Inflectional Suffixes:
* Purpose: Inflectional suffixes are used to modify a word's grammatical function, like tense, number, or case. They don't change the core meaning of the word, but rather how it fits into a sentence.
* Examples:
* -s (plural): *cat, cats*
* -ed (past tense): *walk, walked*
* -ing (present participle): *walk, walking*
* -er (comparative): *tall, taller*
* -est (superlative): *tall, tallest*
Key Features:
* Usually occur at the end of a word.
* Don't change the word's part of speech. (A noun remains a noun, a verb remains a verb)
* Limited in number. (English has only a handful of common inflectional suffixes)
* Typically required for grammatical correctness.
Derivational Suffixes:
* Purpose: Derivational suffixes are used to create new words, often changing the word's part of speech and/or its meaning.
* Examples:
* -ment (noun): *agree, agreement*
* -ful (adjective): *care, careful*
* -ly (adverb): *quick, quickly*
* -ize (verb): *modern, modernize*
* -ness (noun): *happy, happiness*
Key Features:
* Can change the word's part of speech. (A noun can become an adjective, a verb can become a noun, etc.)
* Can change the meaning of the word.
* Can be added to both nouns and verbs.
* Vastly more numerous than inflectional suffixes.
In Summary:
Inflectional suffixes are like tweaks to existing words, while derivational suffixes are like building blocks for creating entirely new words with different meanings or grammatical functions.