PART C — SUFFIXES (What Kind of Word Is This?)
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Recognising a suffix instantly tells you the part of speech — which alone can eliminate wrong answer choices in a fill-in-the-blank or cloze question, even before you know the word's exact meaning. In an MCQ where the blank clearly needs a noun, an option ending in -ify or -ous can be eliminated on sight, no dictionary required.
C1. Noun-Forming Suffixes
| Suffix | Meaning/Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -tion/-sion | the act, state, or result of | creation, tension, expansion, revision |
| -ment | the result or means of an action | judgment, argument, enactment |
| -ance/-ence | a state, quality, or action | tolerance, existence, vigilance |
| -ity/-ty | a quality or condition | civility, honesty, brevity |
| -ness | a state or quality (native English) | kindness, bitterness, awareness |
| -itude | a state or condition (more formal/abstract) | solitude, fortitude, servitude |
| -ology | the study of | biology, sociology, etymology |
| -phobia | fear of | claustrophobia, xenophobia, acrophobia |
| -cracy | rule, government | aristocracy, plutocracy, theocracy |
| -ism | a doctrine, practice, or condition | nationalism, skepticism, altruism |
| -or/-er | one who does | mentor, orator, arbiter |
| -ee | one who receives an action | employee, nominee, trainee |
| -dom | a state, rank, or domain | freedom, kingdom, boredom |
| -ship | a state, condition, or skill | scholarship, hardship, kinship |
-tion vs -ment vs -ance/-ence — a finer distinction. All three turn a verb into a noun of "the state/act of ___-ing," but they are not interchangeable, and exam-setters exploit exactly this to test whether you actually understand the word or are just guessing by shape.
- -tion usually attaches to Latin verbs ending in -ate or with a -t/-s stem, and denotes a completed act or its result: create → creation, revise → revision, construct → construction. The noun feels like a finished event or a concrete outcome.
- -ment attaches more loosely and often denotes the means or product of an action rather than the act itself: judge → judgment (the ruling itself, not the act of judging), argue → argument (the case made), govern → government (the system that results).
- -ance/-ence denotes an ongoing state, quality, or capacity rather than a single completed event: tolerate → tolerance (an ongoing disposition), exist → existence (a continuing state), persist → persistence.
Compare: He filed an objection (a specific act — -tion) vs. His argument was weak (the content produced — -ment) vs. His persistence paid off (an ongoing quality — -ence). If you can ask "is this a one-time event, a produced thing, or an ongoing trait?" you can usually pick the right suffix even for a word you've never formally studied.
C2. Adjective-Forming Suffixes
| Suffix | Meaning/Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -able/-ible | capable of being | readable, visible, credible, tangible |
| -ous/-ious | full of, characterised by | dangerous, ambitious, gracious |
| -ive | tending to, having the nature of | creative, decisive, pensive |
| -al/-ial | relating to | cultural, financial, judicial |
| -less | without | fearless, timeless, ruthless |
| -ful | full of | hopeful, resentful, deceitful |
| -esque | in the style/manner of | picturesque, statuesque, grotesque |
| -oid | resembling | humanoid, asteroid, spheroid |
| -ic/-ical | relating to, of the nature of | economic, historical, ironic |
| -ant/-ent | performing/being an action or state | vigilant, dependent, reticent |
| -escent | becoming, in the process of | convalescent, evanescent, obsolescent |
| -ile | relating to, capable of | fragile, docile, tactile |
C3. Verb-Forming Suffixes
| Suffix | Meaning/Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ize/-ise | to make, to cause to become | modernize, sanitize, sympathize |
| -ify/-fy | to make, to cause to become | simplify, pacify, magnify |
| -ate | to cause, to make, to act upon | activate, alienate, perpetuate |
| -en | to make, to become (native English) | strengthen, deepen, sadden |
Confusable pair — -able/-ible vs -ive: both can turn a verb-root into an adjective, but they answer different questions. -able/-ible answers "can this be done to it?" (a readable report is one that can be read; a visible object is one that can be seen). -ive answers "does it tend to do this?" (a creative person tends to create; a decisive person tends to decide). Confusing the two produces real errors: responsible (capable of being held accountable) is not the same claim as a hypothetical responsive (tending to respond) — both are real words, but they answer different questions about the same root idea, and exam options frequently pair them precisely to test whether you've noticed the difference.
C4. Suffix Chains — How Multiple Suffixes Stack
Long exam words are frequently not one root plus one suffix, but a chain — a verb-forming suffix followed by a noun-forming suffix, layered on top of a root. Learning to peel a chain apart, one link at a time, from the outside in, defuses even the most alarming-looking words.
- modern → modernize → modernization
- modern (adjective) + -ize (verb suffix: "to make modern") + -ation (noun suffix: "the act of") = "the act of making modern"
- social → socialize → socialization
- social (adjective) + -ize (to make social) + -ation (the process of) = "the process of becoming social/integrated"
- industry → industrialize → industrialization → deindustrialization
- industry (noun) + -al (adjective: relating to industry) + -ize (verb: to make industrial) + -ation (noun: the process) + de- (prefix: reversal) = "the reversal of the process of making industrial"
- legitimate → delegitimize → delegitimization
- legitimate (adjective) + de- (prefix: remove) + -ize (verb: to make) + -ation (noun: the process) = "the process of removing legitimacy"
- character → characterize → characteristically
- character (noun) + -ize (verb: to describe the character of) + -ic (adjective) + -al (adjective, redundantly reinforcing) + -ly (adverb: in a manner) = "in a manner typical of one's character"
- commerce → commercialize → commercialization
- commerce (noun) + -ial (adjective: relating to commerce) + -ize (verb: to make commercial) + -ation (noun: the process) = "the process of making something commercial in nature"
Notice the recurring pattern -ize + -ation — this is the single most productive suffix chain in formal/academic English, because -ize turns almost any noun or adjective into a verb ("to make X"), and -ation then turns that verb back into a noun ("the process of making X"). Once you can spot -ization at the end of a word, you already know two things without reading further: (1) it's a noun, and (2) it names a process, not a single event or a static quality. That alone is often enough to answer a "which word best fits" question correctly.