50 Examples Of Suffixes | Meaning, Spelling, And Use

Suffixes are the endings you tack onto a base word. They can turn a verb into a noun (decide → decision), a noun into an adjective (music → musical), or an adjective into an adverb (quick → quickly).

You’ll get a quick snapshot of common suffix jobs, then 50 suffix examples with meanings and sample words.

What A Suffix Does In English

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make a new word or a new form. Cambridge’s grammar page on suffixes notes that the ending often creates a new word and may change the word class.

Suffix Types At A Glance

Job	What It Signals	Endings You’ll See
Noun from an action	an act, result, or state	-tion, -ment, -ness
Noun for a person	someone linked to a role	-er, -or, -ist
Noun for a group or status	rank, group, or condition	-ship, -hood, -dom
Adjective from a noun	related to or made of	-al, -ic, -en
Adjective for ability	able to be	-able, -ible
Adjective for “full/without”	having or lacking	-ful, -less
Verb building	make, cause, become	-ize, -ify, -ate
Adverb building	how or direction	-ly, -ward, -wise
Grammar endings	tense or comparison	-ed, -est

50 Examples Of Suffixes With Meanings And Words

Each item lists the suffix, what it usually adds, and one sample word.

Noun-forming endings

1. -er — a person who does something: teacher
2. -or — a person or thing that does something: creator
3. -ist — a person linked to a field or activity: artist
4. -ian — a person linked to a job, place, or group: musician
5. -ee — a person who receives an action: interviewee
6. -ment — an act, process, or result: development
7. -tion — an act or state: selection
8. -sion — an act or result: revision
9. -ation — an act or process: preparation
10. -ness — a state or quality: happiness
11. -ity — a state or condition: responsibility
12. -ship — a relationship, skill, or rank: leadership
13. -hood — a stage or state of being: adulthood
14. -dom — a domain, group, or state: freedom
15. -ism — a belief, style, or system: tourism
16. -age — a collection, action, or cost: storage
17. -ance — a state or act: appearance
18. -ence — a state or fact: confidence
19. -ure — an act or result: closure
20. -ing — an activity or result: reading
21. -ery — a place, practice, or goods: brewery
22. -ry — a group, practice, or state: poetry
23. -let — something small: leaflet
24. -ette — a smaller version: cigarette
25. -cy — a state, rank, or office: agency

Adjective-forming endings

26. -al — related to: personal
27. -ic — related to: athletic
28. -ical — related to: historical
29. -ous — full of or having: curious
30. -y — having the quality of: cloudy
31. -ish — like, or slightly: greenish
32. -ive — tending to or having: talkative
33. -ful — full of: joyful
34. -less — without: homeless
35. -able — able to be: comfortable
36. -ible — able to be: edible
37. -en — made of: golden
38. -ary — related to: temporary
39. -ant — doing or being: dominant
40. -ent — doing or being: dependent
41. -some — causing a feeling: troublesome
42. -like — similar to: childlike

Verb-building endings

43. -ize — make or become: organize
44. -ify — make or cause to become: simplify
45. -ate — make or act: activate

Adverb and grammar endings

46. -ly — in a certain way: quietly
47. -ward — in a direction: outward
48. -wise — in relation to: clockwise
49. -est — the most (comparison): smallest
50. -ed — past tense or past form: jumped

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries defines a suffix as letters added to the end of a word to make another word.

Examples Of Suffixes By Word Type For School Writing

When you’re stuck mid-sentence, start with the word type the sentence needs, then pick an ending that matches.

Nouns you can plug after “the”

If your sentence needs a noun, endings like -tion, -ment, -ness, and -ity show up often: communicate becomes communication, achieve becomes achievement.

Adjectives you can put before a noun

To describe a noun, try -al, -ic, -ous, -ful, -less, -able, and -ish. A quick check: if you can place the word before a noun and it sounds right, you’ve probably built an adjective that fits.

Verbs that show action

Need a verb that means “make” or “turn into”? -ize, -ify, and -ate often do that job: simple → simplify, active → activate.

Adverbs that tell how

Use -ly when you need to explain how something happened. One strong verb can beat three weak adverbs.

Spelling Changes When You Add A Suffix

Suffix work can trigger spelling shifts. These patterns are common on homework sheets and in everyday writing.

Spelling Pattern	What To Do	Sample
Final silent e	Drop e before a vowel-start suffix	write → writing
Final silent e	Keep e before a consonant-start suffix	care → careless
One vowel + one consonant	Double the consonant before a vowel-start suffix	run → running
Consonant + y	Change y to i before most suffixes	happy → happiest
Vowel + y	Keep y	play → played
Ending in ie	Change ie to y before -ing	tie → tying
Ending in c	Add k before -ed	panic → panicked

Study Moves That Make Suffixes Stick

Try these moves the next time you study 50 examples of suffixes.

• Make a word family: pick a base word and build four new words with four endings. Try help: helpful, helpless, helper, helped.
• Name the sentence slot: after “to” you often want a verb; before a noun you often want an adjective; after “the” you often want a noun.
• Split long words:responsibility is response + -ible + -ity. The endings give clues about word type.

Suffix Mix-ups Students Make

Endings can sound alike, so you might grab the wrong one. Learn some pairs and your spelling improves.

• -able vs -ible: both mean “able to be”: comfortable, edible.
• -ic vs -ical: both form adjectives: historic, historical.
• -tion vs -sion: both form nouns: selection, decision.

If you’re unsure, check the base word and say the new word aloud. If it sounds off, swap endings.

Mini Practice Set

Write the new word, then use it in a short sentence.

1. kind + -ness
2. teach + -er
3. care + -less
4. use + -ful
5. simple + -ify
6. history + -ical
7. panic + -ed
8. happy + -est

Do that set twice and you’ll start seeing endings everywhere. At that point, 50 examples of suffixes isn’t just a list to memorize. It’s a set of building blocks you can reuse in reading and writing.