By knowing typical endings of words that identify nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, students can improve their vocabulary quickly and easily. This will also greatly improve reading comprehension. If you are reading, and come across a word that you don't know, follow these steps:
- try to identify the part of speech (noun, adjective, adverb, verb, preposition, conjunction, pronoun, or interjection).
- look at the root for similarities to known words.
- if possible, try to determine if the word is adding something positive or negative to the sentence.
- don't forget about your native language since English and may other languages share Greek and Latin roots.
- look at the prefix for added meaning (I will cover this in a future article).
- use context clues to aid in comprehension.
Don't give up so easily when you see new words. With a little thought, time, and effort, I have seen many students answer their own question: "Teacher, what does ______ mean?"
Use the following list as a general guide to help you identify and form nouns and adjectives. Adverbs often end in -ly, but some words can have the same form for different parts of speech. For example, fast is both an adjective and an adverb.
Here are some typical endings used for nouns and adjectives:
Nouns
- er – player
- ice – justice
- ness – happiness
- sion – division
- ance – finance
- ment – government
- hood – neighborhood
- dom – freedom
- cy – hesitancy
- ist – florist
- ity – charity
- ship – friendship
Adjectives
- ful – wonderful
- eous – gorgeous
- y – funny
- ish – childish
- ble – workable
- ial – dictatorial
- ent – different
- less – useless
- ng – exciting
- ly – friendly
- ar – familiar
- ive – abrasive
PERSISTENCE OVERCOMES RESISTANCE!
By Thomas, San Diego English School
Prefixes
Verb, Noun, Adjective or Adverb?
Choose the correct word needed to complete each sentence:
- It is not ___ to cross the street without looking both ways.
