Year 3 · English · Spelling · Free Printable

Suffixes: -ful, -less, -ness

Practise adding the suffixes -ful, -less and -ness to base words.

SpellingEnglishSuffixesAustralian Curriculum-aligned

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Learning Intention

Students will add the suffixes -ful, -less and -ness correctly and understand the change in meaning.

Australian Curriculum

Supports Year 3 English literacy and spelling learning (AC9E3LY10).

Teacher Notes

Discuss meaning of each suffix. Practise spelling rules when adding suffixes (e.g. drop final e).

Skills Practised

Suffixes
Morphology
Word building
Spelling rules

Exploring the Suffixes -ful, -less and -ness

A suffix is added to the end of a base word and can change its meaning or word class. The suffixes -ful, -less and -ness appear in many familiar words.

Notice the Meaning

-ful can mean “full of” or “having”.

-less can mean “without”.

-ness can turn an adjective into a noun describing a quality or state.

Compare pairs such as careful/careless and notice how the meaning changes. Then use a word in a complete sentence to check that it makes sense.

Spelling Tip

Look at the base word before adding the suffix. Say the whole word slowly, write it, and check the ending during proofreading.