Word Formation 英语词缀总结

-ant, -ent: --having the nature of
e.g. pleasant, dependent, urgent, patient, ancient, innocent, intelligent, fluent, (1)Smog is more prevalent in urban centers. (2)He was born in that turbulent period of history. (3) They want to work in an organization whose values are congruent with their own.
Word Formation: Adj. suffixes
(n.+) -ous: full of, having …
e.g. dangerous: full of danger victorious: having victory (1)It is such a voluminous report that I am tired of reading it. (2)She welcomed her guests in a gracious manner. (3)Their dining room is very spacious.
–ence, -ance: (v.+ ~ = n.) state / condition of …
(corresponding to an adj. ended with –ent or – ant) e.g. rely – reliance disturb – disturbance patient – patience distant – distance (1) The engineers and technicians are still conferring on the unexpected accident. (2) The 1960s saw the emergence of many new nations. (3) Continuance of the war will mean shortage of the food. (4) It is no big deal, just an everyday occurrence.
e.g. windy, dirty, tasty (1)Honey, it was a hairy flight back from Chicago. One engine quit on me, my radio wouldn't work, it was snowing hard -- really hairy! To tell you the truth I was scared to death. (2)The greasy food make her feel sick. (3)The damaged car was labouring along the muddy road.
(n.+) –al / -ical: having the nature of …
e.g. musical: of music economical: of economy (1)He drinks this medical tea for medicinal purposes. (2)This French entomologist is noted for behavioral studies of insects. (3)True love is unconditional.
-eຫໍສະໝຸດ Baidus, -ee
-ess: (female) waitress, hostess, actress -ee: (passive, compared with –er/-or):
employer/employee, trainer/trainee, interviewer/interviewee
(n.+) -ish: being in / having the nature of …
e.g. foolish: being in the nature of a fool childish: having the nature of a child (1)They made a devilish plot to kidnap the little girl and then kill her when they got the money. (2)He has a rather womanish manner. (3)She brought a coat with reddish fur.
Word Formation: n. suf.
–tion, -ation, -ition, -sion: (v. + ~ = n.) state / condition of …
(1)What she said was a useful simplification of the theory. (2) The exclusion of women from the temple made them feel sad. (3)She complained about the omission of her name from the list. (4)It's annoying to have to get authorization for spending such piddling amounts of money.
(v. /n.) + ive
e.g. creative impressive productive destructive (1)His conclusions are purely speculative. (2)She is selective in the dresses she wears. (3)Excessive rainfall had made the harvest impossible. (4)Appearances are deceptive.
(v.) + -ed: state, passive, past (v.) + -ing: nature, active, present
an excite ing ___ news ed old house a neglect ___ ing film a touch ___ an amuse ___ ing story a disappoint ___ ing result a solve ___ d problem ied teacher a qualify ___ ed street a crowd ___ ed room a badly-light ___ a promise ___ ing young man
(v.) + -ible / -able: capable of being (n.) + -ible / -able: causing
e.g. reliable: capable of being relied readable: capable of being read pleasurable: causing pleasure comfortable: causing comfort (1)Heat is convertible into electricity. (2)Your dress is absolutely adorable. (3)This essay is admirable in all respects.
(n. +) –en: of …, having …
e.g. wooden: of wood golden: of gold (1)We have to wear woolen clothes in the cold winter. (2)Those earthen pots are made by the skilled man. (3)His ashen face showed how shocked he was.
-ary: having ..., about ...
e.g. primary, elementary, temporary, honorary (1)She writes a lot of contemporary music for people like Whitney Houston. (2)I caught a momentary glimpse of them. (3)Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.
(n.+) -ly: having / being …
e.g. friendly: being friends lively: full of life (1) We spent a heavenly day at the beach. (2) He has a very brotherly manner towards the little boys. (3) To run away at the first sight of danger is a cowardly action. (4) I was determined on taking her away from that ungodly surroundings.
-ian: musician, physician -er: Londoner, Southerner (v + ~) reader, teacher, computer, washer, typewriter -or: (v + ~) visitor, actor, sailor -ar: (v +~) beggar -ist: (someone good at a specific field): scientist, typist, pianist, chemist -ent: student, parent, president
Word Formation Exercise
1. Some examinees’ handwriting was too poor for the graders to recognize. 2. We don't pay our financial analysts to be wise after the event! 3. The newspaper have a very popular columnist comment on current affairs. 4. The success of Jane Eyre is due to its introduction to the English novel the first governess heroine. 5. He's a popular television entertainer.
(n.+) -ful: full of (n.+) -less: without
helpful / helpless cheerful / cheerless youthful / *youthless homeless / *homeful, jobless / *jobful
(n.+) – y: having …
Suffixes that mean “people”: – an, -ish, -ese
-an: American, Cuban -ish: British, Turkish -ese: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese
-ian, -er, -or, -ar, -ist, -ent
Word Formation
Suffixes后缀 are small parts added to words that can change the part of speech of the words; some suffixes even change their meanings. Suffixes are mainly classified into noun suffixes, adj. suffixes, verb suffixes, and adv. suffixes.