List of English Suffixes

capable of, worthy of

A Latin-origin suffix forming adjectives that indicate capability or worthiness. "-able" attaches to native or French-origin stems; "-ible" often appears with Latin stems.

state, quality

state, quality

act, product

act, product

action, state, collection

action, state, collection

relating to, having the nature of

A Latin suffix that forms adjectives meaning "of or relating to." It is extremely common in academic and scientific English.

relating to, resembling

relating to, resembling

one who (often pejorative)

one who (often pejorative)

relating to, connected with

relating to, connected with

to make, having

A versatile Latin suffix that can form verbs (activate), adjectives (accurate), and nouns (candidate). As a verb suffix it means "to make or cause."

the act or result of doing

Turns verbs, especially those ending in -ate or -ize, into nouns that name the action or what it produces: inform → information, explore → exploration, organize → organization. It fuses -ate and -ion into one of the most productive suffixes in academic English.

killing, cutting

killing, cutting

rule, government

rule, government

state, realm, condition

An Old English suffix forming nouns that denote a state, condition, or domain. It originates from a word meaning "judgment" or "authority."

past tense / completed

past tense / completed

one who receives the action

one who receives the action

state, quality, or action

Turns adjectives in -ent / -ant into nouns naming the matching state or quality (different → difference, important → importance), and some verbs into nouns of action (perform → performance, refer → reference). -ance and -ence are the same Latin suffix: the vowel follows the Latin verb stem, so the spelling has to be learned word by word. -ency / -ancy are variants that often describe a condition (fluency, pregnancy).

performing, being in a state

From the Latin present participle -ens / -ans, "doing" or "being in a state". It forms adjectives (different, important, distant) and nouns for a person or thing that does the action (student, assistant, disinfectant). The -ent / -ant spelling follows the Latin verb stem, and the matching noun takes -ence / -ance: important → importance.

one who does, agent

One of the most common agent suffixes in English. "-er" is the native English form while "-or" comes from Latin. Both create nouns denoting a person or thing that performs an action.

in the style of

in the style of

full of, characterized by

An Old English suffix meaning "full of" or "having the quality of." It forms adjectives from nouns and is one of the first suffixes English learners encounter.

one who, relating to

one who, relating to

capable of

capable of

relating to, having the nature of

relating to, having the nature of

having the quality of

having the quality of

making, producing

making, producing

to make, to cause to become

A Latin-origin suffix that turns nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make" or "to cause to be." It is common in both everyday and formal English.

capable of, relating to

capable of, relating to

of, relating to, resembling

of, relating to, resembling

continuous / action of

continuous / action of

act, process, state

act, process, state