Suffixes: -ment, -ness, -ful, -less
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013) — Year 2 statutory suffixes
Origins: Old English (-ness, -ful, -less) and Old French from Latin (-ment)
-ment — the result or act of
Origin: Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum Purpose: Guide to the suffixes -ment, -ness, -ful and -less — meanings, word lists with definitions, and morpheme-based practice for KS1 and KS2.
Turns a verb into a noun: the result or act of doing something.
| Base | -ment word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy | enjoyment | the result of enjoying |
| move | movement | the act of moving |
| excite | excitement | the state of being excited |
| treat | treatment | the way of treating |
| agree | agreement | a state of agreeing |
| amuse | amusement | entertainment |
| disappoint | disappointment | the state of being disappointed |
| achieve | achievement | something achieved |
| invest | investment | money put to work |
| improve | improvement | the act of improving |
Morpheme family from move: move → movement → moveable → removal → immovable
-ness — the state of being
Origin: Old English -nes / -ness
Turns an adjective into a noun: the state or quality of being that adjective.
| Base | -ness word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sad | sadness | the state of being sad |
| kind | kindness | the quality of being kind |
| dark | darkness | the state of being dark |
| happy | happiness | the state of being happy (y → i) |
| busy | business | (note: unusual pronunciation /ˈbɪznɪs/) |
| aware | awareness | the state of being aware |
| polite | politeness | the quality of being polite |
| good | goodness | the quality of goodness |
| weak | weakness | the state of being weak |
| great | greatness | the quality of greatness |
-ful — full of; having
Origin: Old English -full; note: always ONE l as a suffix (the -l from full is reduced to -l)
Turns a noun into an adjective: having a lot of something.
| Base | -ful word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| care | careful | full of care |
| help | helpful | full of help |
| hope | hopeful | having hope |
| play | playful | full of play |
| use | useful | full of use |
| wonder | wonderful | full of wonder |
| thank | thankful | full of thanks |
| colour | colourful | full of colour |
| beauty | beautiful | full of beauty (y → i) |
| success | successful | having success (ss + ful) |
| power | powerful | full of power |
| peace | peaceful | full of peace |
Common mistake: writing carefull, helpfull* with two ls. The suffix has only one l — the full word full is reduced to -ful as a suffix.
-less — without
Origin: Old English -leas (free from, without)
Turns a noun or adjective into an adjective: without something.
| Base | -less word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| care | careless | without care |
| help | helpless | without help |
| hope | hopeless | without hope |
| use | useless | without use |
| harm | harmless | without harm |
| end | endless | without end |
| worth | worthless | without worth |
| sleep | sleepless | without sleep |
| thought | thoughtless | without thought |
| count | countless | too many to count |
| power | powerless | without power |
| fear | fearless | without fear |
The care word family — teaching the four suffixes together
care is the ideal teaching word for all four suffixes:
| Suffix | Word | Class | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| (none) | care | noun/verb | attention; to feel concern |
| -ful | careful | adjective | having care |
| -less | careless | adjective | without care |
| -fully | carefully | adverb | in a careful way |
| -lessly | carelessly | adverb | in a careless way |
| -fulness | carefulness | noun | the quality of being careful |
| -lessness | carelessness | noun | the quality of being careless |
Seven words from one base. Show children this chain on the board — it demonstrates the productive power of morphology more clearly than any definition.
Morpheme matrix
| -ment | -ness | -ful | -less | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| care- | — | — | careful | careless |
| hope- | — | — | hopeful | hopeless |
| help- | — | — | helpful | helpless |
| use- | — | — | useful | useless |
| power- | — | — | powerful | powerless |
| enjoy- | enjoyment | — | — | — |
| excite- | excitement | — | — | — |
| sad- | — | sadness | — | — |
| kind- | — | kindness | — | — |
Word sort
Add the correct suffix to make a new word.
| Base | + -ment | + -ness | + -ful | + -less |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| enjoy | ||||
| kind | ||||
| care | ||||
| hope | ||||
| excite | ||||
| dark |
Dictation sentences
- With careful movement and endless kindness, she helped the helpless bird.
- The excitement and goodness of the day made the earlier sadness seem worthless.
- Hopeful and fearless, she walked into the darkness with wonderful calmness.
- His carelessness caused disappointment — a thoughtless act with countless consequences.
- The achievement brought great happiness and a feeling of usefulness to the whole team.
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). Etymology verified against Oxford English Dictionary.