Suffixes of nouns in English: rules, examples

It is important to note that the suffix is an element that is attached to a word, and in most cases changes the meaning of the word and its role in speech.

As a rule, the suffixes of nouns in English are combined with specific words, which simply need to be memorized. However, there are a number of rules that need to be adhered to for competent language skills.

How many suffixes does English have?

Suffixes of nouns in the English language there is a huge amount, and they all have their own meaning. Therefore, it is very important to understand them. It is necessary to know that usually suffixes in the English language remain unstressed, but in certain situations they have a primary stress in the entire word.

It is important to note that there are:

1. The word-forming suffixes of nouns in English are responsible for creating new words that carry a different meaning. For example, the word collect , which in translation means to collect by adding the suffix or , acquires a new meaning to the collector , which means the collector.
2. Form-forming suffixes are responsible for transforming a word into another form, for example, into a past one. For example, the word cook , which in translation means to cook, when adding the suffix ed , acquires a past form without losing the sense of the word itself ( cooked -cooked). There are only 5 such suffixes.

The use of the suffixes er, or, ar

These suffixes of nouns in English, as a rule, are attached to the verbs and give the word the meaning of the performer of the action. Also, the suffixes er, or, ar can serve to indicate a tool that performs a particular action. It is necessary to give some examples to understand the situation visually:

1. Let's take the play verb, whose translation is "play" and add the suffix er . As a result, we get a noun player , whose translation is "player". In this example, you can see the difference when adding a suffix, because the word play , whose translation was the word "play", turned into a noun player , whose translation is "player".
2. The verb collect (collect) when adding suffix or acquires the meaning of "collector".
3. If to the verb beg , which means "to ask", to add the suffix ar , then the word will turn into a noun with the meaning "beggar".

An important point is that words such as father, brother, sister, daughter , also refer to this rule, despite the fact that their meaning does not indicate their occupation. Although, to some extent, the logic is present here.

As for the rules of writing, it is necessary to recall that there are verbs that end in a consonant e . In this case, when adding the suffix er , only one letter r is added.

It is interesting that translators often have to resort to descriptive translation when they meet with these suffixes. For example, the noun lifter is often translated as a lifting device, or the word timer is translated as a device that calculates time.

Another interesting fact is that nouns that have the or suffix are often of French or Latin origin. For example, a doctor, actor , etc.

Suffix -ist in English

The suffix ist is very popular, it gives the word the meaning of a professional figure in a scientific or political direction. This suffix in the English language is identical to our "ist", which has a similar meaning in the Russian language. The suffix ist can be appended to both nouns and adjectives.

Let's give an illustrative example, when this suffix is used to refer to a professional figure. For example, the noun psyshologist , the equivalent of which in the Russian language is the word "psychologist".

This suffix can also be used with musical instruments to indicate who plays them. For example, according to this principle, the word pianist was formed , which in translation means "pianist".

The suffix ist can be used to refer to a person who has a negative attitude towards a certain group of people, a direction in society. An excellent example of this situation is the word racist , which in translation means "racist".

Suffix -ian in English

This suffix can refer to the Latin or Greek origin of a particular word. The English use this suffix for:

1. Notation of nationality or belonging to a particular country. For example, russian - Russian, Russian; Ukrainian - Ukrainian, Ukrainian; Bulgarian - Bulgarian, Bulgarian.
2. This suffix can also be used to refer to professions, but this is a fairly rare occurrence. For example, musician is a musician; Librarian - librarian.

It should be remembered that nouns and adjectives that indicate membership in a particular country, nationality, are always written in English with a capital letter, regardless of the suffix. This rule applies to all adjectives and nouns denoting nationality, and these words can have absolutely any suffix.

It is important to note that nowadays words with the suffix ian can also be translated as adjectives.

To the relative of the suffix ian is the suffix an , but this suffix is not so common. But it should be noted that a sufficiently large number of words are formed with the suffix an and are actively used both in colloquial speech and in the official speech.

Suffix -ing in English

This suffix forms nouns from verbs. The presence of the ing suffix may indicate:

1. Act. For example, meet - meeting, meet - meeting.
2. The result . For example, proceed - proceeding, continue - practice.
3. The process . For example, build - building, build - construction.
4. Material . For example, wad-wadding, stuffing-stuffing.

However, it is worthwhile to understand the difference between gerund, verb and participle. All of them are used with the end of ing , but the differences between them are very significant. They appear in use and in meaning.

The ing suffix, of course, is also used to denote adjectives. First, adjectives with this suffix describe the subject to which they refer. For example, an "interesting trip" will be translated as an interesting trip .

This suffix can be used to indicate the cause. For example, something boring will be translated as something boring .

Suffixes -ment, -ion, -ism in English

A number of these morphemes have similar properties. These suffixes can make sense:

1. Movement, result or condition. A vivid example is the verb move , which in translation means "move." When you add a suffix - ment it turns into a noun and acquires a new meaning - movement , which in translation means "movement";
2. The suffix -ism can denote a system of views and beliefs. For example, racism (racism, racist), communism (communism);
3. The suffix - ion can also have the meaning of an action, process, or result. For example, revolution is revolution; Isolation; Restriction - restriction. The presence of this suffix always speaks of Latin origin.

Suffix -ess in English

This suffix plays a very important role in the derivation of the English language, because it forms nouns of the feminine gender. For example, the noun poet, when adding the suffix - ess, takes the form poetess and takes the feminine gender, these words are translated as: "poet poet" or noun sreward - the steward becomes stewardess and takes the feminine form with this suffix.

This suffix is also called a "female" suffix because it is one of the few suffixes for the formation of feminine nouns.

Suffixes -hood, -ship in English

These suffixes indicate the age, relationship and condition of a person. In English, the use of these suffixes is a very popular phenomenon. A vivid example of this is the words, for example, childhood , which translates as "childhood", motherhood , in translation meaning "motherhood", friendship , in translation "friendship."

It is important to note that the suffix - ship points to a certain group, united by some feature or characteristics. Also, this suffix can indicate a state of relations, for example, partnership , which in translation means "partnership." Indicates a title or position, for example, lordship , which translates as "lordship". The suffix- ship can define skills or skills, a vivid example is the word horsemanship , which, in English to Russian, will have the meaning of "riding art".

Morphemes -ness and -th

As for the suffix- ness , it serves to create the names of nouns from adjectives. A vivid example is the word cuteness , which translates as "attractiveness" is derived from the adjective "attractive", which in English will sound like cute .

The suffix -th plays an important role, because it indicates a noun with a quality value. For example, truth is true, health is health.

Of course, in English there is a huge variety of different suffixes that have different meanings, but the article lists the most used of them.