English for Academic Skills
Independence
[EASI]
Session 8
Vocabulary
Firstly, a quick review of the last session…
• What are some common prefixes? Give an example
for each one.
Some common prefixes
prefix
meaning
example
anti
against
antisocial
de
opposite
deregulate
inter
between
international
mid
middle
midyear
mis
wrongly
misguide
non
not
nonessential
over
over
overexcited
pre
before
preview
semi
half
semiconscious
under
under
understate
By the end of this session you will be able to …
• identify common suffixes
Prefixes
Adding a prefix to a word changes its …
meaning.
Some common prefixes:
prefix
meaning
example
dis
opposite / reverse
disagree
il, im, in, ir
not
inactive, impossible
re
again
restate
un
not
uncertain
Ok, review done. Now onto today’s focus…
Suffixes
Adding a suffix to a word changes its function.
Some common suffixes:
suffix
meaning
example
-ate (verb)
become
educate
-ate (adj)
state or quality of
affectionate
-tion (noun)
state of being
education
-al (adjective)
relating to a noun
educational
-ly (adverb)
relating to a verb or educationally
adjective
Why is it useful to know suffixes?
Suffixes can tell you what part of speech (noun, verb,
adjective…) a word is.
If you know what a word does in a sentence, you will:
• know where to put it in a sentence
• have more idea about what it means
• increase your ability to paraphrase
How many suffixes?!
antidisestablishmentarianism
Find:
- the base word & its part of speech
- establish (v)
- the prefixes
- anti, dis
- the suffixes & their part of speech
- -ment (n), -ari (variant of ary) (adj), -an (n), -ism (n)
How the word is formed
(v)
establish (3 syllables)
to set up, put in place, or institute (originally from the Latin stare, to stand)
(v)
disestablish (4)
to end the established status of a body, in particular a church, given such status
by law, such as the Church of England
(n)
disestablishment (5)
the separation of church and state (specifically in this context it is the political
movement of the 1860s in Britain)
(adj)
antidisestablishment (7)
opposition to disestablishment
(adj)
antidisestablishmentary (9)
of or pertaining to opposition to disestablishment
(n)
antidisestablishmentarian (10)
an opponent of disestablishment
(n)
antidisestablishmentarianism (12)
the movement or ideology that opposes disestablishment
Noun suffixes
suffix
meaning
example
-acy
state or quality
democracy
-al
act or process of
numeral
-ance, -ence
state or quality of
ignorance, reference
-dom
place or state of being
kingdom, random
-er, -or
someone who
dancer, actor
-ing
turns a verb into a noun
learning
-ism
doctrine, belief
vegetarianism
-ist
someone who
psychologist
-ity, -ty
quality of
necessity, faculty
-ment
condition of
embarrassment
-ness
state of being
toughness
-ship
position held
membership
-sion, -tion
state of being
decision, option
Verb suffixes
suffix
function
example
-s
Indicates 3rd person singular form of
present simple tense.
My friend talks a lot on Facebook.
-ing
Indicates continuous aspect.
We’re talking on Facebook right
now.
-ed
Indicates past simple/past participle
form of regular verbs.
We talked last night.
We haven’t talked much recently.
Find examples for some of these suffixes:
suffix
meaning
example
-ate
become
populate
-en
become
lighten
-ify, -fy
make or become
electrify, satisfy
-ise, -ize
become
minimise, criticize
A note on -ise / -ize
British English:
emphasise
American English:
emphasize
New Zealand English:
emphasise / emphasize
Set NZ English
in MS Word
In general, New Zealanders prefer -ise
Adjective suffixes
suffix
meaning
example
-able, ible
capable of being
tolerable, visible
-al
relating to
biographical
-ed
a person’s feelings
interested
-ful
notable for
eventful
-ic, -ical
relating to
economic, historical
-ing
having the quality of
interesting
-ious, -ous
characterised by
conscious, poisonous
-ish
having the quality of
selfish
-ive
having the nature of
persuasive
-less
without
wireless
-y
characterised by
early
-esque
reminding of
statuesque
Adjective suffixes: -ing or -ed?
-ing
used for describing a quality of something / someone
- I think spiders are frightening.
- That teacher is frightening.
-ed
used for describing how someone feels
- I am frightened of spiders.
Adjective suffixes: -ing or -ed?
What is the difference here?
I am so bored.
I am so boring.
(I feel bored)
(I make other people feel bored)
Right or wrong?
I feel very boring when people gossip.
(this could mean that hearing about other
people makes your life seem boring)
I feel very bored when people gossip.
(gossip is boring for you)
Adverb suffixes
Find examples for each suffix:
suffix
meaning
example
-ly
done in a particular way
slowly
-s
in the direction of
frequency
towards
sometimes
-wise
in the direction of
with regard to
clockwise
schoolwise
Careful!
Not all words that end with –ly are adverbs…
Adjectives:
early, friendly
Nouns:
anomaly, assembly
List of common suffixes
You can access a list of common suffixes at:
https://www.learnthat.org/pages/view/suffix.html
Which part of speech?
Look at the suffix of each word to identify which part of speech it is. Then add
each one to the correct column of the table.
noun
verb
adjective
adverb
isolation
isolation
facilitate
socially
experience
obvious
discussions
valuable
possible
loneliness
appears
socialise
benefitted
environment
engaged
vital
Which part of speech?
noun
verb
adjective
adverb
isolation
experience
discussions
loneliness
environment
facilitate
appears
socialise
benefitted
obvious
valuable
possible
engaged
vital
socially
Which part of speech?
Look at the gaps and decide which part of speech (noun, verb,
adjective, adverb) should go in each gap:
adjective capacity as a
One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and learning is its _______
verb
space for students to _______.
Socialising is a crucial component of the student tertiary
noun
_______.
Duffy (2011) contends that Facebook can connect students with peers and
teachers, involving them in communities; a adjective
_______ component of student success.
McCarthy (2013), in his three year study of Facebook as an online learning _______ for
first year undergraduate students in Australia and Singapore, found that students
_______ from involvement in virtual _______ which allowed them time to create and
measure their responses. This would not be _______ in a physical classroom
environment. The students were also able to learn about their peers via their Facebook
profile pages, and adjust to being at university, helping them avoid the common first
year student issues of _______ and _______ (Sawir, Marginson, Deumart, Nyland, &
Ramia, 2008, cited in McCarthy, 2013). Therefore, it appears that Facebook can
_______ _______ social interactions for students as they adjust to the tertiary context.
Being _______ integrated also enhances the likelihood that students will be _______ in
their study programmes.
Homework
Finish the activities on the next four slides …
Which part of speech?
Now decide which words from the table should go in each gap:
adjective capacity as a
One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and learning is its _______
verb
space for students to _______.
Socialising is a crucial component of the student tertiary
noun
_______.
Duffy (2011) contends that Facebook can connect students with peers and
teachers, involving them in communities; a adjective
_______ component of student success.
noun for
McCarthy (2013), in his three year study of Facebook as an online learning _______
first year undergraduate students in Australia and Singapore, found that students
noun which allowed them time to create and
verb from involvement in virtual _______
_______
adjective in a physical classroom
measure their responses. This would not be _______
environment. The students were also able to learn about their peers via their Facebook
profile pages, and adjust to being at university, helping them avoid the common first
noun and _______
noun (Sawir, Marginson, Deumart, Nyland, &
year student issues of _______
Ramia, 2008, cited in McCarthy, 2013). Therefore, it appears that Facebook can
verb _______
adjective social interactions for students as they adjust to the tertiary context.
_______
adverb integrated also enhances the likelihood that students will be _______
Being _______
adjective in
their study programmes.
noun
verb
adjective
adverb
isolation
facilitate
obvious
socially
valuable
experience
appears
Now
decide
which
words
from
the table should go in each gap:
discussions
socialise
possible
loneliness
benefitted
engaged
environment
vital
adjective capacity as a
One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and learning is its _______
verb
space for students to _______.
Socialising is a crucial component of the student tertiary
noun
_______.
Duffy (2011) contends that Facebook can connect students with peers and
teachers, involving them in communities; a adjective
_______ component of student success.
noun for
McCarthy (2013), in his three year study of Facebook as an online learning _______
first year undergraduate students in Australia and Singapore, found that students
noun which allowed them time to create and
verb from involvement in virtual _______
_______
adjective in a physical classroom
measure their responses. This would not be _______
environment. The students were also able to learn about their peers via their Facebook
profile pages, and adjust to being at university, helping them avoid the common first
noun and _______
noun (Sawir, Marginson, Deumart, Nyland, &
year student issues of _______
Ramia, 2008, cited in McCarthy, 2013). Therefore, it appears that Facebook can
verb _______
adjective social interactions for students as they adjust to the tertiary context.
_______
adverb integrated also enhances the likelihood that students will be _______
Being _______
adjective in
their study programmes.
noun
verb
adjective
adverb
isolation
facilitate
obvious
socially
valuable
experience
appears
Now
decide
which
words
from
the table should go in each gap:
discussions
socialise
possible
loneliness
benefitted
engaged
environment
vital
One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and learning is its obvious capacity as a
space for students to socialise. Socialising is a crucial component of the student tertiary
experience. Duffy (2011) contends that Facebook can connect students with peers and
teachers, involving them in communities; a vital component of student success.
McCarthy (2013), in his three year study of Facebook as an online learning environment
for first year undergraduate students in Australia and Singapore, found that students
benefitted from involvement in virtual discussions which allowed them time to create
and measure their responses. This would not be possible in a physical classroom
environment. The students were also able to learn about their peers via their Facebook
profile pages, and adjust to being at university, helping them avoid the common first
year student issues of loneliness and isolation (Sawir, Marginson, Deumart, Nyland, &
Ramia, 2008, cited in McCarthy, 2013). Therefore, it appears that Facebook can
facilitate valuable social interactions for students as they adjust to the tertiary context.
Being socially integrated also enhances the likelihood that students will be engaged in
their study programmes.
Useful links
Good sources of information and practice:
https://www.learnthat.org/pages/view/suffix.html
http://resources.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html#13
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/english_lessons/suffixexercises