Here's a breakdown:
* Root: The basic form of a word, carrying its core meaning. For example, "act" is a root word meaning "to do something."
* Suffix: A word part added to the end of a root word, changing its meaning or grammatical function. For example, adding the suffix "-ion" to "act" creates "action," a noun meaning "the process of doing something."
Examples of suffixes:
* -ing: Creates a present participle (e.g., "walk" becomes "walking")
* -ed: Creates a past tense or past participle (e.g., "walk" becomes "walked")
* -er: Creates a noun denoting a person or thing that does something (e.g., "teach" becomes "teacher")
* -ment: Creates a noun denoting an action, state, or result (e.g., "agree" becomes "agreement")
* -ly: Creates an adverb (e.g., "quick" becomes "quickly")
By adding suffixes, we can create new words with different meanings and grammatical functions, making the English language more expressive and flexible.