Língua Inglesa: Suffixes

Esta proposta de atividade de Língua Inglesa com base no DC/GO – Ampliado e é destinada aos estudantes do 8º Ano do Ensino Fundamental Anos Finais.

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Suffixes

Understanding Suffixes in English

Suffixes are letters or groups of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or grammatical function. In English, suffixes are commonly used to form new words or to shift words from one part of speech to another. There are two main types of suffixes: derivational and inflectional.

1. Derivational Suffixes

Derivational suffixes change the meaning or category of a word. For example, adding the suffix -ness to the adjective happy turns it into the noun happiness, which now means the state or quality of being happy. Here are some common derivational suffixes in English:

• -ness: Turns an adjective into a noun.
  • Example: dark → darkness (the state of being dark)
• -ful: Turns a noun into an adjective, meaning “full of.”
  • Example: hope → hopeful (full of hope)
• -less: Turns a noun into an adjective, meaning “without.”
  • Example: home → homeless (without a home)
• -er and -or: Often added to verbs to create nouns that refer to people or things that perform an action.
  • Examples: teach → teacher (someone who teaches), create → creator (someone who creates)

2. Inflectional Suffixes

Inflectional suffixes modify a word’s tense, number, or comparison without changing its part of speech. They are commonly used in English for verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Here are some examples:

• -s and -es: Used to make nouns plural.
  • Examples: book → books, bus → buses
• -ed: Used to indicate the past tense of regular verbs.
  • Example: walk → walked
• -ing: Indicates the present participle form of a verb, often used for continuous tenses.
  • Example: run → running
• -est: Forms the superlative degree of adjectives.
  • Example: strong → strongest (the most strong)

Common Examples of Suffix Usage

Here are some words formed by adding suffixes:

• -ly: Changes an adjective to an adverb, meaning “in a manner of.”
  • quick → quickly (in a quick manner)
• -able and -ible: Create adjectives meaning “capable of” or “worthy of.”
  • read → readable (capable of being read), possess → possessible (able to be possessed)
• -ment: Forms nouns, indicating the result or process of an action.
  • develop → development (the process of developing)

Suffixes are essential in English for building vocabulary and changing meanings, which allows for more precise communication. Whether used to create new words or adjust the form of existing ones, suffixes play a major role in the structure of the language.

Vocabulary:

Suffix – Sufixo

Meaning – Significado

Change – Mudança

Noun – Substantivo

Adjective – Adjetivo

Verb – Verbo

Plural – Plural

Example – Exemplo

Continuous – Contínuo

Comparison – Comparação

Past – Passado

Action – Ação

Form – Forma

Degree – Grau

Capable – Capaz

Leia a história em quadrinhos abaixo e responda as questões sobre a mesma:

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Glossary:

Joyful – Alegre

Fearless – Destemido

Childish – Infantil

Suffix – Sufixo

Specialist – Especialista

QUESTION 01

O primeiro personagem  do comic strips explica sobre o sufixo

(A) -less.

(B) -ful.

(C) -ish.

(D) -ologist.

QUESTION 02

No final do comic strips o quarto personagem brincam que eles são

(A) suffix-free.

(B) suffix-makers.

(C) suffix-ologists.

(D) suffix-adders.

QUESTION 03

Explique como o uso de sufixos diferentes, como -ful, -less e -ish, muda o significado das palavras na história em quadrinhos. Dê exemplos específicos de como esses sufixos influenciam o sentido da palavra base.

QUESTION 04

Forme novas palavras acrescentando um sufixo a cada palavra abaixo:

(A) Help: 

(B) Play: 

(C) Joy:

(D) Use:

(E) Peace:

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Autoria	Profª Drª Sueidy Lourencio
Formação	Letras: Português/Inglês – Doutorado em Educação
Componente Curricular	Língua Inglesa
Habilidades	(EF08LI13-A) Reconhecer sufixos e prefixos comuns utilizados na formação de palavras em língua inglesa, para inferir significados.
Referências	MAKAR, Barbara W. Primary Phonics. 1. ed. Chicago: Modern Curriculum Press, 2018. KOUSTAFF, Lesley. Oxford Discover. 2. ed. v. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. FOLEY, Mike; HALL, Diane. New Total English Elementary student’s book, Essex: Pearson. Education Limited, 2011.

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