--- title: Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A suffix is a few letters added to the end of a word that change its job or meaning. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness… # Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment Lesson 9 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/0/) — A suffix is a few letters added to the end of a word that change its job or meaning. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/1/) — «-ful» means full of (hopeful), «-less» means without (useless), «-ness» makes a feeling or state into a thing (kindness), «-ment» makes a thing from a verb (enjoyment), «-ly» often tells how (slowly), and «-ous» makes describing words meaning full of (famous, dangerous). - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/2/) — Each suffix has its own spelling, and it stays the same. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/5/) — When a word ends in -our, the u usually drops before -ous: humour, humorous; glamour, glamorous. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/6/) — The root word can change at the join. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/7/) — Consonant + y turns into i: happy, happily, happiness; easy, easily. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/8/) — Words ending in -ic add -ally: basic, basically; dramatic, dramatically (the famous exception is «publicly»). - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/9/) — Endings that start with a consonant (-less, -ful, -ness, -ment) usually leave the root alone: use, useless; move, movement. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/10/) — But «argue» drops its e in «argument»: «I lost an e in an argument.» - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/13/) — Before -able the e of the root usually drops (adore, adorable), but it stays after a soft c or g to keep them soft: notice, noticeable; change, changeable. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/14/) — Chanting lists can help you remember, as Grandma did, but understanding root plus suffix lets you spell words you have never met. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/15/) — Split «hopelessness» and it is just hope + less + ness. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/16/) — A suffix is added to the end of a word and changes its meaning or job: -ful (full of), -less (without), -ness (a state), -ment (a thing), -ly (how), -ous (full of). - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/18/) — Before -ous, -our usually loses its u: humour, humorous; glamour, glamorous. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/19/) — The suffix -ful has one l: careful, hopeful, beautiful. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/21/) — Words ending in -ic add -ally: basically, dramatically; «publicly» is the exception. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/22/) — Endings that start with a consonant (-less, -ful, -ness, -ment) usually do not change the root: useless, careless, enjoyment, movement. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/23/) — «Argue» drops its e in «argument» and «arguing». - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/24/) — Before -able, a final e usually drops (adorable) but stays after soft c or g (noticeable, changeable). - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/25/) — -able usually follows a whole word (enjoyable); -ible often follows a part that is not a word on its own (horrible, visible). - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/26/) — Splitting a word into root and suffixes helps you spell words you have never seen. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/27/) — Slang in this lesson: «tamping» means very angry in South Wales; «nesh» means feeling the cold easily in the North of England. - ← previous: [Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/) - next →: [i before e, silent letters and other famous traps](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)