Grade by Grade
B. Foundations of Language · Reading Longer Words and Sentences

Word Parts II: Suffixes Change the Word's Job

B2.3 B2.4About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can find suffixes like -able, -ment, -er, -or, -ist, -ful, -less, -ness and -ly.
  • I can tell how a suffix changes a word's meaning or job.
  • I can read and understand words with a prefix and a suffix, or with two suffixes.
  • I can notice when the base word's spelling changed before a suffix.

Words to know

suffix
A word part added to the end of a base word, like -ful in helpful.
noun
A word that names a person, place, thing or idea.
verb
An action word or a being word, like run or is.
adjective
A word that describes a noun, like cold or careful.
adverb
A word that tells how, when or where something happens, like quickly.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you learned endings like -ed, -ing, -er, -est, and suffixes like -ful (full of), -less (without), -ness (being something), -ly (in a ___ way) and -y (full of, like). You also saw base words change: hop → hopping, bake → baking, cry → cried.

In Grade 3, you will learn new suffixes and see how a suffix can change a word's job in a sentence.

SuffixMeaningExamplesMakes a...
-ablecan be ___washable, breakable, enjoyabledescribing word (adjective)
-mentthe act or result of ___movement, payment, enjoyment, agreementnaming word (noun)
-er, -ora person or thing that ___teacher, skier, actor, sailor, inventornaming word (noun)
-ista person who does or makes ___artist, cyclist, dentistnaming word (noun)
-fulfull of ___careful, thankful, colourfuldescribing word (adjective)
-lesswithout ___careless, endless, fearlessdescribing word (adjective)
-nessthe state of being ___kindness, darkness, happinessnaming word (noun)
-lyin a ___ wayquickly, softly, bravelyword that tells how (adverb)
Suffixes and what they do

A suffix can change a word's job

Look at the base word move:

  • I move my chair. → move is an action (verb).
  • The dancer's movement was smooth. → movement names a thing (noun).
  • The puppet has movable arms. → movable describes the arms (adjective).

Same base, different jobs! Suffixes are like costumes that let a word play a new part.

moveaction word (verb)I move my chair.movementnaming word (noun)The dancer's movement was smooth.movabledescribing word (adjective)The puppet has movable arms.+ mentdrop e, + able
A suffix is like a costume: the same base word, move, plays a new part in the sentence.
Worked example

Let's take a word apart

Read: The enjoyment on her face was easy to see.

  1. Look for a suffix at the end: -ment.
  2. What is left? enjoy. (Inside enjoy is the base joy!)
  3. Add the meanings: enjoy + -ment (the act or result of) = the feeling of enjoying something.
  4. Check in the sentence: her face showed she was having fun. ✅

enjoyment = enjoy + ment: the feeling of enjoying something. It's a naming word (noun).

Worked example

Let's read a word with two suffixes

Read: carelessly

  1. Peel off the suffixes from the end: -ly, then -less.
  2. The base word is care.
  3. Build the meaning: care → careless (without care) → carelessly (in a way without care).
  4. Read it: care | less | ly. He carelessly dropped his mitts in the slush.

carelessly means in a careless way, without taking care.

care(base word)care + less= careless: without carecareless + ly= carelessly: in a careless way
Build a long word one step at a time: add -less, then -ly. To read it, peel the suffixes off the end the same way.

Watch for spelling changes

Sometimes the base word changes a little before a suffix. If a word looks strange, try to fix the base word in your head:

  • Drop the e: move → movable, believe → believable
  • y changes to i: happy → happiness, easy → easily, beauty → beautiful
  • Double the last letter: run → runner, swim → swimmer

-er has two jobs

-er can mean a person who: teacher, skier, baker.

But it can also mean more: taller, colder, faster.

Ask: is the word naming a person or thing, or comparing? The skier was faster uses both!

Worked example

Let's read a word with a prefix and a suffix

Read: The ice was so slippery that walking was unsafe, and the hill was unclimbable.

What does unclimbable mean?

  1. Peel off the prefix: un- (not).
  2. Peel off the suffix: -able (can be).
  3. The base word is climb. (Remember: the b in climb is silent.)
  4. Build the meaning: not + can be climbed = cannot be climbed.

unclimbable means not able to be climbed. Prefix + base + suffix.

Just for fun

Riddle: I ride a bicycle everywhere, but nobody calls me a bicycle-er. What am I?

A cyclist! (cycle + ist: drop the e)

Hands-on activity

Word sum building

You need: paper, a pencil and a grown-up partner.

A word sum shows the parts of a word with plus signs, like un + help + ful = unhelpful.

  1. Write these word sums and solve them: pay + ment, art + ist, thank + ful, fear + less, dark + ness, wash + able, sail + or.
  2. Now go backwards. Write word sums for: kindly, enjoyment, painter, rethinking, unbreakable.
  3. Read each word aloud and use it in a sentence.

Answers: payment, artist, thankful, fearless, darkness, washable, sailor. kind + ly; en + joy + ment (or enjoy + ment); paint + er; re + think + ing; un + break + able.

Your turn

1

What does -able mean? Read washable.

2

Find the base word and suffix in artist.

3

What does fearless mean?

4

Read payment. Is it a naming word (noun) or an action word (verb)?

5

Add a suffix to slow to tell how someone walked.

6

What is the base word in happiness?

7

Read: The inventor made a breakable toy by mistake. Find two suffixes.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does -less mean?

2

What does -ful mean?

3

Find the suffix in sailor.

4

Read kindness.

5

Add -er to ski to name a person.

More practice: on your own

1

Write the word sum for thankfully.

2

Which word names a person: cyclist or cycling?

3

Read agreement. What does it mean?

4

In The bus was faster than the bike, does -er mean a person who or more?

5

Read believable. What happened to the base word?

Challenge

1

Write two word sums for words that use the base help, each with a different suffix, and use one in a sentence.

2

Read unbreakable and breakable. How does un- change the meaning?

3

Read: The dancers' graceful movements filled the stage. Find the suffixes and explain what each word means.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What does -able mean in breakable?

2.

Which word names a person?

3.

What is the base word in enjoyment?

4.

Which word means in a brave way?

5.

What does carelessly mean?

6.

What is the base word of happiness?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Suffixes add meaning and often change a word's part of speech (move, movement, movable). Grade 3 students use these morphemes to read and understand longer words (B2.3, B2.4). Writing word sums (un + help + ful) is a common classroom routine.

How to help at home:

  • When you meet a long word, ask your child to "peel" the suffixes off the end and find the base.
  • Build word families together: paint, painter, painting, painted, repaint.

Common difficulties:

  • Not recognizing the base after a spelling change (happiness, believable). Ask: "What word could it be before the change?"
  • Confusing the two meanings of -er (person vs. more). Ask: "Is it a person, or is it comparing?"
  • Reading suffixes as separate words ("pay... meant"). Practise reading the whole word smoothly once the parts are found.

Spelling words with suffixes is taught in the companion writing unit.