Suffixes
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What Are Suffixes?

      A suffix is a group of letters you add to the end of a word to create a new meaning. 

Key Point:

Think about these words:

hot, hotter, and hottest

'er', and 'est' are suffixes. 😺 They change what hot means.

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs all have different suffixes!

Verb Suffixes

      Verbs are the parts of speech that describe action.

Key Point:

     '-ed' added to a verb makes it past tense.

Key Point:

Stop | Stopped

      When adding a suffix to a word ending with a vowel-consonant, double the consonant.

Key Point:

     '-ing' added to a verb makes it what's called a "present participle". It becomes about the act of doing that verb.

Key Point:

add | adding
swim | swimming

Remember to double the consonant there, too. 👆

     '-en' added to a verb means to become that verb. 

Key Point:

fast | fasten
length | lengthen
strength | strenghthen

Adverb Suffixes

      Adverbs are the parts of speech that describe verbs.

Key Point:

For example, in the sentence, "He quickly ran." quickly is an adverb.

     '-ly' added to an adjective turns it into an adverb that explains how something was done.

Key Point:

successful | successfully
careful | carefully

Adjective Suffixes

      Adjectives are the parts of speech that describe nouns.

Key Point:

     '-er' added to an adjective turns it into a comparison.

Key Point:

fast | faster

     '-est' added to an adjective turns it into a "superlative". It means something is done in the highest way.

Key Point:

fast | fastest
big | biggest

Did you notice how we doubled the consonant on biggest?

Noun Suffixes

      Nouns are the parts of speech that describe people, places, and things.

Key Point:

     '-er' added to an verb turns it noun that does that action.

Key Point:

teach | teacher
sing | singer

     '-s' and '-es' make a noun plural

Key Point:

ant | ants
wish | wishes

Great job learning about suffixes!

Can you spell words with the suffixes you just learned? Try the practice to see.

Remember: When adding a suffix (like -ing, or -ed) to a word ending with a vowel-consonant, double the consonant.

dig | digging

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