Word Transformation #1: Nouns & Suffixes

As we saw in a previous post, word formation is extremely important in the English language and, consequently, in Cambridge English exams. For this reason, this is going to be the first of a series of posts on Word Transformation, which focuses mainly on Use of English Part 3, and to a lesser extent on Part 4.

In this article, we are going to see how to form nouns by adding suffixes. However, there are a couple of things you should probably know before reading on:

1. In some cases, there is a mention to what the suffix implies (e.g. profession, activity, etc.)
2. There might be some combinations that are not listed below.
3. Adding the suffix involves, in many cases, some spelling changes to the original word (e.g. peace – pacifist, etc.)
4. This is basically a list of possible combinations with suffixes to make nouns. It’s not a magic formula, as I believe there isn’t one!

• -ER/-OR – professions or things that do a job: write – writer, work – worker, shop – shopper, act – actor, operate – operator, sail – sailor, sharpen – sharpener, open – opener, project – projector, etc.
• – ANT/-ENT – professions: attend – attendant, inform – informant, assist – assistant, preside – president, etc.
• -ER vs -EE – people who do vs people who experience something:
  • employ – employer (person who employs) vs employee (person who is employed)
  • pay – payer vs payee
  • send/address – sender vs addressee
• -(A)(T)ION: inform – information, declare – declaration, capture – caption, contaminate – contamination, cultivate – cultivation, reduce – reduction, etc.
• -MENT: enjoy – enjoyment, agree – agreement, excite – excitement, replace – replacement, establish – establishment, etc.
• -AL: arrive – arrival, approve – approval, deny – denial, etc.
• -ANCE/-ENCE: attend – attendance, prefer – preference, insure – insurance, accept – acceptance, etc.
• -(S)ION: confuse – confusion, decide – decision, revise – revision, divide – division, televise – television, etc.
• -AGE: pass – passage, pack – package, marry – marriage,  etc. (See pronunciation here)
• -ING: bless – blessing, feed – feeding, seat – seating, dance – dancing, advertise – advertising, etc.
• -ERY: brew – brewery, bake – bakery, etc.
• -TH: grow – growth, bear/born – birth,

• -NESS – quality/condition: good – goodness, ready – readiness, forgetful – forgetfulness, sad – sadness, happy – happiness, etc.
• -IST vs -ISM – people vs ideology/activity:
  • ideal – idealist (person) vs idealism (ideology)
  • colonial – colonialist vs colonialism
  • human – humanist vs humanism
• -TH: true – truth, strong – strength, broad – breadth, long – length, dead – death, warm – warmth, wide – width, foul – filth, young – youth, etc.
• -ITY: flexible – flexibility, available – availability, productive – productivity, active – activity, etc.
• -ERY: brave (adj.) – bravery, etc.
• -Y: private – privacy, honest – honesty, jealous – jealousy, etc.
• -TY: safe – safety, cruel – cruelty, certain – certainty etc.
• -STER: hip – hipster, young – youngster, old – oldster, etc.
• -DOM: free – freedom, wise – wisdom, etc.

• -IST vs -ISM – people vs ideology/activity:
  • journal – journalist (person) vs journalism (activity)
  • peace – pacifist vs pacifism
  • anarchy – anarchist vs anarchism
• -IST – professions: science – scientist, physics – physicist, piano – pianist, cello – cellist, violin – violinist, etc.
• -AGE: pass – passage, bag – baggage, etc.
• -ERY: slave – slavery, machine – machinery, etc.
• -(AR)IAN: vegetable – vegetarian, human – humanitarian, sect – sectarian, music – musician, politics – politician, etc.
• -EER: engine – engineer, mountain – mountaineer, musket – musketeer, etc.
• -STER: gang – gangster, mob – mobster, spin – spinster, etc.
• -ERY: slave – slavery, etc.

• -HOOD: child – childhood, likely – likelihood, adult – adulthood, parent – parenthood, neighbour – neighbourhood, etc.
• -SHIP: friend – friendship, censor – censorship, partner – partnership, relation – relationship, etc.
• -DOM: star – stardom, bore – boredom, king – kingdom, etc.

So now you have the list of suffixes that can be used to form nouns. My advice is to take it easy and refer to this list whenever you’re not sure whether to use one or another. Memorising all these suffixes is a crazy idea, and the best thing to do, as always, is to see and study these in a clear context which makes sense to you!

Now, try your word transformation skills here (Advanced) or here (First – Upper-intermediate).

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