Noun suffixes

Verb + suffix

Many nouns are formed in this way.

Verb	Suffix	Noun
improve (= get better)	-ment	improvement
manage (e.g. a shop or business)	-ment	management
elect (= choose somebody by voting)	-ion	election
discuss (= talk about something seriously)	-ion	discussion
inform (= tell someone something)	-ation	information
organise	-ation	organisation
jog (= running to keep fit or for pleasure)	-ing	jogging
spell (e.g. S-P-E-L-L)	-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 (not strong)	-ness	weakness
happy	-ness	happiness
dark (e.g. at night, when you can't see)	-ness	darkness
stupid   (not  intelligent, clever)	-ity	stupidity
punctual (= always arrives at the right time)	-ity	punctuality
similar (= almost the same; not different)	-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 educate        translate discuss

Noun education    translation  discussion

Adjective similar           stupid            punctual

Noun similarity     stupidity      punctuality

-er/-or and -ist

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

• dancer singer murderer farmer

-er

• driver manager footballer employer

-or

• actor director translator operator

-ist

• artist economist psychologist journalist

Note: Notice the common spelling changes:

• translate/translator


• operate/operator


• economy/economist


• psychology/psychologist.