Vocabulary for TOEFL iBT

USING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES 37

SUFFIXES

Suffixes are syllables added to the end of words to change or add to their meaning.
They often change a word’s part of speech, thereby also changing how the word
functions in a sentence. Suffixes tell you whether a word is a person, place, or thing
(a noun ); an action or state of being (a verb ); or a modifier, which is a word that
describes (an adjective or adverb ).

HERE’S A HINT

PARTS OF SPEECH

The following table offers a quick reference guide for the main parts of speech.

Part of

Speech Function Examples

noun names a person, place, cloud, Helen, car, Elm Court,

thing, or concept brush, valor

verb shows an action, occurrence, go, jump, feel, imagine, interrupt

or state of being

adjective describes nouns and pronouns; white, oblong, ancient,

can also identify or quantify; exhilarating

tells what kind, which one, that(e.g.,that dog)

how many, how much several(e.g.,several dogs)

adverb describes verbs, adjectives, slowly, clumsily, never, very,

other adverbs, or entire clauses; here, soon

tells where, when, how and to

what extent

For example, look how the suffixes in the following table change the word
antagonist from a noun to an adjective to a verb (and don’t forget to notice the prefix,
ant- ).

Part of

Word Speech Definition

antagonist noun one who opposes or contends with another;

an adversary, opponent

antagonistic adjective opposing, combating, adversarial

antagonize verb to oppose actively, contend; to provoke the

hostility of

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