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Learn how tiny word endings from an old language can help you read and understand big, new words!
A very long time ago, people in a place called Rome spoke a language called Latin. Latin was used for over a thousand years! When the Romans traveled to new lands, they shared their language. Over time, many Latin words mixed into English. Today, more than half of all English words have Latin parts in them. That is a lot of words!
One of the coolest parts of Latin that snuck into English is the suffix. A suffix is a small group of letters stuck onto the end of a word. It changes what the word means or how you use it. Let's look at how this happened over time.
So here's the big question: If you learn just a few of these Latin suffixes, can they help you read words you've never seen before? The answer is yes! Let's find out how.
Before we learn specific Latin suffixes, let's make sure we know some important words. A base word (sometimes called a root word) is the main part of a word that carries the biggest meaning. A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a base word. It changes the word's meaning or the way you use it in a sentence.
For example, the base word "enjoy" is something you already know. When you add the suffix -able to the end, you get "enjoyable," which means "able to be enjoyed." The suffix gave the word a new twist!
Let's look at how a base word and a suffix fit together, like puzzle pieces. In the diagram below, you can see three words being built. The base word is on the left, the suffix is on the right, and the new word appears when they snap together!
See how the base word and the suffix snap together? The base word gives the main meaning. The suffix gives the word a new job. When you see a long word, look for these pieces. If you spot a suffix you know, you're already halfway to understanding the whole word!
Decoding means breaking a word into smaller parts so you can read it and understand it. Here is a simple plan you can follow every time you see a big word.
Step 1: Find the suffix. Look at the end of the word. Do you see a common Latin suffix like -tion, -ment, -able, -ible, or -ous? If yes, you found it!
Step 2: Cover it up. Use your finger or a piece of paper to cover the suffix. Now you can see just the base word by itself.
Step 3: Read the base word. Sound out the base word. This is the part you might already know, like "enjoy," "act," or "move."
Step 4: Put it together. Now say the base word and the suffix together smoothly. "Enjoy" + "able" = "enjoyable."
Step 5: Think about the meaning. The suffix gives you a clue! If -able means "can be," then "enjoyable" means "can be enjoyed." You decoded it!
Here are six common Latin suffixes you will see again and again when you read. Learn what each one means, and you'll be able to figure out tons of new words!
| Suffix | What It Means | Example Word | Word Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -tion / -sion | the act of; the state of | act β action | the act of doing something |
| -able | can be; able to be | enjoy β enjoyable | can be enjoyed |
| -ible | can be; able to be | flex β flexible | able to bend |
| -ment | the result of; the act of | move β movement | the result of moving |
| -ous / -ious | full of; having | fame β famous | full of fame |
| -ive | tending to; having the nature of | act β active | tending to act |
Notice that -able and -ible mean the same thing! They're like twins. The tricky part is remembering which words use -able and which use -ible. The good news? As you read more books, you'll start to remember which one looks right.
Also notice that -tion and -sion are close cousins. Both mean "the act of" or "the state of." You say -tion like "shun" and -sion like "zhun" or "shun." Words like "vision" and "addition" use these suffixes.
Let's decode the word "comfortable" step by step. Imagine you are reading a sentence that says: "The couch was very comfortable."
See how easy that was? You just decoded a ten-letter word by breaking it into two pieces. You can use these same five steps with any word that has a Latin suffix!
Here is something really cool. When you add a Latin suffix to a base word, the word often changes its job in a sentence. In English, we call these jobs parts of speech. A word might change from an action word (a verb) to a naming word (a noun) or a describing word (an adjective). Let's look at some examples!
| Base Word (Job) | + Suffix | New Word (New Job) |
|---|---|---|
| act (verb β action word) | -tion | action (noun β naming word) |
| act (verb) | -ive | active (adjective β describing word) |
| enjoy (verb) | -able | enjoyable (adjective) |
| enjoy (verb) | -ment | enjoyment (noun) |
| danger (noun) | -ous | dangerous (adjective) |
The same base word "act" can become "action" (a noun) or "active" (an adjective) depending on which suffix you add. That's the power of suffixes! They are small, but they do a big job.
Now that you know about suffixes, guess what? There are also prefixes! A prefix is a group of letters added to the beginning of a word. For example, un- means "not." So "un" + "comfortable" = "uncomfortable," which means "not comfortable."
Some words have all three parts: a prefix, a root, and a suffix! The word "invisible" is a great example. It has the prefix in- (meaning "not"), the root vis (meaning "see," from Latin), and the suffix -ible (meaning "can be"). So "invisible" means "not able to be seen." How awesome is that?
| What You Know Now | What You'll Learn Next |
|---|---|
| Latin suffixes at the end of words | Latin prefixes at the beginning of words |
| Base words you can already read | Latin and Greek roots that are hidden inside bigger words |
| Decoding one suffix at a time | Decoding words with a prefix and a suffix at the same time |
Don't worry about learning all of that today. Just keep using your suffix skills, and before long, you'll be ready to tackle prefixes and roots, too. You're becoming a word detective!
Time to try it yourself! Read each question. When you are ready, click "Show Answer" to check your work. Good luck!
A suffix is a small ending added to a word that changes its meaning or its job in a sentence. Many English suffixes came from the ancient Latin language. In this lesson, you learned six important Latin suffixes: -tion / -sion (the act of), -able (can be), -ible (can be), -ment (the result of), -ous / -ious (full of), and -ive (tending to). Each suffix works like a secret code that helps you unlock the meaning of new words.
To decode a word with a Latin suffix, follow five steps: find the suffix, cover it, read the base word, put the word back together, and think about the meaning. Suffixes can also change a word's job β turning a verb into a noun or an adjective. The more you practice spotting suffixes, the more new words you'll be able to read and understand all by yourself!