Language Arts Grade Four

Unit Fifteen, Lesson Four: Suffix: -y and -ly


  1. bright
  2. tight
  3. enlighten
  4. freight
  5. taught
  6. ought
  7. humidity
  8. proud
  9. record
  10. collect
  1. clock
  2. measure
  3. clear
  4. report
  5. clouds
  6. climate
  7. weather
  8. storm
  9. precipitation
  10. temperature
Suffix: -y and -ly

The suffix -y most often means "like" or "full of." Keep in mind that words that end with e drop the e before adding -y. Also words which end with a vowel followed by a consonant require that the consonant be doubled before adding -y. Here are some examples.


  full of smell		smell + y 	smelly

  like a bush		bush + y	bushy

  full of mud		mud + y		muddy

  like a sponge		sponge + y	spongy

  full of stones	stone + y	stony

  full of salt		salt + y	salty

  full of spice		spice + y	spicy

  full of lumps		lump + y	lumpy

  like a bag		bag + y		baggy

Before adding -y, the words in the examples above are nouns. After adding -y they become adjectives.

Here some sample sentences with three of the example words from above.


  The chili was so spicy that most people could not eat it.

  No one ordered the soup because it was too salty.

  Several people were disgusted by his smelly feet.



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