Common suffixes (nouns)

These are the most common suffixes to create nouns from other kinds of words. Note
that in some cases, some changes in the spelling are also necessary:
happy happiness.
Noun Suffixes
Suffix
Example
-acy
privacy
-al
refusal
-ance, -ence
-dom
-er, -or
-ism

maintenance, eminence
freedom, kingdom
trainer, protector
communism

-ist
-ity, -ty
-ment

chemist
veracity
argument

-ness
-ship
-sion, -tion

heaviness
fellowship
concession, transition

However, some of them are irregular:

Deep (adj)
Strong (adj)
Famous (Adj)

Depth (noun)
Strength (noun)
Fame (noun)

Common suffixes (verbs)

These are the most common suffixes to create verbs from other kinds of words. Note
that in some cases, some changes in the spelling are also necessary, including adding
the prefix en-:
Courage - Encourage
Light - Enlighten
Verb Suffixes
Suffix

Example

-ate

eradicate

-en
-ify, -fy
-ize, -ise

enlighten
terrify
civilize

Common suffixes (adjectives and adverbs)

These are the most common suffixes to create adjectives from other kinds of words.
Note that in some cases, some changes in the spelling are also necessary.
Adjective Suffixes
-able, -ible edible, presentable
-al

regional

-esque

picturesque

-ful

bautiful

-ic, -ical

musical, mythic

-ious, -ous nutritious, portentous

-ish

pinkish

-ive

creative

-less

endless

-y

creepy

To create an adverb, we normally add the suffix ly to an adjective. However, in some

cases, the same word can work as both the adjective and the adverb:
Slow (adj)

Slowly (adv)

Hard (adj)

Hard (adv)

Fast (adj)

Fast (adv)

UNIT 4
Common prefixes
Prefix
a-, ananteantiautococontradedisenexextrail-, im-, in-,

Example
amoral
antecedent
anticlimax
autopilot
copilot
contradict
devalue
disappear
enclose
extract, ex-president
extracurricular
illegal, immoral, inconsiderate,

irmispostpre-, proresubtransununi-

irresponsible
misbehave
postmortem
precede, project
reappear
submarine
transmit
unfinished
unicorn

(1) Modify the words in bold so that they fit in the text.
My trip to Tokyo
My friendly cab driver, Diane, who takes me to the airport on
(1)__________ trips, gave me a free cab ride. We checked in at
Northwest's (2)__________ departure counter, which was
nearly empty, 2 hours before our flight. We had some good
luck right from the start of this trip: the pilot made an
(3)__________ that we would be arriving at Tokyo-Narita
airport an hour ahead of schedule due to (4)__________
weather conditions. The flight attendants were extremely nice
and highly professional. We landed at NRT at around 3 PM
and made it through customs (5)_________ with no problems.
We had two errands to do at NRT: pick up Japan Rail Passes,
and cash some travelers checks for yen. It took about 10
minutes for the agent to issue the passes and make
(6)__________. By the way, the rail passes were a great deal.
For $280, we were able to take an (7)__________ number of
train rides on Japan Rail and go anywhere we wanted. We
boarded the train for Tokyo at around 4:50 in the afternoon and
arrived at Tokyo Station at around 6. The cab ride from the
station to the hotel was (8)__________ interesting. Despite the
fact that our hotel was only about 10 minutes from the station,
the cab driver got lost on the way. Not only once, but three
times. He had to keep (9)__________ the hotel and calling for
directions, and eventually he zeroed in on it. One of the most
interesting features of Japan is that there are no street
addresses. To describe the (10)__________ of a business, you
name the intersection or subway station that it is closest to and
how far the business is from that intersection and in what
direction. If one or both of the streets are obscure, the place
will be next to (11)__________ to find.
Adapted from: http://www.dgolds.com/oldsite/Japan/Japan.htm

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