These worksheets, covering the suffixes ‘-ful’ and ‘-less’, are an excellent way for children in Year 2 to revise and practise these spelling patterns.
The worksheets include five different activities in which children look at spelling patterns, identify misspelt words and apply their spellings in context. They can be used within lessons, as an assessment or as a homework task.
This primary resource is divided into five sections:
- Tips
This explains that the suffix ‘-less’ means without, and ‘-ful’ means full of or will fill something, and that when the root word ends in a consonant then ‘y’, you need to change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’. Children then need to apply these rules to adding these suffixes to other words
- Check
Circle the words with the correct suffix added (some can have both ‘-ful’ and ‘-less added), then add the suffix words given into each sentence
- Use
Write a sentence to describe each of the images, using the words ‘powerful’ and ‘careless’
- Change
Add a word ending in ‘-ful’ or ‘-less’ to the sentences
- Apply
Write a description of the superhero, seeing how many words ending in the suffixes ‘-ful’ and ‘-less’ you can use
What is a suffix?
Suffixes are letters, or groups of letters, that are added to the end of words to make a new word or change the meaning of word.
Suffix examples
- -ing: eating, running, saying
- -ed: planned, walked, burned
- -er: teacher, trainer, farmer
- -est: highest, fastest, biggest
- -ier: mightier, zanier, funnier
- -ity: activity, equality, civility
- -less: useless, sleeveless, witless
- -ness: happiness, fitness, silliness
National Curriculum English programme of study links
add prefixes and suffixes: using the spelling rule for adding –s or –es as the plural marker for nouns and the third person singular marker for verbs, using the prefix un–, and using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest]
read words containing common suffixes
add suffixes to spell longer words, including –ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly
apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet
use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them
apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology), as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet.
use further prefixes and suffixes and understand the guidance for adding them