Do you feel frustrated in reading exams when you come across some words you don’t understand and how it affects your understanding towards the whole passage? Don’t worry! Wall Street English is going to teach you an easy way to guess the meaning of these words. Suffix refers to a group of letters added at the end of a word to create a new word. Learning suffixes may help you understand the meaning of the words and makes it much easier to understand passages in IELTS!
Noun Suffix
1. Acy – state or quality
False + acy = Fallacy 謬論
Private + acy = Privacy 隱私
Delicious + acy =Delicacy 精致(美食)
2. Ism – doctrine, principles or belief
Critical + ism = Criticism 批評
Optimistic + ism = Optimism 樂觀主義
Narcissistic + ism = Narcissism 自戀
3. Ity – quality or degree of
Pure + ity = Purity 純度
Serene + ity = Serenity 寧靜
Odd + ity = Oddity 古怪
4. Ment – an action or resulting state
Punish + ment = Punishment 懲罰
Refresh + ment = Refreshment 茶點
Develop + ment = Development 發展
Adjective Suffix
1. Ic – relating to
Centre + ic = Centric 中心的
Icon + ic = Iconic 標志性的
Poem + ic = Poetic 詩意的
2. Less – without something
Fear + less = Fearless 無所畏懼的
Care + less = Careless 粗心的
Hope + less = Hopeless 絕望的
3. Ful – full or notable of
Care + ful = Careful 謹慎的
Beauty + ful = Beautiful 美麗的
Respect + ful = Respectful 尊敬的
Verb Suffix
1. En – become
Soft + en = Soften 軟化
Wide + en = Widen 擴大
Strength + en = Strengthen 加強
2. Ize / ise – to cause or become
Visual + ize = Visualize 可視化
Concept + ize = Conceptualize 概念化
Human + ize = Humanize 人性化
If you see words that you don’t understand their meanings, do not panic! Think about their suffix and try to guess their meanings!
