Writers can improve their books, qualitative and quantitative research, and journal articles through the use of various techniques and literary devices. When writing using the English language, one will need to understand how to use suffixes as a modifier.
A suffix is a string of characters and letters, a person can add to augment or change the meaning of a specific root word. A lot of root words have different suffixes and prefixes based on the context they are used in. One can observe how each word can have different suffixes when looking at medical terminology, as these have a specific amount of suffixes that are unique to this field.
When suffixes are properly used, they can easily change the meaning and interpretation of the root word. For example, the word try can be attached with the suffixes -es, -ed, and -ing, wherein the word tries is used to indicate a single subject, tried for the past tense of try, and trying is the progressive version of the word try.
Begin by selecting a root word to insert and attach a suffix to the end tail of the word. This step is very important as it will determine the types of suffix one can add. For example, if we are to choose a proper noun, the suffixes we can work with are few to none, but if we were to select a common noun or a verb then the list of suffixes would increase.
Each type of word can have a specific amount of suffixes attached to it. For example, the verb beckon can be given a suffix of -ing or -ed to change the tense or the meaning of the said verb.
You must check if the double rules will apply to the word you have chosen to add a suffix into. Many rules will interplay and are highly dependent on the structure of the root word. An example of double rules in action is found in the word shredding, where we have added a second d before the -ing suffix.
Another rule you must check is if the I rule will apply to the word. This rule indicates that any word that ends with the letter y must change said letter to the letter i, before the suffix. The only exception to this rule is in suffixes that begin with the letter i will not change or convert the letter y to i. An example of this exception can be found in the word copying, where y is not converted to i.
The double rule in suffixes indicates that some words will have an extra letter when the person adds the suffix to said words. For example, the term “occur” will have a double r when we add the suffix -ing into the word to make it progressive, which creates the word “occurring”. There are exceptions to this double rule that will dictate whether or not the word will have a double letter. Words with one or fewer syllables will not have a double letter when the term ends with two or more consonants. When the word has two or more syllables and ends with the letter l, you will have to add a second letter l to the word. The double rule will also affect words with two or more syllables and has a phonetic stress at the end of the term. For words that also end with a consonant and are paired with a suffix that begins with a consonant then the double rule will apply. Any other term that is not specified here is not subject to the double rule.
A prefix is a group of letters that the writer will augment to the root word to change the meaning and intention of the word. A suffix, on the other hand, is a group of letters that the writer will attach to the end of the root word to create a new word with a different meaning. The main difference between these two techniques is the location of insertion and the ways one can augment the words. An example of a prefix can be found in the word predetermined, where pre- is the prefix used in the example, which changes the overall meaning of the word. The suffix of the example is -ed which makes the tense of the word into something that refers to the past.
The “i” rule is a specific rule that applies when augmenting a suffix to a word that ends with y. Any word or root word that ends with y will need to change it to the letter i plus the suffix. For example, the word malady when added with the -ies suffix will become maladies. There are exemptions to the rule, wherein if the suffix is -ing and the person attaches it to a root word that ends in the letter y, said person will not change the letter y to i. An example of this rule is in the changing of the word relay to relaying, where the y is not changed into i.
A suffix is a tool people use to change the meaning and the intention of a word without outright manipulating the root word’s structure. Proper usage of the suffix will prevent any room for misunderstandings and miscommunication.
