Dr. Judith M. Newman

Spelling Patterns in English

 

   Sound Patterns Structural Patterns  Meaning Patterns  
 
 
    Prefixes   Assessment  
    Multi-Syllabic Words   1-1-1 Rule   References  

STRUCTURAL PATTERNS

ENGLISH SUFFIXES

Suffixes in English serve two functions: they indicate inflection (tense, number, comparison), and they indicate parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb). The regularity of these structural elements make the spelling of these parts of words predictable. The "meaning" these elements convey is grammatical function.

INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES

  TENSE NUMBER COMPARISON
  -ing
-ed 		-s
-es
-n 		-er
-est

DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES

NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB
  -tion
-ment
-ity
-sion
-ness
-ance
-ence
-ency
-ture
-al
-y
-ist
-ory
-ing
-cy 		-ize
-ate
-fy
-en
-ant
-ent
-al
-ful
-less
-ic
-ish
-ine 		-ous
-able
-ible
-ive
-ary 		-ly
- ally

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