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Suffixes

Build strong suffix skills: when to drop silent e, double consonants, or keep endings neat in 11 Plus English.

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Fascinating Fact:

Drop silent e before vowel beginnings: hope → hoping, admire → admiring, amaze → amazing. Keep e before consonant beginnings: hope → hoped, amaze → amazement.

In 11 Plus English, suffixes like -ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ment, -ful, -less, and -ly attach to a base word. Learn when to drop e, change y to i, or double a final consonant to keep spellings correct.

Key Terms

Suffix: Letters added to the end of a word to change meaning or grammar, for example help → helpful.
Base word: The main word before adding endings, for example hope in hoping.
CVC pattern: Consonant–vowel–consonant ending (like hop) that often doubles the last consonant when adding -ing or -ed.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

When do I double the last consonant before -ing or -ed?

Double it after a short vowel in a one-syllable CVC word: hop → hopping, bat → batted. Do not double after a long vowel or two consonants: keep → keeping.

What happens to words ending in y when adding a suffix?

If a consonant comes before y, change y to i: happy → happier, happiness. If a vowel comes before y, keep y: play → played.

Are there exceptions to keeping or dropping silent e?

Yes. Keep e to protect soft c or g before -able: change → changeable, trace → traceable. But drop e before -ing: change → changing.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

What is the part of speech represented by word(s) formed with the given suffix(es)? Just in case you were wondering, here are the 8 parts of speech: verb, noun, pronoun, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
-er, -or, -ist

adverb

adjective

noun

verb

These noun endings are used in job titles, for example: driver, painter, actor, doctor, dentist, journalist, scientist

2 .

adjective

adverb

noun

verb

These adjectival endings are used in words such as helpful, gorgeous, childish

3 .

adjective only

noun

adverb/adjective

adverb only

Words with the suffix '-ly' can be either adjectives or adverbs, for example: quickly, slowly, rudely (adverbs); friendly, daily, lovely, deadly (adjectives)

4 .

noun

verb

adjective

adverb

These nounal endings are used in words such as justice, hardness, revision. Note: some nouns end in '-sion' BUT some end in '-tion' - be careful!

5 .

verb

adjective

adverb

noun

These adjectival endings are used in words such as careless, similar, defensive

6 .

noun

verb

adjective

adverb

These nounal endings are used in words such as freedom, neighbourhood, friendship

7 .

noun

adverb

verb

adjective

These adjectival endings are used in words such as trivial, different, worthless

8 .

adjective

verb

adverb

noun

These nounal endings are used in words such as advertisement, importance, hostility. Note: some nouns end in '-ance' BUT some end in '-ence' - be careful!

9 .

verb

noun

adjective

adverb

These nounal endings are used in words such as terrorism, revelation, preference. Note: some nouns end in '-ence' BUT some end in '-ance' - be careful!

10 .

adjective

noun

verb

adverb

These adjectival endings are used in words such as logical, fantastic, courageous

Author: Frank Evans (Specialist 11 Plus Teacher and Tutor)