Suffixes
| WORD | TYPE OF SUFFIX | USUAL RULE | EXAMPLES |
| Ending in "e" | beginning with a vowel (e.g. -ed, -er, -est, -ing, -ance, -ence, -able, -ion) | drop the final "e" | write > writer, writing value > valued, valuer, valuing, valuable navigate > navigated, navigating, navigation, navigable |
| Ending in "e" | beginning with a consonant (e.g. -ness, -ly, -ful, -fully) | keep the final "e" | sore > soreness, sorely hope > hopeful, hopefully |
| Ending in "n" | -ness | double the "n" | sudden > suddenness vain > vainness |
| Ending in "y" | -ly, -ed, -age, -est, -er, -ment, -ness | change "y" to "i" | lazy > lazily marry > married, marriage merry > merrily, merriest, merrier, merriment hungry > hungriness |
Plurals
| TYPE OF NOUN | USUAL RULE | EXAMPLES |
| For most nouns | Add "s" | attic > attics plum > plums stone > stones |
| Last 2 letters are a consonant the second of which is a "y" | Change "y" to "ie" and add "s" | lady > ladies forty > forties gallery > galleries nationality > nationalities |
| Last 2 letters are a vowel other than "u" followed by a "y" | Add "s" | day > days pulley > pulleys boy > boys key > keys |
| Last 2 letters are a vowel the second of which is an "o" | Add "s" | rodeo > rodeos radio > radios curio > curios |
| Last 2 letters are a consonant the second of which is an "o" | Add "es" | potato > potatoes hero > heroes torpedo > torpedoes (Some exceptions) photo > photos piano > pianos merino > merinos |
| Ending in "f" or "fe"
|
Change "f" or "fe" to "v" and add "es" | wife > wives loaf > loaves wolf > wolves half > halves (Some exceptions) roof > roofs giraffe > giraffes |
| ending in "ss", "sh", "ch", "s", "x", "zz" | Add "es" | press > presses wish > wishes porch > porches gas > gases box > boxes buzz > buzzes |
| Some nouns do not follow any
of the plural rules shown above e.g. foot > feet, mouse > mice, datum > data, ox > oxen, child > children, woman > women, plateau > plateaux Some words are the same in singular and plural |
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Prefixes
| PREFIX | MEANING | EXAMPLES |
| anti | against/opposite | anti-aircraft antibiotics |
| fore | beforehand | forecast forearm |
| pre | beforehand | prearranged prerecord |
| sub | under/below | submarine subnormal |
| mis | badly/wrongly | mislead misadventure |
| in | into/towards/within | incoming insight |
| trans | across/other side of | transatlantic transmit |
| un, im, dis, in | changes a word to its opposite meaning | true > untrue polite > impolite honest > dishonest justice > injustice |
| re | again | reapply readjust |
Other rules
"I Before "e" except after "c" e.g. Receive