Hello, and welcome to suffixes.
In this video you'll learn about a special group of letters that appear at the end of words.
Before watching this video, it's a good idea to check out the video called
prefixes. You can also stop the video here and come back later after you've watched it.
Just like with prefixes, suffixes can help you understand the meaning of a word.
Suffixes are a group of letters that are fixed or attached to the end of words.
The prefix in the word suffix is suff, meaning sub, below, or after, and as you remember,
fix means to attach. So we are attaching a set of letters after a word. Let's take a look at
some suffixes to see how you can use them to help you understand the meaning of words.
The suffix ful is a common suffix, meaning full of. If you are careful,
then you are full of care, because the suffix full means to be full of.
This means you are cautious and not clumsy. Remember, care is the main word or root word,
and the suffix ful is attached to the end of it. Let's take a look at the next word, painful.
If you have a cut that is painful, then you have a wound that hurts a lot. The main word is pain
and the suffix is ful, meaning to be full of. Therefore, you are full of pain. The final word
is beautiful. If your mother is full of beauty, then you would call her beautiful.
Here the next suffix is er, which means doer, or the person who does whatever the root word says.
For example, a person who gardens is a gardener. I know this because the suffix er tells me that
it's a person doing it. Here are some more examples, a person who teaches is a teacher,
a person who bakes is a baker, a person who dances is a dancer, a person who paints is a painter,
and a person who works is a worker, and so on. If you know the root word, then you will know that a
person can do that thing just by adding the suffix er. The final suffix we're going to look at is
ous, which is similar to the suffix ful, because it also means full of. Let's take a look at
courage. If you are full of courage, then you are considered to be courageous. What about marvelous?
If you are full of marvel, then you are a marvelous person. How about poisonous?
If the plant is full of poison, then it is poisonous. Oh no, be careful! Did you notice
how the suffixes change the meaning of the word each time? As you read, pay attention to root
words and their suffixes. Then ask yourself what the suffix means and how it changes the
meaning of the root word. This will help you understand the meaning of the entire word.
You can find lists of other suffixes in the dictionary or online. In the meantime,
keep practicing with our fun games, and always be clever.