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What happens when suffixes are added to words?

Adding suffixes to words has a powerful impact on their meaning and sometimes even their grammatical function. Here's a breakdown of what happens:

1. Change in Meaning:

* Nouns: Suffixes can transform verbs, adjectives, or even other nouns into nouns.

* -er: "teach" becomes "teacher"

* -ment: "develop" becomes "development"

* -ness: "happy" becomes "happiness"

* Verbs: Suffixes can change nouns or adjectives into verbs.

* -ize: "modern" becomes "modernize"

* -ify: "beauty" becomes "beautify"

* -en: "weak" becomes "weaken"

* Adjectives: Suffixes can create adjectives from other words.

* -ful: "thank" becomes "thankful"

* -less: "hope" becomes "hopeless"

* -ish: "child" becomes "childish"

2. Change in Grammatical Function:

* Nouns: Suffixes can create nouns that function differently.

* -ing: "walk" becomes "walking" (a gerund, a noun form of a verb)

* -hood: "child" becomes "childhood" (a noun referring to a state or period)

* Adjectives: Suffixes can modify the degree of an adjective.

* -est: "big" becomes "biggest" (superlative)

* -er: "big" becomes "bigger" (comparative)

3. Other Effects:

* Change in pronunciation: Suffixes can affect the pronunciation of the word.

* "hope" becomes "hopeless" (the 'e' is silent in the original word but pronounced in the new one)

* Change in spelling: Some suffixes require adjustments to the base word's spelling.

* "try" becomes "trying" (the 'y' changes to 'i')

Examples:

* "Beautiful" is created by adding the suffix "-ful" to the noun "beauty." This changes the word's grammatical function to an adjective.

* "Quickly" is created by adding the suffix "-ly" to the adjective "quick," turning it into an adverb.

* "Worker" is created by adding the suffix "-er" to the verb "work," transforming it into a noun.

Overall, suffixes are powerful tools that allow us to expand our vocabulary, create new words, and express ourselves more precisely.

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