Meaning & use
suffixes for verbs
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrasetechnical
Endings added to a base word to build a verb, such as -ize, -ify, -en, -ate, or -ish.
Grammar: Used as a topic label, so it takes a plural verb: 'Suffixes for verbs include -ize.'
Patterns
- suffixes for verbs include something
- add a suffix to a word
Suffixes for verbs include -ize, as in 'modernize', and -ify, as in 'simplify'.
Teachers often list suffixes for verbs on the board before a word-building exercise.
If you know the suffixes for verbs, you can guess the meaning of many new words.
phrasefixed phrase
A teaching list showing which endings can turn nouns or adjectives into verbs.
Grammar: Often followed by 'such as' when you give examples.
Patterns
- a list of suffixes for verbs
- study suffixes for verbs
Her notebook has a page of suffixes for verbs with one example next to each.
The exam tests common suffixes for verbs, not rare ones.
Common combinations
- common suffixes for verbs
- The handout lists the most common suffixes for verbs in academic English.
- learn suffixes for verbs
- Beginners learn suffixes for verbs before they study prefixes.
- a suffix for making verbs
- '-en' is a suffix for making verbs out of adjectives, as in 'soften'.
- word-building with suffixes
- Word-building with suffixes is easier when you sort them by meaning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- verb-forming suffixes
- A more technical label for the same idea; it sounds formal and is common in linguistics writing.
- endings
- A looser everyday word; it covers any ending, not only ones that create verbs.
Word family
- suffix noun
- An ending added to a base word to change its meaning or grammar.
- suffixation noun
- The process of adding a suffix to a word.
- prefixes for verbs phrase
- Beginnings such as re- or dis- that also build verbs.
Commonly confused: suffixes for verbs or prefixes for verbs?
suffixes for verbs vs prefixes for verbs
Prefixes go at the front of a word (rewrite, undo), while suffixes go at the end (widen, classify).
Practice
Which ending can turn the adjective 'deep' into a verb?
Choose one answer.
'-en' forms verbs such as 'deepen' and 'widen'. '-ness' and '-ful' make nouns or adjectives, and '-ly' usually makes adverbs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “suffixes for verbs”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.