Suffixes

Finn :

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. I’m Finn…

Alice :

And I’m Alice. Today we’re looking at a very important part of word building - suffixes.

Finn :

Suffixes. We’ll look at what they are, what they mean and how to use them.

Alice :

There’ll be a quiz…

Finn :

And we’ll leave you with a top tip for learning vocabulary.

Alice :

So: to start off, we’re going to listen to Andrea and Steve who work in a bank. They have just interviewed two people who want to work there.

Finn :

And here’s a question to think about while you listen: who did Andrea and Steve like best - the first person or the second person?

Alice :

Who did they like best? Let’s find out.

INSERT :

Andrea :

What do you think then Steve?

Steve :

Well, the first one was very excitable: he kept laughing and speaking fast.

Andrea :

Perhaps it was just nervousness, but there’s no room for that in this business.

Steve :

No. Now I thought the second interviewee seemed a bit more responsible.

Andrea :

Yes, she did - very important when dealing with money. And she was polite.

Steve :

Politeness is essential in this job.

Andrea :

Absolutely. Well, I think we both know which one is more employable.

Finn :

So, that’s Steve and Andrea. And we asked you: who did they like best?

Alice :

And the answer is: they definitely liked the second person best. The second one was polite and responsible. The first one was a bit too excitable.

Finn :

That’s right, and excitable is a key word in the show today because it ends in a suffix.

Alice :

Now in the world of vocabulary, a suffix is a group of letters that you can add to the end of a word to change its form, or meaning, or both.

Finn :

For example, the word excitable has the suffix - able , spelt a-b-l-e. - able makes verbs into adjectives, and we use - able words to say that a subject can do something - is able to do something - or they behave in a particular way.

Alice :

So if we take the verb excite , add the suffix - able , we can say that the first interviewee was excitable , meaning: he can get very excited.

Finn :

And the second one was responsible , that’s responsible with -ible, spelt ‘i-b-l-e’. She can be trusted to do the right thing. And that’s why she was more employable , now that’s - able with an a again.

Now for another suffix. Andrea and Steve talked about two interviewees. The suffix - ee, spelt e-e , makes a noun which means ‘the person who receives an action’.

Alice :

For example, if you add - ee to interview, you get the person who receives an interview, an interviewee.

IDENT :

You’re listening to BBC Learning English dot com.

Finn :

And we’re talking about suffixes. Our final suffix for today is - ness, spelt n-e-s-s. Adding - ness to an adjective makes a noun.

Alice :

That’s right, and interviewee number one suffered from nervousness - the noun form of nervous.

Finn :

But number two understood the importance of politeness - the noun form of polite. Is politeness important to you Alice?

Alice :

Oh yes Finn, politeness is very important to me.

Finn :

I think you’re very polite. Now let’s listen to today’s suffixes and words again.

Alice :

The first one was: - able with an a. a-b-l-e.

Finn :

excitable, employable

Alice :

• ible withan i. i-b-l-e.

Finn :

responsible

Alice :

• ee: e-e

Finn :

interviewee

Alice :

• ness: n-e-s-s

Finn :

nervousness, politeness

Alice :

And it’s time for a quiz. Choose the correct suffix to complete the final words in these 2 sentences. Ready?

Number 1.The most important thing to me is my family’s… a) happy-ee b) happy-able, c) happiness.

Finn :

This one is the noun form of happy, so it’s c) happiness.

Alice :

Number 2. I’m learning how to do this job. I’m a a) trainee b) trainable, c) train-ness.

Finn :

You are receiving training, so you’re a trainee.

Alice :

Well done if you got those right.

Finn :

And that brings us almost to the end of today’s programme.

Alice :

But before we go, here’s today’s top tip for learning vocabulary: if you use an online dictionary, type a hyphen or a dash into the search box, and then type in any of today’s suffixes. The dictionary will give you a list of words that end with your suffix.

Finn :

You know, that’s a really good tip: I think I might try that. There’s more about this at BBC learning English dot com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both :

Goodbye!