Affixes - suffixes, drop the consonant, drop the e, change y to i, add s, es, ies, change is ending to es, change us ending to i, change on ending and um ending to a, change ix and ex endings to ces for reading lessons

Affixes – rules for adding prefixes and suffixes

Study Zone Institute May 9, 2023 English Tips

Understanding the rules for adding prefixes and suffixes is fundamental for mastering English orthography and expanding lexical range effectively. Affixes function as morphemes that, when attached to a base word, modify its meaning or grammatical category without requiring entirely new vocabulary.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the structural constraints and spelling adjustments required when navigating English word formation. You will find detailed explanations regarding the ‘silent e’ rule, the doubling of consonants in stressed syllables, and the specific instances where hyphens are required for clarity.

Key Takeaways

Prefixes modify word meaning without altering the spelling of the original base word.
Suffixes often require spelling changes such as dropping the silent e or changing y to i.
Consonant doubling occurs when adding vowel suffixes to single-syllable words ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern.
Hyphens are mandatory when attaching prefixes to proper nouns or to avoid ambiguous vowel clusters.
Mastering affixes allows writers to transition between word classes such as turning adjectives into adverbs.

Structural logic of affixes

The English language relies heavily on affixes to create nuanced meanings. An affix is a general term for a morpheme added to a root word. Prefixes appear at the beginning, while suffixes appear at the end. For instance, the root word ‘play’ can become ‘replay’ (prefix) or ‘player’ (suffix).

Primary rules for prefixes

Prefixes are generally straightforward because they rarely change the spelling of the base word. Whether you add ‘un-‘, ‘mis-‘, or ‘pre-‘, the base remains intact.

Double letters: If a prefix ends with the same letter that the base word starts with, both letters are kept (e.g., ‘unnecessary’, ‘misspell’).

Hyphenation: Use a hyphen if the prefix is ‘self-‘, ‘ex-‘ (meaning former), or ‘all-‘. Hyphens are also necessary when the base word is a proper noun, such as ‘pro-British’ or ‘mid-August’.

Primary rules for suffixes

Suffixes are more complex as they frequently trigger spelling modifications in the root word.

The silent E rule: If a base word ends in a silent ‘e’ and the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the ‘e’ (e.g., ‘make’ becomes ‘making’). If the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the ‘e’ (e.g., ‘hope’ becomes ‘hopeful’).

The Y to I rule: When a word ends in a consonant followed by ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding most suffixes (e.g., ‘happy’ becomes ‘happiness’). However, if the suffix is ‘-ing’, keep the ‘y’ to avoid a double ‘i’ (e.g., ‘copy’ becomes ‘copying’).

The doubling rule: For one-syllable words ending in a single vowel and a single consonant (CVC), double the final consonant before adding a vowel suffix (e.g., ‘run’ becomes ‘runner’, ‘stop’ becomes ‘stopped’).

The process of adding letters to the beginning or ending of words to make new words is called morphology. Words are morphed into new words using affixes.

Additions to the beginning of root words are called prefixes and at the end are suffixes. Here is a breakdown on the spelling, rules and meanings of affixes. Sometimes the final consonant is doubled, the final -e is dropped, the final -y is changed and then there are regular plurals and irregular plurals.

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Prefixes

A prefix is placed before a root word to make a new word. There are several types of affixes that can be attached to the beginning of words to change the meaning.

il-, im-, in-, ir-, un-, non- mean NOT. e.g. illegal, imperfect, inadequate, irresponsible, unnecessary, non-negotiable

re- means BACK. e.g. reverse

di-, dis- mean SEPARATE. e.g. divert, disassemble

de- means REMOVE. e.g. deactivate

mis- means WRONG. e.g. mislead

co-, com-, con- mean TOGETHER. e.g. co-worker, companion, congregate

all- is spelt with one ‘l’ when added to words e.g. altogether, although, also

Suffixes

A suffix is placed after a root word to make a new word. There are several types of affixes that can be attached at the end of words to change the meaning. There are many rules to know when adding suffixes.

Double the consonant

Double the final consonant after a vowel in a word with one syllable. e.g. stop – stopped, run – running, fun – funny

The final ‘l’ is doubled in a word with more than one syllable. e.g. cancel – cancelled, propel – propeller, control – controlling

Don’t double the consonant

If a word ends in a consonant and a suffix begins with a consonant, don’t double the consonant. e.g. sad – sadness, entertain – entertainment, regret – regretful, help – helpless, faithful – faithfully

When a word with one syllable ends with more than one consonant, don’t double the consonant. e.g. start – started, ring – ringing, fight – fighter

If the last syllable in a word is not stressed, don’t double the consonant. e.g. benefit – benefited, offer – offering, reveal – revealing

Drop the ‘e’

When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the ‘e’. e.g. make – making, use – user, store – storage, adore – adorable

If a word ends in ‘le’ and the suffix is -ly, drop the ‘e’ and add ‘y’. e.g. simple – simply, bubble – bubbly

Keep the ‘e’

When a word ends in ‘ce’ or ‘ge’, keep the ‘e’. e.g. notice – noticeable, change – changeable

If a word ends in ‘ee’, keep the ‘e’. e.g. see – seeing, agree – agreeing

If a suffix is -ful or -ly, keep the ‘e’. e.g. peace – peaceful, love – lovely

Keep the ‘y’

When a word ends with ‘y’ and has a vowel before it, keep the ‘y’. e.g. boy – boys, play – playing, buy – buyer, enjoy – enjoyed, joy – joyful

If the suffix starts with ‘i’, keep the ‘y’. e.g. carry – carrying, fly – flying

Drop the ‘y’

There are very few instances when the ‘y’ comes after a vowel and is dropped to add an affix. e.g. pay – paid, lay – laid, say – said

Change ‘y’ to ‘i’

If a consonant comes before the ‘y’, change ‘y’ to ‘i’. e.g. happy – happiness, lady – ladies

Change ‘ie’ to ‘y’

If a word ends in ‘ie’ and the suffix is -ing, change ‘ie’ to ‘y’. e.g. lie – lying, die – dying

Plurals and adding affixes

Add -s or -es

Add -s or -es to some words ending in ‘o’. e.g. piano – pianos, hero – heroes

-es to words ending in -s, -ss, -z, -ch, -sh and -x. e.g. gas – gases, business – businesses, quiz – quizzes, watch – watches, bush – bushes, fox – foxes

-s to words ending in two vowels and ‘f’. e.g. roof – roofs, chief – chiefs

Change ‘f’ to ‘v’

Change ‘f’ to ‘v’ and add -es in some words. e.g. thief – thieves, leaf – leaves, loaf – loaves

Add either -s or -ves to some words ending in ‘f’ e.g. dwarf – dwarfs or dwarves, scarf – scarfs or scarves

Add -s to ‘ff’

Adds -s to words ending in ‘ff’. e.g. cliff – cliffs, sniff – sniffs

Vowels are changed

Change the vowels e.g. foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese, man – men, woman – women

Spelling is changed

Change the spelling of the word e.g. mouse – mice, child – children, person – people

Same for singular and plural

Leave words the same e.g. sheep – sheep, shrimp – shrimp, aircraft – aircraft

-us ending is changed to –i or -ai

Change -us ending to -i in words e.g. alumnus – alumni, fungus – fungi, syllabus – syllabai

-is ending is changed to -es

Change -is ending to -es in words e.g. basis – bases, crisis – crises

-on ending is changed to -a

Change -on ending to -a in words e.g. phenomenon – phenomena, criterion – criteria

-um ending is changed to -a

Change -um ending to -a in words e.g. bacterium – bacteria, datum – data, memorandum – memoranda

-ix ending is changed to -ices or add -es

Change -ix ending to -ices or add -es e.g. appendix – appendices or appendixes, matrix – matrices or matrixes