A. Productive suffixes
Many suffixes (and prefixes too) are productive. [still used to create new words] You might feel adventurous enough to try coining some words of your own! [creating] The meaning of the example words below is clear from the meanings of the root and the suffix.
-able can be used productively, whereas -ible never is. It combines with verbs to form adjectives.
Note that -able means ‘can be’:
a washable jacket [one that can be washed]
disposable nappies
predictable results avoidable problems a manageable situation
-conscious combines with nouns to form adjectives that describe people who consider one aspect of their lives especially important:
health-conscious person class-conscious society safety-conscious company time-conscious workforce
-free combines with nouns describing something undesirable to form adjectives to describe nouns without that undesirable aspect:
stress-free life tax-free shop additive-free food
-rich combines with nouns (often chemical or organic substances) to form adjectives to describe nouns with a lot of that substance:
fibre-rich diet calcium-rich foods
-led combines with nouns and nationality adjectives to form adjectives describing things that are controlled or influenced by the group/nation:
community-led initiative student-led protest worker-led uprising
-minded combines with adjectives or nouns to form new adjectives describing people with particular characters, opinions or attitudes:
like-minded friends [with similar interests] career-minded young women money-minded managers high-minded [having high moral standards]
-proof combines with nouns to form adjectives describing things that can resist the damage or difficulty caused by that noun:
ovenproof dish waterproof jacket soundproof room idiot-proof instructions
-related combines with nouns to form adjectives to describe one thing as connected with another:
stress-related absence from work age-related illness
-ridden combines with nouns to form adjectives describing people or things with a lot of that noun:
guilt-ridden person crime-ridden city bedridden [a person who has to stay in bed because they are ill]
-worthy combines with nouns to form adjectives that describe people or things that merit whatever the original noun refers to:
newsworthy incident [worth reporting in the news] praiseworthy action/pupil [deserving praise]
Language help
The first part of words with -ed, -related, -conscious, etc. is usually a singular rather than a plural noun, e.g.
university-led, crime-related, age-conscious (NOT universities-led, crimes-related, ages-conscious).
B. Suffixes in different word classes
-ly is not only an adverb ending, it also forms quite a few adjectives:
lively children [full of energy] costly holiday [expensive] leisurely walk [relaxed] miserly man [mean with money]
-ant is most familiar as an adjective ending (relevant information, distant hills) but it can also make nouns from verbs to describe a person:
an applicant for a job an insurance claimant a police informant a quiz contestant an occupant of a house
-en makes adjectives from nouns (woollen jumper, golden hair) but it also makes verbs from adjectives:
to moisten your lips to sweeten tea a situation worsens a face reddens
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