Suffixes - ‘ful’ and ‘less’ - Free Printable

Explanation:
We are learning about two suffixes: -ful and -less.

- -ful means *full of* → makes a word positive or descriptive of having something.
Example: *help* + *ful* = helpful (full of help / good at helping)

- -less means *without* or *free from* → makes a word negative or descriptive of lacking something.
Example: *help* + *less* = helpless (without help / not able to help yourself)

Now let’s add -ful and -less to each root word:

1. care
- + ful → careful (full of care)
- + less → careless (without care)

2. colour
- + ful → colourful (full of colour)
- + less → colourless (without colour)

3. pain
- + ful → painful (full of pain)
- + less → painless (without pain)

4. power
- + ful → powerful (full of power)
- + less → powerless (without power)

5. thought
- + ful → thoughtful (full of thought / considerate)
- + less → thoughtless (without thought / inconsiderate)

6. use
- + ful → useful (full of use / helpful)
- + less → useless (without use / not helpful)

7. hope
- + ful → hopeful (full of hope)
- + less → hopeless (without hope)

Now complete the sentences using the adjectives we made:

1. *The boy sat in the hospital waiting room with a ________ leg.*
→ If he’s in a hospital waiting room with a leg problem, likely it’s painful (hurting).
✔ painful

2. *Who do you think is the most ________ superhero?*
→ Superheroes are usually admired for being strong or capable — so powerful fits best.
✔ powerful

3. *The old lady was surprised when the little girl came round with a bunch of flowers, it was very ________ of her.*
→ Bringing flowers is kind and thoughtful. So: thoughtful
✔ thoughtful

4. *There were lots of ________ spelling mistakes in the boy’s work.*
→ “Spelling mistakes” suggest the work lacked care → careless
✔ careless

5. *The new vacuum cleaner was ________, it didn’t pick up any dirt!*
→ If it didn’t work at all, it’s useless.
✔ useless

Let’s double-check:
- painful leg ✔️
- most powerful superhero ✔️
- thoughtful of her ✔️
- careless mistakes (i.e., made without care) ✔️
- useless vacuum ✔️

All make sense!

Final Answer:
1. painful
2. powerful
3. thoughtful
4. careless
5. useless