Suffixes: er and est Worksheet for 2nd - 4th Grade | Lesson Planet - Free Printable

You're working on a “Suffix Links” worksheet — a fun, visual activity designed to help learners understand how adding suffixes like -or, -ar, or -er to root words can create new words (often naming people who do something, or things that perform an action).

Let’s solve each row step by step.

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🎯 Goal:

For each picture and root word, choose the correct suffix (-or, -ar, or -er) to form a real, meaningful word that matches the image.

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## ✔ Row 1: Already Solved (Example)
> teach + er = teacher
*(Image: person teaching at a blackboard)*
✔️ Correct! A teacher is someone who teaches.

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## 🔹 Row 2:

1. farm → ?

> Image: Farmer with pitchfork
✔ farmer → add -er

2. con duct → ?

> Image: Conductor with baton (orchestra)
✔ conductor → add -or

3. broth → ?

> Image: Two boys (brothers)
✔ brothers → add -ers (plural of brother)
⚠️ Note: The root here is "broth", but the intended word is brother → so it’s brother + s = brothers

> So: broth + er + s = brothers

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## 🔹 Row 3:

1. riv → ?

> Image: River landscape
✔ river → add -er

2. doct → ?

> Image: Doctor in white coat
✔ doctor → add -or

3. moth → ?

> Image: Mother holding baby
✔ mother → add -er

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## 🔹 Row 4:

1. box → ?

> Image: Boxer with gloves
✔ boxer → add -er

2. doll → ?

> Image: Dollar sign ($), not a doll
❗ This is tricky — the image is a dollar sign, so the word should be dollar
✔ dollar → add -ar

> *Note: The root is written as “doll”, but it’s meant to become “dollar” — common trick in worksheets.*

3. car pent → ?

> Image: Carpenter with wood
✔ carpenter → add -er

> Root is “carpent” → carpent + er = carpenter

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## 🔹 Row 5:

1. tract → ?

> Image: Tractor
✔ tractor → add -or

2. coll → ?

> Image: Collar (dog collar)
✔ collar → add -ar

3. beg → ?

> Image: Beggar holding cup
✔ beggar → add -ar

> Root is “begg” → beg + ar = beggar

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## ✍️ Final Answers (Fill in the blanks):

Row 2:

- farm → farmer
- con duct → conductor
- broth → brothers

Row 3:

- riv → river
- doct → doctor
- moth → mother

Row 4:

- box → boxer
- doll → dollar
- car pent → carpenter

Row 5:

- tract → tractor
- coll → collar
- begg → beggar

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## 🧠 Bonus Tip: When to use -er, -or, -ar?

- -er: Most common for people who do something (teacher, farmer, boxer, carpenter, beggar*)
- -or: Often from Latin roots (doctor, conductor, tractor)
- -ar: Less common; often for objects or roles (collar, dollar, beggar*)

*“Beggar” is an exception — it uses -ar even though it describes a person.

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✔ All done! You’ve successfully linked each root word with its correct suffix to match the picture. Great job!

If you want to write this on the worksheet, just fill in the blanks under each image with the completed word.