Unit 9: Word Formation: Suffixes : cours 1 Bac SM

1Lesson Objectives

This short opening section states what you must be able to do by the end of Unit 9. It sets the target for the whole lesson on word formation through suffixes.

Objective 1: define what a suffix is and explain how it differs from a prefix (its position in the word and its main effect on meaning/class) Objective 2: identify the four main families of suffixes: noun, verb, adjective and adverb suffixes Objective 3: apply the most common suffixes to form new words correctly, respecting the spelling rules Objective 4: use the newly formed words accurately in context, choosing the correct word class in the sentence Objective 5: transfer this skill to reading comprehension, writing tasks and the vocabulary section of the Regional Exam

Warm up: One Root, Many Words

teach

teach \to teacher (noun) \to teaching (noun/adj)

happy

happy \to happiness (noun) \to happily (adverb)

Key Insight

The base (root) of the word stays the same, but the suffix changes its job — its grammatical category — in the sentence.

Before studying suffixes, a quick recall of the notions already known from previous units is necessary. These three reminders are the foundation of the whole lesson.

Grammar lessons in earlier units introduced four parts of speech that will be used constantly in this lesson. Recognising them quickly is essential before learning how suffixes are added.

$Part of speech$	$Role in a sentence$	$Example$
$Noun$	$names a person, place, thing or idea$	$happiness, teacher$
$Verb$	$expresses an action or a state$	$modernise, act$
$Adjective$	$describes a noun$	$beautiful, careful$
$Adverb$	$describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb$	$quickly, carefully$

The four parts of speech used throughout this unit

A second reminder concerns prefixes, already studied in a previous unit. A prefix is an affix placed at the beginning of a root word.

Common prefixes studied in previous units

Root word

The basic word that carries the core meaning and stays stable; prefixes and suffixes are attached around it (e.g. happy in unhappy, happiness, happily).

Affix

A general term for a prefix or a suffix, i.e. a group of letters added to a root word to build a new word.

Key rule about prefixes

Effect

A prefix changes the meaning of the word (often to a negative or repeated sense).

Word class

It usually does not change the word class: happy (adjective) \to unhappy (still an adjective).

First step before adding a suffix

Always identify which part of speech is needed in the sentence (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) before choosing the correct suffix.

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