Week 2 - ness suffix

Adding the suffix - ness

For this week’s spellings, we are looking at words that are created by adding the suffix –ness. By adding ness we create an adjective. Many words (but not all) that end in the suffix –ness are a special type of noun called an ‘abstract noun’. Abstract nouns describe a state of mind, a feeling, a quality or a characteristic that you cannot physically see.

Most root words remain unchanged when they are turned into nouns using the suffix –ness, e.g.

willing + ness = willingness

However, root words that end in ‘y’ usually change it to ‘i’ when the –ness suffix is added, e.g.

nasty + ness = nastiness