Third GradeSuffixes and Prefixes

Mrs. Koehn’s Third Grade Class 2012

-er means “more” when added to a word comparing two persons, places, or things

Examples: steeper, taller, louder

◦ Giraffes are taller than lions.

-er

-ly means “in a certain way”

Examples: softly, nicely, slowly

◦ Turtles walk slowly.

-ly

-est means “most” when added to a word comparing more than two persons, places or things

Examples: fastest, craziest, hungriest

◦ Jake is the hungriest boy I know.

-est

-ful and –y both mean “full of”

Examples: joyful, hopeful, beautiful, snowy, cloudy, rainy

-ful & -y

-y means “full of”

Examples: snowy, cloudy, rainy

◦ It is very cloudy out.

-y

-ful means “full of”

Examples: joyful, hopeful, beautiful

◦ The sunset was beautiful.

-ful

-less adds the meaning “without”

Examples: hopeless, careless, thoughtless

◦ The careless janitor ruined the painting.

-less

-ness changes an adjective to a noun and means “the condition of”

Examples: sadness, laziness, happiness

◦ Bubbles bring happiness to children.

-ness

un-, dis-, non- all mean “not” or “the opposite of”

Examples: undone, unsupportive, unopened disrespectful, disapprove, disorder, nontraditional, nonaggressive, nondestructive

un-, dis-, non-

un- means “not” or “the opposite of”

Examples: undone, unsupportive, unopened

◦ The presents are unopened.

un-

dis- means “not” or “the opposite of”

Examples: disrespectful, disapprove, disorder

◦ Students who talk while the teacher is talking are disrespectful.

dis-

non- means “not” or “the opposite of”

Examples: nontraditional, nonaggressive, nondestructive

◦ This puppy is nonaggressive.

non-

re- means “again” or “back to”

Examples: rewind, redo, repeat

◦ The rewind button on the remote control is too small.

re-