Page 23 - English Vocabulary in Use (Pre & Intermediate)

Noun suffixes

Verb + suffix
Many nouns are formed in this way.
Verb Suffix Noun
improve (= get better) -ment improvement
manage (e.g. a shop or business) -ment management
elect (= choose somebody by voting) -ion election
discuss (= talk about something seriously) -ion discussion
inform (= tell someone something) -ation information
organise -ation organisation
jog (= running to keep fit or for pleasure) -ing jogging
spell (e.g. S-P-E-L-L) -ing spelling
Note: Sometimes there is a spelling change. The most common is the omission of the final
‘e’ before the suffix -ion or -ation: translate/translation; organise/organisation
Adjective + suffix

Nouns are also formed by adding a suffix to an adjective. Two suffixes often added to
adjectives to form nouns are -ness and -ity.
Adjective Suffix Noun
weak (# strong) -ness weakness
happy -ness happiness
dark (e.g. at night, when you can’t see) -ness darkness
stupid (¥ intelligent, clever) -ity stupidity
punctual (= always arrives at the right time) -ity punctuality
similar (= almost the same; # different) -ity similarity

Pronunciation
The addition of these suffixes may change the pronunciation.
Nouns ending -ion or -ity have the main stress on the syllable before, so the pronunciation
may be different from the verb or adjective:
Verb Noun Adjective Noun
educate education similar similarity
translate translation stupid stupidity
discuss discussion punctual punctuality

-er/-or and -ist
These are common noun suffixes added to existing nouns or verbs, and they describe people
and their jobs.
-er -er -or -ist
dancer driver actor artist
singer manager director economist
murderer footballer translator psychologist
farmer employer operator journalist
Note: Notice the common spelling changes:
translate/translator, operate/operator, economy/economist, psychology/psychologist.

20 English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)