Suffixes II

Today we’ll talk about suffixes again. Just now, we’ll play closer attention to some details.

The –ly Suffix

You saw in the last article that the –ly suffix forms an adverb when attatched to a word. Ex.: Happy (adj) + -ly = Happily (adv).
The -ly suffix forms manner adverbs, that is, they tell you how things happen. Happily means ‘with happiness’.
You can also add –ly to a participle of a verb. Ex: Tiredly – She did the exercise tiredly (she was tired when she did it). Normally in this case, the adverb tells you how the subject did it or how he felt at the moment.

Here follows a list of words I suggest you study. You can quickly look them up in www.thefreedictionary.com. Great online dictionary and thesaurus.
The list:
Abashedly, ably, abnormally, absurdly, abusively, contrarily, continently, contortedly, cordially, costly, ghastly, girlishly, normally, quickly, rapidly.
Note that when a word finished with an L, we still attach the suffix to it nonetheless: natural +ly = naturally.

The –ish Suffix

This suffix bears a meaning of “similar” or “around” when added to a noun.
Ex: Stop being girlish! (girlish means “to behave in a way that resembles a very young and spoiled girl”);
Ex: We’ll meet there at eightish. (it means “around eight o’clock).
Here follows a list of words (some with examples) for you to study:
Seventyish – I like my seventyish shirt.
Boyish – boyish manners.
Doggish – your doggish style.
Teacherish, nursish, doctorish, dentistish, crazyish, Carla Brunish, Brad Pittish, etc.

Virtually any noun will take –ish.

Knowledge is Power.