Welcome to today’s English lesson! We’re going to explore a super useful topic for beginner English learners: basic suffixes. Understanding suffixes is like having a secret key to unlock many new words and improve your English vocabulary quickly. This lesson is perfect for A1+ level learners who want to understand how words are built and speak more fluently. Let’s get started!

What are Suffixes?

Imagine you have building blocks. A suffix is like a special block you add to the end of a word to change its meaning or its job in a sentence. The main part of the word is called the root word. When you add a suffix to a root word, you create a new word! Learning about English suffixes for beginners is a fantastic way to expand your vocabulary without memorizing completely new words all the time.

For example, think about the word “help”. It’s a verb, meaning to give assistance. Now, let’s add the suffix “-ful”. We get “helpful”! “Helpful” is an adjective, meaning full of help or willing to help. See how adding just a few letters can change the word completely?

Why Learn Basic Suffixes?

Learning basic English suffixes is important for several reasons, especially if you want to improve your spoken English and understand more of what you read and hear:

• Expand your vocabulary quickly: Instead of learning each word individually, you can learn root words and then understand many related words just by knowing a few suffixes. This is great for vocabulary building!
• Understand new words easily: When you encounter a new word, knowing common suffixes can help you guess its meaning. You might not know the exact definition, but you can often get a general idea.
• Speak more confidently: Using a wider vocabulary makes your English sound more natural and fluent. Understanding suffixes helps you use a greater variety of words in your conversations.
• Improve your reading comprehension: Recognizing suffixes helps you break down complex sentences and understand the relationships between words.
• Improve your spelling: Learning suffixes can also help with spelling, as you’ll start to recognize patterns in how words are formed.

In short, learning basic suffixes is a powerful tool for any English learner! Let’s look at some common and very useful suffixes for beginners.

Common Basic Suffixes for Beginners

1. -er / -or (Person who does something)

The suffixes -er and -or are often used to create nouns that describe a person who does a particular action or job. This is one of the most useful English suffixes for beginners to learn. Let’s see some examples:

• teach (verb) + -er = teacher (noun – person who teaches) – My teacher is very kind.
• drive (verb) + -er = driver (noun – person who drives) – The bus driver is waiting.
• sing (verb) + -er = singer (noun – person who sings) – She is a famous singer.
• act (verb) + -or = actor (noun – person who acts) – He wants to be an actor.
• direct (verb) + -or = director (noun – person who directs) – The film director gave instructions.
• visit (verb) + -or = visitor (noun – person who visits) – We have many visitors in the summer.

Notice that sometimes we use -er and sometimes -or. There isn’t a simple rule to know which one to use, but you will learn to recognize them as you see more examples. For now, just remember that both suffixes can mean “a person who does something”. This is a great way to start vocabulary building.

2. -ing (Action in progress)

The suffix -ing is used to form the present participle of verbs. It often describes an action that is happening now or is in progress. This is essential for understanding and using continuous tenses in English, which is vital for spoken English practice.

• walk (verb) + -ing = walking (present participle) – She is walking to school.
• read (verb) + -ing = reading (present participle) – He is reading a book.
• eat (verb) + -ing = eating (present participle) – They are eating lunch.
• sleep (verb) + -ing = sleeping (present participle) – The baby is sleeping.
• play (verb) + -ing = playing (present participle) – The children are playing in the park.

You often see -ing used with forms of the verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were) to create the present continuous and past continuous tenses. Understanding -ing is key to talking about actions happening now.

3. -ed (Past simple and past participle)

The suffix -ed is very important because it’s used to form the past simple tense and the past participle of regular verbs. This is crucial for talking about the past in English. Mastering -ed helps you talk about past events in your spoken English practice.

• play (verb) + -ed = played (past simple and past participle) – I played football yesterday. / I have played football before.
• watch (verb) + -ed = watched (past simple and past participle) – She watched a movie last night. / She has watched that movie many times.
• walk (verb) + -ed = walked (past simple and past participle) – We walked to the store. / We have walked a long way.
• cook (verb) + -ed = cooked (past simple and past participle) – He cooked dinner. / He has cooked dinner for us.
• listen (verb) + -ed = listened (past simple and past participle) – They listened to music. / They have listened to this song before.

Remember that not all verbs are regular! Irregular verbs have different past simple and past participle forms (e.g., go – went – gone). But for many common verbs, -ed is the key to talking about the past.

4. -ly (Adverbs of manner)

The suffix -ly is often used to change adjectives into adverbs. Adverbs of manner describe how something is done. Learning -ly helps you describe actions in more detail and improve spoken English fluency.

• quick (adjective) + -ly = quickly (adverb) – She runs quickly. (How does she run? Quickly.)
• slow (adjective) + -ly = slowly (adverb) – He speaks slowly. (How does he speak? Slowly.)
• careful (adjective) + -ly = carefully (adverb) – Drive carefully! (How should you drive? Carefully.)
• happy (adjective) + -ly = happily (adverb) – They played happily. (How did they play? Happily.)
• loud (adjective) + -ly = loudly (adverb) – He shouted loudly. (How did he shout? Loudly.)

Be careful with spelling! Sometimes you need to change the adjective slightly before adding -ly, like “happy” becoming “happily” (y changes to i).

5. -ful (Full of)

The suffix -ful means “full of”. It’s used to create adjectives that describe something that is full of a particular quality. This suffix is great for expanding your descriptive vocabulary and making your spoken English more expressive.

• help (noun) + -ful = helpful (adjective) – He is a helpful person. (Full of help)
• care (noun) + -ful = careful (adjective) – Be careful! (Full of care, meaning cautious)
• wonder (noun) + -ful = wonderful (adjective) – It was a wonderful day. (Full of wonder, meaning amazing)
• beauty (noun) + -ful = beautiful (adjective) – She is a beautiful woman. (Full of beauty)
• power (noun) + -ful = powerful (adjective) – The car has a powerful engine. (Full of power)

The suffix -ful is a positive suffix, describing something good or desirable.

Let’s Practice!

Now it’s time to practice what you’ve learned about basic suffixes! Complete the sentences below by adding the correct suffix to the word in brackets. Choose from: -er, -ing, -ed, -ly, -ful.

1. She is a ________ (teach). She works at the local school.
2. The children are ________ (play) in the garden right now.
3. I ________ (watch) a funny movie last night.
4. He walks very ________ (slow).
5. Thank you for being so ________ (help).
6. My brother is a ________ (drive). He drives a taxi.
7. The cat is ________ (sleep) on the sofa.
8. They ________ (listen) to music yesterday evening.
9. Please speak ________ (quiet). The baby is sleeping.
10. This book is very ________ (wonder). I enjoyed it a lot.

Answer Key

1. She is a teacher. She works at the local school.
2. The children are playing in the garden right now.
3. I watched a funny movie last night.
4. He walks very slowly.
5. Thank you for being so helpful.
6. My brother is a driver. He drives a taxi.
7. The cat is sleeping on the sofa.
8. They listened to music yesterday evening.
9. Please speak quietly. The baby is sleeping.
10. This book is very wonderful. I enjoyed it a lot.

Continue Learning and Practicing with Lingofrnd

Congratulations on completing this lesson on basic English suffixes! You’ve taken a great step towards vocabulary building and improving your understanding of English words. Remember, the best way to learn vocabulary is to practice using it! To really master English suffixes for beginners and improve your spoken English, you need to speak and use these words in conversation.

That’s where Lingofrnd.com comes in! Lingofrnd is your AI spoken English teacher, ready to help you practice using these suffixes and many other aspects of English grammar and vocabulary. With Lingofrnd, you can practice speaking anytime, anywhere, and get instant feedback to boost your confidence.

Ready to take your English speaking to the next level? Visit Lingofrnd.com today and Download App to start practicing now! Start speaking English with confidence with Lingofrnd!