Myriora English › Words › Chapter 1: Building words: prefixes, suffixes and roots

-ness, -ment and -ly

Ages 7–9Chapter 1 · Lesson 5

In this lesson

Ness turns an adjective into a noun, like kindness.
Ment turns a verb into a noun, like enjoyment.
And ly turns an adjective into an adverb, like quickly.

Your turn

Which word is a noun made from the adjective dark?

Show the answer

Darkness: ness turns the adjective dark into a noun!

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. How do you spell careful with ly on the end? Some people write it with one L. But careful already ends in L, and ly adds another one. So carefully has two L's, and so do hopefully and thankfully.

Try it at home

Word builder: take turns giving an adjective or a verb; the other person adds ness, ment or ly to make a new word and says whether it's a noun or an adverb.

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Kind is an adjective. But add ness, and it becomes kindness: a noun! Today's suffixes change the job a word does.

The suffix ness turns an adjective into a noun. Kind becomes kindness. Dark becomes darkness. Sad becomes sadness. A ness word names a feeling or a quality.

The suffix ment turns a verb into a noun. Enjoy becomes enjoyment. Pay becomes payment. Move becomes movement.

And the suffix ly turns an adjective into an adverb. Quick becomes quickly. Sad becomes sadly.

Let's try one together. Which suffix turns the verb agree into a noun? Ness, ment, or ly? Say it out loud!

Ment! Agree becomes agreement, which is a noun. Well done if you said ment!

Your turn! Which word is a noun made from the adjective dark? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Darkness: ness turns the adjective dark into a noun!

Quick review. Ness turns an adjective into a noun, like kindness. Ment turns a verb into a noun, like enjoyment. And ly turns an adjective into an adverb, like quickly. See you next time!