Suffixes: -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly
Year group: 2
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling, National Curriculum for England (2013) — Year 2
Curriculum requirement: Statutory
Purpose: Year 2 guide to suffixes -ment, -ness, -ful, -less and -ly — how to add them, spelling changes (y→i), and KS1 practice activities.
The rule
These five suffixes are all consonant suffixes — they begin with a consonant. This means they follow a simpler rule than vowel suffixes:
The spelling of the base word does NOT change when you add a consonant suffix (with one exception — see -y to -i below).
enjoy + -ment = enjoyment (no change)
care + -ful = careful (no change — keep the e)
sad + -ness = sadness (no change)
The five suffixes and what they mean
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ment | the result or act of | enjoy → enjoyment |
| -ness | the state of being | sad → sadness |
| -ful | full of; having | care → careful |
| -less | without | care → careless |
| -ly | in a [adjective] way | slow → slowly |
Note: careful and careless are a pair — opposite meanings, same base word.
-ment examples
| Base | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy | enjoyment | pleasure |
| excite | excitement | a feeling of excitement |
| move | movement | the act of moving |
| amaze | amazement | great surprise |
| treat | treatment | the way something is dealt with |
| agree | agreement | an understanding between parties |
| disappoint | disappointment | the feeling of not getting what you wanted |
| amuse | amusement | entertainment |
| argue | argument | a disagreement (drop the e — exceptional; -ment is consonant but this base drops e) |
| judge | judgement | a decision (British English keeps e: judgement) |
-ness examples
| Base | Word | Note |
|---|---|---|
| sad | sadness | double d + d = dd (from base, no extra doubling) |
| kind | kindness | |
| dark | darkness | |
| sweet | sweetness | |
| loud | loudness | |
| fit | fitness | (double t? No — fitness is fit + -ness; the t is not doubled because -ness is a consonant suffix) |
| happy | happiness | y → i (consonant before y) |
| silly | silliness | y → i |
| busy | business | y → i; also has unusual pronunciation /ˈbɪznɪs/ |
| good | goodness | |
| aware | awareness | keep the e |
| polite | politeness | keep the e |
-ful examples
-ful has only ONE l (not two). It comes from the word full but is spelled with one l as a suffix.
| Base | Word |
|---|---|
| care | careful |
| help | helpful |
| hope | hopeful |
| play | playful |
| use | useful |
| wonder | wonderful |
| thank | thankful |
| success | successful |
| colour | colourful |
| beauty | beautiful (y → i before vowel? No — -ful starts with consonant. But beauty → beauti- because -ful begins with f and the y to i rule applies before most suffixes except -ing) |
Beauty → beautiful: the y in beauty changes to i before -ful because y → i rule applies before consonant suffixes when the letter before y is a consonant.
-less examples
| Base | Word |
|---|---|
| care | careless |
| help | helpless |
| hope | hopeless |
| use | useless |
| power | powerless |
| harm | harmless |
| end | endless |
| worth | worthless |
| sleep | sleepless |
| thought | thoughtless |
| count | countless |
-ly examples (covered in depth at Y3/4)
At Y2, teach the simple case: add -ly to most adjectives with no change.
| Base | Word |
|---|---|
| slow | slowly |
| quick | quickly |
| loud | loudly |
| kind | kindly |
| soft | softly |
| bright | brightly |
| safe | safely |
| nice | nicely |
| brave | bravely |
| happy | happily (y → i) |
The -y to -i exception
Even though these are consonant suffixes (no vowel suffix doubling or e-dropping), the y to i rule still applies:
happy + -ness = happiness (not happyness)
beauty + -ful = beautiful (not beautyful)
happy + -ly = happily (not happyly)
Careful / careless — a teaching pair
Use care to show how opposites are built from the same root:
- care + -ful = careful (full of care)
- care + -less = careless (without care)
- care + -fully = carefully
- care + -lessly = carelessly
- care + -fulness = carefulness
- care + -lessness = carelessness
Six words from one base. This is morphology in action.
Common mistakes
| Wrong | Right | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| carefull | careful | -ful has only one l |
| happyness | happiness | y → i before -ness |
| beautifull | beautiful | -ful has only one l |
| usefull | useful | -ful has only one l |
| excitment | excitement | keep the e before -ment |
| movment | movement | keep the e before -ment |
Word sort
Add the suffix and write the new word.
| Base + suffix | New word |
|---|---|
| help + -ful | |
| kind + -ness | |
| care + -less | |
| slow + -ly | |
| enjoy + -ment | |
| happy + -ness | |
| wonder + -ful | |
| end + -less | |
| excite + -ment | |
| beauty + -ful |
Dictation sentences
- With careful movement, she placed the glass on the table gently.
- The darkness and silence created a feeling of sadness.
- Her kindness was a source of great enjoyment for everyone around her.
- The hopeless situation brought disappointment and a sense of helplessness.
- He walked slowly and thoughtfully, grateful for the wonderful calmness of the morning.
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). All examples verified against Year 2 statutory content.