Basics of suffixes. 45 questions on agent nouns (-er/-or/-ist/-ian), adjective suffixes (-ful/-less/-ous/-al/-ive), and the adverb suffix -ly.
What this test covers
- Agent and Person Nouns: -er, -or, -ist, -ian, -ee
- Adjective Suffixes: -ful, -less, -ous, -al, -ic, -ive, -able
- Adverb Suffix -ly and Basic Spelling
Answer the 45 questions below. Each answer is checked straight away, with an explanation. Press Submit at the end to get your score and save it to your dashboard. Answers are not kept if you leave before submitting.
All 45 questions with answers
Pick an answer for each question to see if you are right, with the explanation. Submit when you are done; you can submit before answering them all.
-
Q1The ___ explained the lesson to the students clearly.
Answer: C. teacher
We add -er to a verb to describe a person who does that action. A person who teaches is a teacher.
-
Q2Choose the correctly spelled sentence.
Answer: D. He is a professional actor.
Some words for jobs use the ending -or instead of -er. A person who acts is an actor.
-
Q3The ___ was hired by the manager after the meeting.
Answer: A. employee
The ending -ee is used for the person who receives an action. An employer gives the job, while an employee gets the job.
-
Q4The ___ studied the plants in the laboratory.
Answer: A. scientist
The ending -ist is often used for people who work in science or have special skills.
-
Q5She is a talented ___ who plays the piano beautifully.
Answer: B. pianist
We use -ist for people who play musical instruments. A person who plays the piano is a pianist.
-
Q6The person who receives training is called the ___.
Answer: B. trainee
The ending -ee describes a person who is receiving an action. A trainee is someone being trained.
-
Q7The ___ told us interesting facts about the old city.
Answer: B. historian
The ending -ian is often used for experts in a specific subject, like history.
-
Q8The ___ checked the article for mistakes.
Answer: B. editor
For some jobs, we use the ending -or. A person who edits text is an editor.
-
Q9He is a funny ___ who makes people laugh at the club.
Answer: B. comedian
We use -ian for certain types of performers and artists, such as a comedian.
-
Q10The person who is nominated for an award is called the ___.
Answer: C. nominee
The ending -ee is used for the person who receives the action. A nominee is the person who was nominated.
-
Q11The ___ fixed the broken lights in our kitchen.
Answer: B. electrician
The ending -ian is used for people with technical jobs or skills, like an electrician.
-
Q12The ___ finished his book yesterday.
Answer: B. writer
The most common way to describe a person doing an action is to add -er to the verb. A person who writes is a writer.
-
Q13She is a dedicated ___ who works at the local bank.
Answer: A. banker
We use the ending -er for many common jobs. A person who works in a bank is a banker.
-
Q14The ___ was nervous before his performance.
Answer: A. musician
The ending -ian is the standard way to describe a person who works in music.
-
Q15The ___ won the race.
Answer: C. cyclist
The ending -ist is used for people who do specific sports or activities, like a cyclist.
-
Q16The toxic chemical is very ___ to the environment.
Answer: C. harmful
The ending -ful means 'full of' or 'causing.' Something that causes harm is harmful.
-
Q17You must be ___ when handling the fragile vase.
Answer: B. careful
The ending -ful means having the quality of something. If you show care, you are careful.
-
Q18It was a ___ experience to visit the museum.
Answer: D. wonderful
The ending -ful means 'full of.' Something that is full of wonder is wonderful.
-
Q19The safe and ___ driver checked the mirrors.
Answer: C. careful
When we add -ful to a word, it only has one 'l' at the end. 'Carefull' is a common spelling mistake.
-
Q20The broken tool is completely ___.
Answer: B. useless
The ending -less means 'without.' If a tool has no use, it is useless.
-
Q21The long walk left me feeling very ___.
Answer: A. restless
The ending -less means 'without.' If you cannot rest or stay still, you are restless.
-
Q22The injection was ___; I didn't feel a thing.
Answer: B. painless
The ending -less means 'without.' If there is no pain, it is painless.
-
Q23The ___ animal ran into the forest.
Answer: C. dangerous
The ending -ous turns the noun 'danger' into a describing word (adjective).
-
Q24The movie was very ___.
Answer: A. enjoyable
The ending -able means 'can be.' If a movie can be enjoyed, it is enjoyable.
-
Q25She is a very ___ person who loves to paint.
Answer: D. creative
The ending -ive is used to describe someone's nature or tendency. Someone who creates things is creative.
-
Q26The lecture on history was very ___.
Answer: B. historic
The ending -ic turns a noun like 'history' into a describing word.
-
Q27It is an ___ fact that the earth is round.
Answer: A. obvious
The word 'obvious' naturally ends in -ous. It describes something that is easy to see or understand.
-
Q28The ___ road seemed to go on forever.
Answer: B. endless
The ending -less means 'without.' A road that has no end is endless.
-
Q29He is a very ___ person.
Answer: B. generous
The word 'generous' uses the -ous ending. Words like 'generious' or 'generable' are not correct English words.
-
Q30The new office chair is very ___.
Answer: A. comfortable
The ending -able means 'providing' or 'can be.' A chair that provides comfort is comfortable.
-
Q31He spoke ___ about his future plans.
Answer: C. slowly
We add -ly to an adjective (slow) to make an adverb (slowly). This describes how he spoke.
-
Q32She finished the homework very ___.
Answer: C. easily
For words ending in -y, change the 'y' to 'i' before adding -ly. So, 'easy' becomes 'easily'.
-
Q33The actor performed the scene ___.
Answer: D. dramatically
For words ending in -ic, we usually add -ally to describe how an action is done. 'Dramatic' becomes 'dramatically'.
-
Q34The ___ children played in the park.
Answer: D. happy
We use an adjective (happy) to describe a noun (children). We use 'happily' only to describe an action.
-
Q35He ran ___ to the bus.
Answer: B. quickly
We add -ly to 'quick' to describe how he ran.
-
Q36The car stopped ___ at the red light.
Answer: A. suddenly
We add -ly to 'sudden' to describe how the car stopped. 'Suddenly' is the correct spelling.
-
Q37He answered the question ___.
Answer: C. correctly
We add -ly to 'correct' to describe how he answered. 'Correctly' is the correct adverb.
-
Q38The automatic doors opened ___.
Answer: D. automatically
For words ending in -ic, we usually add -ally to make the adverb. 'Automatic' becomes 'automatically'.
-
Q39The music played ___.
Answer: D. loudly
We add -ly to the adjective 'loud' to describe how the music was playing.
-
Q40She smiled ___ when she saw the gift.
Answer: D. nicely
We add -ly to the adjective 'nice' to describe how she smiled.
-
Q41The rain fell ___ all afternoon.
Answer: C. heavily
When a word ends in -y, change the 'y' to 'i' before adding -ly. 'Heavy' becomes 'heavily'.
-
Q42The ___ solution worked well.
Answer: B. simple
We use an adjective (simple) to describe a noun (solution). 'Simply' would be used to describe an action.
-
Q43He acted ___.
Answer: D. heroically
For words ending in -ic, we add -ally to describe the action. 'Heroic' becomes 'heroically'.
-
Q44She walked ___ past the sleeping dog.
Answer: B. quietly
We add -ly to 'quiet' to describe how she walked.
-
Q45He spoke ___ about the new project.
Answer: A. angrily
Change the 'y' in 'angry' to 'i' before adding -ly to describe how he spoke.
Done? Submit to get your score.
Answer at least one question to submit. Questions you leave out count as skipped.