B. Foundations of Language · Listening, Speaking and Word Power

Suffixes for Grade 5: -ance/-ence, -ant/-ent, -ic, -ify, -ship, -hood, -dom and More

B2.1 B2.2About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can read and explain the suffixes -ance/-ence, -ant/-ent, -ic, -ify, -ate, -ism, -ure, -ship, -hood and -dom.
I can tell how a suffix changes a word's job (noun, verb, adjective or adverb).
I can read word chains with several suffixes, like nation → national → nationality → nationally.
I can use suffixes to understand words in science and social studies.

Words to know

suffix
A morpheme added after a base. It can change the meaning or the word's job.

noun
A word that names a person, place, thing or idea: freedom, patience.

verb
An action or being word: simplify, activate.

adjective
A word that describes a noun: magnetic, patient.

adverb
A word that tells how, when, where, how often or how much: patiently.

word chain
A list of words made by adding suffixes one at a time to the same base.

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you read words with -tion/-sion, -ous, -ive, -al, -ible, -ity, -en and -ward, and you saw how a suffix can change a word's job: create (verb) → creative (adjective) → creation (noun). In Grade 5 you'll learn more suffixes and read long chains of suffixes like a pro.

Let's start with a puzzle

What's the difference between these three words?

My little brother is patient while waiting for his turn.
Patience is important when you're learning to skate.
He waited patiently for the bus.

Same base, three different jobs! Patient describes (adjective), patience names an idea (noun), and patiently tells how (adverb). The suffix tells you the job.

One base, three jobs. The suffix tells you whether the word describes, names an idea, or tells how.

Suffix	Meaning	Usually makes a...	Examples
-ance, -ence	the state or act of	noun	importance, difference, silence, patience, appearance
-ant, -ent	being or doing; a person who	adjective or noun	important, different, silent, assistant, resident
-ic	having to do with, like	adjective	magnetic, athletic, volcanic, artistic
-ify	to make	verb	simplify, clarify, solidify, purify
-ate	to make, to cause	verb	activate, hydrate, celebrate, motivate
-ure	the act or result of	noun	pressure, departure, failure, mixture
-ism	a belief, action or quality	noun	heroism, volunteerism, optimism
-ship	the state, skill or position of	noun	friendship, leadership, citizenship, championship
-hood	the state or time of; a group	noun	childhood, neighbourhood, adulthood
-dom	the state of; a realm	noun	freedom, kingdom, boredom, wisdom

The meaning of the suffix plus the meaning of the base gives you the meaning of the word.

Partner suffixes: -ant/-ance and -ent/-ence

These often come in pairs. If you know one, you can read the other:

important → importance
different → difference
silent → silence
resident (a person who lives somewhere) → residence (the place they live)
assistant (a person who helps) → assistance (help)

Reading suffix chains

Long words often have two or three suffixes. Peel them off from the end, one at a time, and watch the job change:

nation (noun) → national (adjective) → nationality (noun) → internationally (adverb)
friend (noun) → friendly (adjective) → friendliness (noun) → unfriendliness
simple → simplify (verb) → simplification (noun)

Notice spelling changes at the joins: y → i (friendly → friendliness), dropped e (simple → simplify) and -ify becoming -ific- before -ation.

A suffix chain climbs like stairs: nation → national → nationality, and with inter- in front, internationally. To read it, peel the parts off from the end.

Worked example

Let's read a science word

Read: When water freezes, it solidifies: the liquid becomes ice.

Peel the last suffix: -es (it does this now).
Next suffix: -ify means to make (the y changed to i before -es).
Base: solid.
Word sum: solid + ify + es → solidifies.
Meaning: makes solid or becomes solid. The context agrees: liquid water becomes solid ice.

solidifies = becomes solid.

Worked example

Let's read a social studies word

Read: Voting in elections is one of the responsibilities of citizenship in Canada.

Suffix: -ship means the state or position of.
Base: citizen: a member of a country.
Meaning: the state of being a citizen: being a member of a country, with rights and responsibilities.
Context check: voting is something citizens do, so it fits.

citizenship = being a citizen, with its rights and responsibilities.

Just for fun

Boredom is the state of being bored. Freedom is the state of being free. So the state of being totally full of pizza must be... pizzadom. (Not a real word, but it should be!)

Suffixes are job labels

When you're not sure how a word is used in a sentence, look at its suffix. -ness, -ance, -ship, -dom, -hood, -ure usually label a noun. -ify, -ate, -ize often label a verb. -ic, -ous, -ive, -ant, -ent often label an adjective. -ly often labels an adverb.

Hands-on activity

Suffix sorting cups

You need: four paper cups or bowls, 20 small scraps of paper, a pencil and tape.

Label the cups Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb.
Write these words on the scraps (one each): freedom, simplify, magnetic, childhood, friendship, activate, importance, patiently, volcanic, departure, purify, different, silence, neighbourhood, heroic, wisdom, clarify, pressure, quickly, resident.
Read each word aloud, circle its suffix and drop it into the right cup.
Check with a grown-up. Then pick three words and say a sentence for each.
Bonus: choose one base and make a chain with three suffixes (hope → hopeful → hopefully).

Answers: Nouns: freedom, childhood, friendship, importance, departure, silence, neighbourhood, wisdom, pressure, resident (a person). Verbs: simplify, activate, purify, clarify. Adjectives: magnetic, volcanic, different, heroic. Adverbs: patiently, quickly.

Your turn

What does -ify mean? Read clarify.

Change different into a noun.

What does childhood mean?

Which suffix makes magnet into an adjective? Use it in a sentence.

Peel the suffixes in nationally. What job does the word do?

Read departure. What does it mean?

What is the noun partner of important?

More practice: warm-up

What does -dom mean in freedom?

Find the suffix in leadership.

Find the suffix in activate.

Is silence a noun or an adjective?

What does -ic mean?

More practice: on your own

Write the word sum for friendliness and show the spelling change.

Read: Drinking water helps hydrate your body after exercise. What does hydrate mean? (Hint: hydr = water.)

Explain the difference between resident and residence.

Make a chain of three words from simple.

Read: The firefighter's heroism saved the family. Explain the meaning with the suffix.

Challenge

Read internationally and explain how each morpheme adds to the meaning.

Make four words with different jobs from the base act, and label each job.

Read: The scientist wanted to purify the water sample before testing it. Use the suffix, the base and the context to explain purify, then write the noun form.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What does -ify mean?

Which word is a noun?

What does neighbourhood mean?

Which suffix turns volcano into an adjective?

In friendliness, which suffix comes last?

What does departure mean?

Which word means the state of being a citizen?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (B2.1, B2.2): Grade 5 students use morphological knowledge to read and understand complex words. Suffixes signal a word's job (part of speech), which supports both comprehension and grammar (taught in the companion writing unit).

How to help at home:

Play "change the job": you say a word (happy), your child changes it with a suffix (happiness, happily).
When reading together, point out long words with stacked suffixes and peel them from the end.
Use science and news words (solidify, citizenship, international) in conversation.

Common difficulties:

Ignoring the suffix and misreading the job (reading patience as patients). Ask: "Is it naming something or describing?"
Missing spelling changes (y → i, dropped e). Write the word sum.
-ant/-ent and -ance/-ence spelling. For reading, the partner rule helps: important → importance. Spelling practice is in the writing unit.