Suffixes Worksheets: Add suffixes to create adjectives.

Let’s go step by step.

We are told to add one of these four suffixes to each word to make an adjective:
- -ess
- -ee
- -ism
- -ive

But wait — let’s check the examples given:

- emperor + -ess → empress → that’s a noun, not an adjective!
- devote + -ee → devotee → also a noun
- dynamic + -ism → dynamism → noun
- object + -ive → objective → this can be an adjective (like “objective opinion”)

Hmm… there’s a problem here. The directions say “create an adjective,” but most of the examples create nouns. Let’s look at the actual words we need to work with and see which suffix makes sense — even if it doesn’t always make an adjective, maybe the worksheet has a mistake, or maybe we’re supposed to pick the best fit.

Actually, looking again: the example for “object” → “objective” is correct as an adjective. But “empress”, “devotee”, “dynamism” are all nouns. So perhaps the instruction is slightly off? Or maybe we should just follow the pattern: pick the suffix that creates a real English word, even if it’s not always an adjective.

Wait — let’s re-read the directions carefully:

> Add one of the four suffixes below to each word to create an adjective.

So they want adjectives. That means we must choose the suffix that turns the base word into an adjective.

Let’s test each suffix on our list:

Suffixes available: -ess, -ee, -ism, -ive

Which of these typically form adjectives?

- -ive → often forms adjectives: active, creative, decisive, objective ✔
- -ess → usually forms feminine nouns: actress, lioness, princess ✘ (not adjective)
- -ee → usually forms nouns: employee, nominee, refugee ✘
- -ism → forms nouns: capitalism, realism, patriotism ✘

So only -ive reliably forms adjectives from verbs/nouns.

But then why do the examples include non-adjectives? Maybe the worksheet is mixing things up? Or maybe we’re supposed to ignore the “adjective” part and just make valid words?

Wait — let’s look at the actual problems:

1. lion → ?
Possible: lioness (noun) — no common adjective with those suffixes.
But “lionine”? Not in the options.
Hmm.

2. employ → employee (noun), employive? Not a word.
Employed? Not in options.

3. pay → payee (noun), payive? No.

4. patron → patroness (noun), patronize? Not in options. Patronal? Not listed.

5. social → socialism (noun), socialive? No. Socially? Not a suffix option.

6. colloquial → already an adjective! Adding any suffix would break it. Colloquialism (noun).

7. train → trainee (noun), trainive? No.

8. prince → princess (noun) — but that’s -ess, and it’s a noun.

9. detect → detective (noun), detectable? Not in options. Detect ive? “Detective” is a noun, but sometimes used as adjective (“detective work”). Still, not ideal.

10. patriot → patriotism (noun), patriotive? No. Patriotical? Not standard.

This is confusing.

Wait — maybe the worksheet meant to say “create a new word” not necessarily an adjective? Because many of these don’t become adjectives with those suffixes.

Alternatively, perhaps there’s a typo in the directions, and we’re supposed to create nouns? Because all the examples except “objective” are nouns.

Let me check “objective”: it can be both noun and adjective. In context, “objective lens” = adjective; “my objective is...” = noun.

But “empress”, “devotee”, “dynamism” — all nouns.

Perhaps the direction is wrong, and we’re supposed to make nouns?

That would make more sense.

Let’s assume that for now — because otherwise, most of these can’t become adjectives with the given suffixes.

So let’s try to match each word with the suffix that creates a real, common English word — even if it’s a noun.

List of suffixes: -ess, -ee, -ism, -ive

Now go one by one:

1. lion → lioness (common word, female lion) → use -ess
2. employ → employee (person who is employed) → use -ee
3. pay → payee (person who receives payment) → use -ee
Wait — but we can only use each suffix once? The directions don’t say that. It says “add one of the four suffixes” — doesn’t say you can’t reuse. But in the example table, each suffix is shown once. However, in the exercise, there are 10 items and only 4 suffixes — so we MUST reuse them.

So reuse is allowed.

But let’s think: what’s the most natural word for each?

1. lion → lioness (-ess)
2. employ → employee (-ee)
3. pay → payee (-ee) — but “payee” is less common than “payer”, but still valid. Alternatively, “payable”? Not in options. So -ee is best.
4. patron → patroness (female patron) → -ess
5. social → socialism (political/economic system) → -ism
6. colloquial → colloquialism (a colloquial expression) → -ism
7. train → trainee (person being trained) → -ee
8. prince → princess (female prince) → -ess
9. detect → detective (person who detects) → -ive? “Detective” ends with -ive, yes. And it’s commonly used as a noun, but also as adjective (“detective story”). So -ive fits.
10. patriot → patriotism (love of country) → -ism

Now let’s list them:

1. lion + -ess = lioness
2. employ + -ee = employee
3. pay + -ee = payee
4. patron + -ess = patroness
5. social + -ism = socialism
6. colloquial + -ism = colloquialism
7. train + -ee = trainee
8. prince + -ess = princess
9. detect + -ive = detective
10. patriot + -ism = patriotism

All of these are real, common English words.

Even though the directions said “adjective”, most of these are nouns. But since the examples included nouns too, and only one example was arguably an adjective, I think the worksheet may have a wording error. We’ll go with making valid words using the suffixes.

Also, note: “detective” is primarily a noun, but can function as an adjective (e.g., “detective novel”), so it’s acceptable.

Similarly, “socialism”, “patriotism”, etc., are nouns.

But since the task is to “add one of the four suffixes... to create an adjective”, and most of these aren’t adjectives, perhaps we missed something.

Wait — let’s double-check if any of these can be adjectives:

- lioness: noun
- employee: noun
- payee: noun
- patroness: noun
- socialism: noun
- colloquialism: noun
- trainee: noun
- princess: noun
- detective: can be adjective (as in “detective fiction”)
- patriotism: noun

Only “detective” might qualify as an adjective in some contexts.

This suggests the directions are likely incorrect, and we should just form valid words.

Perhaps the intended answer is to form words regardless of part of speech, following the pattern of the examples.

Given that, I’ll proceed with the answers above.

Final check:

1. lion → lioness
2. employ → employee
3. pay → payee
4. patron → patroness
5. social → socialism
6. colloquial → colloquialism
7. train → trainee
8. prince → princess
9. detect → detective
10. patriot → patriotism

Yes, all are standard English words formed by adding the given suffixes.

Final Answer:
1. lioness
2. employee
3. payee
4. patroness
5. socialism
6. colloquialism
7. trainee
8. princess
9. detective
10. patriotism