

A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of a particular word. A suffix can alter the meaning of the root word or add to the meaning of the word. Adding a suffix to the base word often transforms the word into a different part of speech. A root word or base word is a word that stands alone. But when you add a suffix or prefix to these words, you get new words.

For example: Let’s consider the suffix ‘-s.’ This simple suffix can change a noun from singular to plural. 

WordSuffixWord + suffix
Tree‘-s’Trees
Spoon‘-s’Spoons
Book‘-s’Books
Pen‘-s’Pens

Similarly, sometimes a suffix can change the tense of a root word from present to past. The suffix ‘-ed’ can change a verb’s tense from present to past. Look at the examples below.

WordSuffixWord + suffix
chop‘-ed’chopped
learn‘-ed’learned
share‘-ed’shared
greet‘-ed’greeted

Other times, a suffix can change a noun into an adjective. Look at the examples below.

WordSuffixWord + suffix
hope‘-less’hopeless
fear‘-less’fearless
home‘-less’homeless
end‘-less’endless

Suffixes can help you identify whether a word is a noun, an adjective or a verb. Suffixes are added at the end of the root word, whereas prefixes are added at the beginning of the root word. Suffixes are an important part of English grammar. So, kids should learn how to use the various suffixes used in the English language. Learning how to use suffixes accurately and effectively will help improve their vocabulary and communication skills.

Different Types of Suffixes

The English language has several different types of suffixes. The four most common suffixes that every student should know are ‘-s,’ ‘-es,’ ‘-ed,’ and ‘-ing.’ These 4 suffixes appear very often in words.

‘-s’ or ‘-es’: When you add the suffix ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ to a root word, it changes the root word from singular to plural. For example: Adding  ‘-s’ to banana changes it to bananas. Adding ‘-es’ to box changes it to boxes.

‘-ed’: When the suffix ‘-ed’ is added to a root word, it changes the tense of the word from present to past. For example: When you add ‘-ed’ to melt, it changes to melted.

‘-ing’: When you add the suffix ‘-ing’ to a root word, it indicates that something is happening in the present. For example: When you add ‘-ing’ to jump, it changes to jumping.

Adding Suffixes to Root Words

Suffixes are divided into two categories. Before we learn how to add suffixes to root words, let’s look at the two kinds of suffixes. The two kinds of suffixes are 1. Suffixes that start with a consonant, and 2. suffixes that with a vowel.

Here are some examples of both kinds of suffixes.

Suffixes
Suffixes that start with consonants Suffixes that start with vowels
ly es
less ing
ness ed
ful able
ment ous

Rules for adding suffixes

Rule 1: A consonant suffix can be added to a root word directly.

 For example: Pain + ful = painful

Rule 2: There are three guidelines to add a vowel suffix to a root word.

  • Add the vowel suffix directly if the root word ends with two consonants.

For example: Jump + ing = jumping

  • If the root word has a silent ‘e’ at the end, drop the ‘e’ when you add the suffix.

For example:share + ed = shared

Rule 3: When you add a suffix to a word ending with y, change the y to i before adding the suffix.

For example: silly + ness = silliness

Of course, students must bear in mind that these rules don’t apply to all the words in the English language. But they are really helpful for beginners to figure out how to add a suffix to a root word.

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