Vowel Suffix

Vowel Suffix- Spelling Rules

Vowel suffixes are simply suffixes that begin with a vowel, such as -ed, -es, -ing, -er, -y, -en, -est, or -able.

Base word-Suffix

Shortcut Rule 1: The adverbs ‘too much’ is used with nouns and ‘much too’ is used with adjectives.

Too much pain / Too much insincerity (Nouns), Much too painful / much too careless (Adjectives)

Shortcut Rule 2: Before the word ‘Enough’ an adjective under positive form should be used.

Shortcut Rule 3: The adverb quite (‘quite means perfectly/ completely) should not be used with the adjective ‘Handsome’.

Shortcut Rule 4: Late / Lately. The adverb ‘late’ indicates time and lately means recently.

Shortcut Rule 5: When we begin a sentence with ‘seldom / never / hardly / rarely / scarcely / barely / neither / never, the rule of inversion should be applied (i.e.,) an auxiliary verb is used before the subject.

Shortcut Rule 6: The adverbial phrase ‘No less than’ should be used with uncountable nouns whereas ‘No fewer than’ is used with countable nouns.

Shortcut Rule 7: The adverb (As) is not used after call and consider.

Shortcut Rule 8: The derived adjectives such as interested /pleased/satisfied/delighted are used with ‘much’ but not ‘very’.

Shortcut Rule 9: The adverb ‘very’ is used with positive adjectives and ‘much’ with comparative adjective forms.

Shortcut Rule 10: ‘Very much’ should be used with comparative forms

Vowel Suffix

Word	Word Type	Practice
Bicycle	Noun
Muscle	Noun
Recycle	Noun
Circle	Noun
Uncle	Noun
Vehicle	Noun
Article	Noun
Spectacle	Noun
Particle	Noun
Cubicle	Noun
Pericle	Noun
Chronicle	Noun
Miracle	Noun
Pinnacle	Noun
Tricycle	Noun
Testicle	Noun
Formicle	Noun
Pentacle	Noun
Fancicle	Noun
Versicle	Noun

List of Suffix in English

Suffix Word	Meaning	Suffix Examples
-able, ible	can be done	doable, identifiable, predictable, possible
-al, ial	has property of	personal, partial, legal,
-ant	having an effect	disinfectant, coolant, accelerant
-ed	past tense of verb	turned, ruined, cooked, cleaned
–ee	person affected by something	employee, interviewee, trainee, addressee
-en	made of, being made	golden, broaden, lighten
-er	comparative	higher, lighter, sooner, later
-er	one who perform or do something	doer, painter, singer, performer
-est	superlative	slightest, lightest, best, biggest
–ic	having property of	linguistic, photographic, electric, democratic, heroic
–ics	study of	genetics, electronics, aeronautics
–ify	giving quality to something	defy, clarify, purify, solidify, classify
–ing	present participle	cooking, dancing, running
–ism	behaviour or belief	liberalism, modernism, heroism
-ist	one who follows certain behaviours or belief	Philanthropist, anarchist, optimist, activist
–(t)ion	act or process	reaction, action, projection
–(i)ty	state of	extremity, infinity, sanity
–(t)ive	adjective	active, motive, positive
–ize, -ise	bring about a condition or state	modernize/modernise, colonize/colonise
–ocracy	type of ruling body	democracy, autocracy, meritocracy, bureaucracy
–ocrat	person ruling	autocrat, technocrat, democrat
–ology, -ological	study of	archaeology, geology, biology, physiological, biological,
–ous	having	callous, joyous, religious

Suffix Rules

Suffixes cannot simply be added to a word. There are rules as to how they must be added and often how the parent word needs to be changed. Rules change depending on whether the word is a noun or a verb, an adjective or adverb, or whether the word ends in a consonant or a vowel.

Adding Suffixes to Words: Nouns

Some suffixes change base words into nouns. Some common suffixes that do this are:

-er, -ist, -or: These suffixes describe someone whose job involves the base word. For example, a writer deals with writing. A florist works with flowers. A prosecutor works to get a prosecution.
-ation, -ment: Words that end in these suffixes are an action. For example, ''emancipation'' is the act of emancipating, or freeing, something or someone. ''Bereavement'' is the act of bereaving.
-ism: Words that end in ''-ism'' form action nouns from a base verb. ''Imperialism'', for instance, is the act of spreading an empire.
-ity, -ness, -ship, -tude: All three of these suffixes change a base word to express a quality or degree. ''Absurdity,'' for example, is the degree to which something is absurd. ''Cuteness'' is how cute something is considered, and ''horsemanship'' and ''aptitude'' both describe a level of competence.

Adding Suffixes to Words: Verbs

Suffixes sometimes change the base word and root into a verb. Some suffixes that change root words into verbs are:

-ate: The suffix ''-ate'' changes a noun into a verb, such as changing ''communication'' into ''communicate.''
-en, -ize: The suffix ''-en'' and ''-ize'' change a noun into either an action or a descriptor. For example, to ''embolden'' is to make something bold, while something which is ''golden'' is made of gold, and to ''unionize'' is to make something into a union.

Adding Suffixes to Words: Adjectives and Adverbs

Other suffixes can change the base word into adverbs or adjectives. Some examples include the following:

-able, -ible: The suffixes ''-able'' and ''-ible'' mean something is capable of or worthy of something, such as in the words ''flammable'' and ''edible.''
-ant: The suffix ''-ant'' denotes a word which is the noun form of a verb, such as ''propellant,'' which is something which propels.
-ful, -ous: Both of these suffixes denote something is full of something and can turn an adjective into a noun. For example, a ''poisonous'' substance is said to be full of poison and if something is ''beautiful'' then it is full of beauty.

Adding Suffixes to Words: Consonants and Vowels

A suffix cannot be simply added to a word. There are rules regarding how the suffix must be added and how the base word sometimes needs to be changed.

For suffixes that begin with a consonant, the suffix can be simply added to the base word.
If the suffix begins with a vowel, the final consonant in the base word needs to be doubled if it has two syllables and ends with a vowel before a consonant. For example, in the words ''idealism'' and ''terrorize,'' the final consonants are not doubled because the stressed syllable in the base word is not the final syllable.
Vowel suffixes are what happens when a suffix begins with a vowel. If a suffix begins with a vowel and the base word only has one syllable and has a short vowel sound, the final consonant in the base word needs to be doubled. For example, the word ''lighten'' does not have a double ''t'' because it is a long vowel sound, whereas the word ''wet'' needs to have its ''t'' doubled if made into ''wetter.''
When a base word ends with a silent "e" and the suffix begins with a vowel, the suffix remains the same but the base word drops the ''e.''

Practice Using Suffixes

The following list of words all contain suffixes. The vowel suffix examples note how the rules apply to them. In the list, consonant suffixes likewise describe how they are put together.

realize: The word ''realize'' has the suffix ''-ize'', which changes the word ''real'' into a verb that means to become aware of something, or to become aware or reality.
idealize: To idealize something is to make it ideal, typically mentally.
terrorize: When someone terrorizes, they create terror.
lighten: The suffix ''-en'' means to make something like the base word. In this case, to ''lighten'' is to make something lighter.
excusable: ''-Able'' as a suffix means that something is capable of being the base word. For something to be excusable, then, means it is capable of being excused.
adoration: Adoration is the act of adoring something since it ends with ''-ation.''
painter: Words that end with ''-er'' denote that the new word is someone who works with the base word, so a painter logically works with paint.
friendship: Friendship is the quality of a friend, hence the suffix ''-ship.''
flammable: This word uses the base word ''flame,'' so since it ends in a silent ''e,'' that letter is dropped. Additionally, because it ends in a vowel with a short sound, the ''m'' is doubled.
mindful: To be mindful is literally to be ''full of mind,'' or more exactly, to be full of the activity of thinking about something.
controlled: The word ''control'' has a short vowel in its last syllable, so the final consonant is doubled to make the word ''controlled.''
redden: To make something red is to ''redden'' it, and since the base word has a short vowel, the final consonant is doubled.

Lesson Summary

A suffix is a part of speech that is added to the end of a word to change its meaning and even word type. Suffixes can change nouns into verbs, for example. However, there are several rules to how a suffix must be added depending on the base word's spelling and pronunciation.

For example, when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel to a word that ends in a silent ''e,'' the silent ''e'' is dropped. For one syllable words, double the final consonant if the vowel sound is short. Finally, double the consonant if the original word is two syllables and ends with a vowel preceding the consonant.