The Spelling Rules for Adding Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word to change its meaning.

Look at these examples:

help + s = helps	help + ing = helping	help + ed = helped
help + er = helper	help + ful = helpful	help + less = helpless

helpful + ness = helpfulness

helpful + ly = helpfully

Learn the Words:

'Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check' spelling exercise

In the above examples, you do not need to change the root word when you add a suffix.

In this unit, we will look at when you do need to change the root word.

Suffixes can be broken up into:
Vowel suffixes – the suffix begins with a vowel.
Consonant suffixes – the suffix begins with a consonant.

For example: