The larger your vocabulary is, the faster you can read because you don’t stumble as often on words you don’t know or recognize. When you read words that you’re already familiar with, you read beyond the words for their meanings. In the act of reading, you absorb ideas, thoughts, feelings, and descriptions — not individual words. You see the forest, not the trees.
One way to get a head start on expanding your vocabulary is to be able to recognize and interpret prefixes, roots, and suffixes in words. Many English words are constructed from the same prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Master these affixes (as linguists call them) and you can interpret many words you don’t understand without having to resort to a dictionary.
A suffix appears at the end of a word and gives the word a different inflection or meaning. The following table gives you some common suffixes, plus their meanings and examples of them in action.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example words |
|---|---|---|
| able (ible) | capable of | agreeable, manageable, visible |
| ade | result of an action | blockade, stockade |
| age | result of | spillage, storage, wreckage |
| al (ial) | relating to | categorical, gradual, manual, territorial |
| algia | sickness | myalgia, neuralgia, nostalgia |
| an | native of or to | American, artisan, Cartesian |
| ance (ence) | state | assistance, defiance, independence, |
| ancy (ency) | capacity | agency, vacancy, transparency |
| ate | office | candidate, graduate, potentate |
| ation | state | matriculation, specialization |
| cian | having a skill | magician, physician |
| cy | action | infancy, privacy, prophecy |
| dom | quality | freedom, kingdom, wisdom |
| ee | person receiving action | nominee, refugee, employee |
| en | made of | molten, silken, waxen |
| er | comparative | brighter, happier, tougher |
| er (or) | doer | boxer, collector, lover, professor |
| escene | in process | adolescence, obsolescence |
| ese | native of | Chinese, Japanese |
| esis (osis) | in process | hypnosis, neurosis, mimesis |
| est | superlative | cleanest, fastest, happiest |
| et (ette) | small | anklet, baguette |
| fic | causing | horrific, terrific |
| fold | manner of | manifold, tenfold |
| ful | full of | bountiful, fanciful, mindful |
| fy | making | deify, indemnify, simplify |
| hood | condition | adulthood, childhood, manhood |
| ian | one who is | pedestrian, equestrian |
| iatry | healing | podiatry, psychiatry |
| ic | quality of | acidic, metallic, monolithic |
| ic | arts, sciences | arithmetic, economics |
| ice | condition | justice, malice |
| ile | quality | domicile, juvenile, projectile |
| ion | condition | abduction, reaction |
| ish | comparative | foolish, newish, whitish |
| ism | condition | alcoholism, baptism, neologism |
| ist | profession | artist, dentist, podiatrist |
| ite | quality | anchorite, socialite, urbanite |
| ity (ty) | quality | celebrity, clarity, novelty |
| ive | quality | abusive, cooperative, sensitive |
| ize | cause, make | emphasize, fantasize, proselytize |
| less | without | loveless, mindless, motionless |
| ment | state | abatement, contentment, refinement |
| ness | quality | calmness, kindness, tenderness |
| ology | study of | biology, geology, neurology |
| ous | quality | adventurous, courageous, nervous |
| ship | relationship | ambassadorship, brinksmanship, friendship |
| some | quality | adventuresome, lonesome, winsome |
| ure | condition | conjecture, exposure, rapture |
| ward | direction | forward, heavenward, southward |
| y | tending to | crafty, faulty, guilty |