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American List of Suffixes -- American English -- Page 1 |
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| This is a list of popular American suffixes. I give this list to my students and we go over some selected ones to show them how it works. I start with "tele" which means "at a distance". We then move to "scope" which means "an instrument for seeing" and thus we get from telescope "an instrument for seeing at a distance". Light bulbs begin to go off in the class as they begin to get the connections. We then look at a long word such as "teleconference". "Tele" meaning "at a distance," "confer" meaning to discuss or talk, and "ence" meaning, "act of doing". Thus we have a "doing a discussion at a distance". | |||
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples | Used |
| able, ible | capable of, worthy | agreeable, comfortable, credible | 1514 |
| age | act of or state of | salvage, bondage | 501 |
| acy, isy | quality | hypocrisy, piracy | 130 |
| al, eal, ial |
on account of
related to, action of |
judicial, official
arrival, refusal |
4395
853 |
| ance, ence |
act or fact of doing
state of |
violence, dependence
allowance, insurance |
4395
853 |
| ant |
quality of
one who |
defiant, expectant, reliant
occupant, accountant |
647 |
| er, or | agent, one who | author, baker, winner | 7618 |
| ed | past | jumped, baked | 5440 |
| ery |
a place to
practice of condition of |
nunnery, cannery
surgery bravery, drudgery |
324 |
| dom | state, condition of | wisdom, kingdom, martyrdom | 67 |
| ent | having the quality of | different, dependent, innocent | 1355 |
| en | made of, to make | woolen, wooden, darken | 1416 |
| eur, er, or | one who | dictator, chauffeur, worker | 63 |
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