Suffixes in French

What Are Suffixes?

Un suffixe(a suffix) is a letter or group of letters that has meaning but is not a stand-alone word. When a suffix is tacked on to the end of a root, it alters the meaning and creates a new word. For example, several words are derived from the word la pompe(the pump) by adding different suffixes to its root pomp-. Take a look at the table below to see what we mean!

French Words Derived From Pompe

Sometimes, the new word created by a suffix is a different part of speech than the original root word, as with the verb pomper above, which is formed from a noun. The addition of a suffix can also change the gender of a noun. La pompe is feminine, but the addition of -age creates the masculine noun le pompage. We'll talk more about this in the next section of the article.

What's most important to know about French suffixes is that they generally have a common meaning or purpose that is understandable, even when they're translated into English in different ways. Knowing what they're used for can help you grasp the meanings of more words and improve your reading comprehension. Learning the meanings of French suffixes will enrich and expand your French language skills! Take a look at these examples.

Examples of Meanings of French Suffixes

Now take a look at the following example sentences to see how the meanings or purposes of the suffixes above still apply even when they're used with other root words!

How Are Suffixes Used in French?

Here are the top five things to know about using French suffixes!

1. Suffixes Can Be Attached to Roots From Different Parts of Speech in French

Suffixes can be attached to quite a few types of root words in French, including adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs. Here's a table showing French suffixes used with different parts of speech.

2. Sometimes a Root Needs to Be Altered Before Adding a Suffix in French

A root may be altered before a suffix is added to it, either by dropping or adding letters or by using an alternative root form. Usually, the root word is still recognizable, so you can still easily figure out the meaning of the new word with the suffix!

French Root Words That Require Letters to Be Dropped

In some cases, letters are dropped from a root word before adding a suffix in French. This usually concerns letters that aren't pronounced, such as a silent -e at the end of a root word, but occasionally other letters are dropped too. This is done to facilitate pronunciation. Here are a few examples of words that drop letters when a suffix is added.

French Root Words That Require Letters to Be Added

Likewise, it's possible that letters may be added to certain root words when tacking on a suffix. Sometimes this is because the suffix is added to a feminine form of a noun or adjective. Again, this may help facilitate the pronunciation of the new word. Here are a couple of altered roots you may see in examples in this article.

French Words That Use an Alternative Root Form

Sometimes, an alternative root form is used when adding a suffix. Often, this is an irregular verb stem that may be familiar to you if you've seen the verb in its conjugated form. Again, this alternative root form is usually easier to pronounce with a suffix attached. Take a look at these examples to see what we mean.

3. Some Suffixes Change the Grammatical Function of a Word in French

While all suffixes will change the meaning of the root they're attached to, some also change the root word's grammatical function or part of speech. In the table below, we've illustrated this with different words formed from the root word grand(masculine) / grande(feminine), an adjective which means big or great.

4. Some Suffixes Indicate Gender in French

Some French suffixes for nouns and adjectives have slightly different masculine and feminine forms, which allow you to identify a word's gender. Here are a few examples!

5. Some French Roots Aren't Recognizable Without a Suffix Attached

Most French suffixes are attached to roots that are recognizable words, but this isn’t always the case. For example, the words le boulanger(the baker) and la boulangerie(the bakery) share the same root boulang-, referring to bread baking.

What Are Some Common French Suffixes?

Suffixes can be found everywhere in French! There are noun suffixes, adjective suffixes, adverb suffixes, and verb suffixes. Following are some common suffixes you can learn to enrich your French vocabulary!

French Suffixes That Indicate Ability or Possibility

The adjective suffixes -able and -ible indicate ability or possibility. They are usually added to the root form of a verb or its alternative root form.

French Suffixes That Indicate an Action Taking Place

Noun suffixes like -ade, -age, and -ison are used to indicate an instance of an action taking place. These types of nouns are usually added to roots that come from verbs. Here are a few examples.

French Suffixes That Indicate an Abstract Quality

The noun suffixes -té, -ité, -itude, and -esse are used to indicate an abstract quality. These kinds of nouns are often formed from adjectives. Take a look at these examples.

French Suffixes That Are Diminutive

There are a number of noun suffixes that are diminutive. That is to say, they indicate smallness. Some diminutive suffixes are -et, -ette, -eau, and -elle. They are usually added to nouns. Following are some examples.

French Suffixes That Indicate a Grouping

Noun suffixes like -asse and -aille are used to indicate a collective grouping of items, which may imply an accumulation or increase in intensity. They frequently have a negative connotation. Here are a couple of examples.

French Suffixes That Indicate a Profession or Activity

You've already seen that the noun suffix -iste can be added to a root word to indicate someone is a practitioner of an activity; for example, the word chimiste (chemist) indicates someone who practices chemistry. Well, there are a number of other suffixes that indicate someone is doing something either as a profession or an activity.

While -iste is the same for both masculine and feminine nouns, there are other suffixes in this category that vary based on whether the doer of the activity is masculine or feminine. Take a look at the following examples with the suffixes -er/-ère, -eur/-euse, -eur/-rice, -ien/-ienne, and -ier/-ière.

French Suffixes That Indicate Purpose

The noun suffixes -erie, -oir, and -oire may indicate a purpose of a place or an item. The suffix -erie is often added to a noun to indicate a type of business, while the suffixes -oir (masculine) and -oire (feminine) are usually added to roots made from verbs to indicate the use of a noun. Here are a couple of examples of each.

The French Suffix -ERIE

The French Suffixes -OIR and -OIRE

French Suffixes That Indicate a Quality or Characteristic

The adjective suffixes like -âtre, -ique, -eux/-euse, and -if/-ive indicate a quality or characteristic of a noun. They are usually used to describe something or someone and can be formed from nouns. Note that -âtre and -ique don't change with gender, while the others have both a masculine and a feminine form.

French Suffix That Indicates Amount or Duration

This is a quirky one! When added to a noun, the French noun suffix -ée indicates the amount or duration of something. It emphasizes its fullness or length.

When used to indicate an amount, it emphasizes the fullness of a utensil or unit of measurement, as you see in some of the following examples.

When used to indicate duration, there's no real analogous suffix in English—and often no difference in translation—so it's a bit harder to grasp. Think of it this way: adding the suffix -ée to a time frame emphasizes the fullness of the time period or the passage of time.

Here are a couple of example sentences to show you how this suffix is used with time frames in French!

French Suffixes Used With Numbers

Both the noun suffix -aine and the adjective suffix -ième are added to numbers. The noun suffix -aine indicates an approximation of a number, while the adjective suffix -ième indicates an ordinal number. Take a look at these examples.

French Suffixes That Indicate Manner

The adverb suffixes -ment and -mment indicate the manner in which something is done. They are usually added to adjectives and are often equivalent to the adverb suffix -ly in English.

French Verb Suffixes

The verb suffixes -er, -ir, and -re are seen on infinitives in French. Many verb infinitives are related to other words, like nouns or adjectives. Here are a few examples.

I've Learned About French Suffixes—Now What?

Now that you've learned about French suffixes and how they can be attached to roots from words like adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs in French, you might want to level up your French skills by learning about French prefixes, which also alter word meanings by being added to the beginning of words!