Suffixes
📋 What it is
A suffix is a word-part added to the END that often changes the word’s JOB — "-ful" (full of), "-less" (without), "-tion" (makes a noun).
🗣️ Coach says
Suffixes change what a word DOES. "-less" empties it out ("hopeless" = without hope). "-ful" fills it up ("hopeful"). The ending tells you the word’s role in the sentence.
🧠 Memory hook
Suffix at the END changes the job. -ful = full of, -less = without.
😂 Giggle
What do you call a word that means its own opposite?
A contronym — it's literally fighting with itself!
😲 Whoa!
Adding "-tion" turns an action into a thing: "act" → "action", "create" → "creation" — the ending does the work.
✅ Quick check: "Hope" + "-less" = ? What does it mean?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
"hopeless" — without hope.
The suffix "-less" reliably means "without", so it decodes a whole family of words.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Take one base word (like "care") and add "-ful" and "-less" — say how the meaning flips.