Adjective Suffixes: Examples & Exercises

Adjective suffixes are endings we add to words to make adjectives. They help us describe people, things, and situations. These endings can change the meaning of a word. On this page, you will learn about common adjective suffixes, -ed and -ing adjectives, and nationality suffixes.

Adjective Suffixes and Examples
- -ly: adjective or adverb?
  - Common adjectives ending in -ly
- Exercises Adjective Suffixes
Confusing endings: -ed or -ing?
- -ed or -ing Exercises
Nationalities suffixes: -an, -ese, -ish, -i
- Nationalities Suffixes Exercises
Tips to Practice

Adjective Suffixes and Examples

Suffix	Meaning	Examples	Sentence Example
-able/-ible	capable of, able to be	manageable, reversible, edible.	This dish was edible but didn’t look delicious.
-ous	full of	dangerous, courageous, gracious.	He made a courageous decision to help her.
-ful	full of	hopeful, powerful, useful.	Her hopeful attitude inspired the team.
-less	without	hopeless, fearless, homeless.	The fearless cat climbed the tallest tree.
-ic	having the nature of	scientific, artistic, historic.	The artistic painting got everyone’s attention.
-ive	having the nature of	creative, active, explosive.	She has a very creative way of thinking.
-al	pertaining to	magical, natural, personal.	The forest had a magical glow at sunset.
-ish	having the characteristics of	childish, foolish.	His childish behavior annoyed his friends.
-ly	having the qualities of	friendly, deadly, brotherly.	She has a friendly smile that makes people happy.
-y	full of, characterized by	messy, sunny, dirty, thirsty.	The kitchen was messy after the party.
-en	made of	wooden, golden, silken.	The wooden chair was so beautiful.
-ar	relating to	circular, muscular, popular.	The gymnast had a muscular build.
-esque	in the style of	picturesque, grotesque, statuesque.	The village had a picturesque view of the mountains.

-ly: adjective or adverb?

Most words ending in -ly are adverbs, but some common -ly words are adjectives. If the word describes a noun, it’s an adjective. If it describes how something happens, it’s an adverb.

Suffix	Function	Example
-ly (adverb)	manner	He quickly got to the station.
-ly (adjective)	quality	He is friendly.

Common adjectives ending in -ly

Adjective	Meaning
friendly	kind
lonely	alone
lively	full of energy
lovely	beautiful / pleasant
silly	foolish
ugly	unattractive
costly	expensive
deadly	fatal

Note: Many -ly adjectives do NOT have an adverb form. Instead, we say ‘in a + adjective + way‘. Examples:

friendly -> in a friendly way

lively -> in a lively way

Exercises Adjective Suffixes

EXERCISE: Adjective Suffixes – Fill the gaps

Fill the gaps by forming the correct adjective. Use the word given.

Example: That ice cream very is ______ .

Find an adjective of cream that makes sense in the sentence

Answer: creamy

1 / 10

Her writing style is very .

Find an adjective of description that makes sense in the sentence

2 / 10

The music was loud and .

Find an adjective of annoy that makes sense in the sentence

3 / 10

During our trip to the countryside we saw some of the most landscapes I’ve ever seen.

Find an adjective of picture that makes sense in the sentence

4 / 10

The ending of the story was very .

Find an adjective of predict that makes sense in the sentence

5 / 10

This solution is highly .

Find an adjective of effect that makes sense in the sentence.

6 / 10

It was a very moment for them.

Find an adjective of emotion that makes sense in the sentence

7 / 10

That idea was very .

Find an adjective of creation that makes sense in the sentence

8 / 10

That was a very answer.

Find an adjective of logic that makes sense in the sentence

9 / 10

She’s and always looks perfect.

Find adjectives of style that makes sense in the sentence

10 / 10

She was enough to understand the clues.

Find an adjective of intel that makes sense in the sentence

Your score is

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More exercises: EngGrammarAt1 | UsingEnglish | GrammarQuizzes | LiveWorksheets

Confusing endings: -ed or -ing?

Remember this: -ed adjectives describe how a person or animal feels. -ing adjectives describe what causes the feeling. Check the picture and table below.

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-ed (feeling)	-ing (cause)
bored	boring
interested	interesting
excited	exciting
tired	tiring
confused	confusing
surprised	surprising
annoyed	annoying
frightened	frightening

Example:

I am boring. → means “I make other people bored”. If you feel bored, you say “I am bored“.

The movie was ~~bored~~. → movies don’t have feelings. The correct sentence is “The movie was boring“.

-ed or -ing Exercises

Nationalities suffixes: -an, -ese, -ish, -i

Check the table below to see common suffixes and their uses.

Suffix	Typical use	Examples
-an / -ian / -ean	Most common pattern. Used for many countries, regions, and continents.	American, Brazilian, Canadian, Italian, Egyptian, European.
-ese	Common in East & Southeast Asia. Same form often used for adjective and people (no plural -s).	Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Vietnamese.
-ish	Very common in Europe. It can be adjective or collective noun for people.	British, Spanish, Turkish, Irish, Scottish.
-i	Mainly Middle Eastern and South Asian nationalities. It can refer to a person.	Israeli, Iraqi, Pakistani, Kuwaiti.
-ic	Less common. It’s often cultural, linguistic, or regional.	Icelandic, Arabic, Nordic.
-er / -ers	Mainly for people (demonyms), not usually used as adjectives.	New Zealander, Icelander, Londoner.
Ø (no suffix)	Adjective is identical to the country name.	Swiss, Dutch, French.

Nationalities Suffixes Exercises

Tips to Practice

Word Building: Take base words (e.g., “hope” or “danger”). Add different suffixes to see how their meanings change. Then check the dictionary to see if they exist.
- Example: hope → hopeful → hopeless.
Sentence Writing: Use adjectives with different suffixes in sentences to remember their meaning.

Learning suffixes helps expand your vocabulary. It also makes it easier to describe things in detail.

Feel like diving into more? Verb suffixes | Adverb Suffixes | Noun Suffixes | Prefixes