NOUN SUFFIXES


Verb + suffix


Many nouns are formed this way.

Verb                                Suffix                   Noun


improve                            -ment                   improvement
manage                             -ment                   management
elect                                 -ion                      election
discuss                             -ion                      discussion
inform                              -ation                    information
organise                           -ation                    organisation
jog                                  -ing                        jogging
spell                                -ing                        spelling

Note: Sometimes there is a spelling change. The most common is the omission of the final "e" before the suffix "-ion" or "-ation": translate/translation; organise/organisation.




Adjective + suffix


Nouns are also formed by adding a suffix to an adjective. Two suffixes often added to adjectives to form nouns are "-ness" and "-ity".

Adjective                        Suffix                    Noun


weak                              -ness                      weakness
happy                             -ness                      happiness
dark                               -ness                      darkness
stupid                             -ity                         stupidity
punctual                         -ity                         punctuality
similar                            -ity                         similarity


Pronunciation


The addition of these suffixes may change the pronunciation.

Nouns ending "-ion" or "ity" have the main stress on the syllable before, so the pronunciation may be different from the verb or adjective.

Verb                    Noun                 Adjective              Noun


educate                education            similar                   similarity
translate               translation            stupid                   stupidity
discuss                discussion            punctual                punctuality


-er/-or and -ist

These are common noun suffixes added to existing nouns or verbs, and they describe people and their jobs.

-er                    -er                    -or                    -ist


dancer             driver               actor                artist
singer              manager           director           economist
murderer        footballer          tranlator         psychologist
farmer            employer           operator         journalist


Note: Notice the common spelling changes: translate/translator; operate/operator; economy/economist;  psychology/psychologist.


From the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman (Cambridge University Press)