Today we are playing a word game. One small ending can change a whole word: hope becomes hopeful or hopeless, agree becomes agreement. Those endings are called suffixes, and if you learn how they work, you can understand and build hundreds of new English words without memorising them one by one.
Game board, rules and key to download:
What you needYou play in pairs. Each pair needs one game board, one die, two pens in different
colours and a dictionary (a book or an online one) for challenges.
The suffixes
The number on the die decides which suffix you get.
| Die | Suffix | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -ful | adjective: "full of" | painful |
| 2 | -less | adjective: "without" | painless |
| 3 | -able | adjective: "can be done" | breakable |
| 4 | -ment | turns a verb into a noun | agreement |
| 5 | -ness | turns an adjective into a noun | kindness |
| 6 | Choose | any of the five |
How to play
- Write your names in the player boxes and decide who starts.
- Roll the die. The number gives you your suffix. A six means you choose.
- Pick a base word from the word bank that makes a real word with your suffix, for example, use + ful = useful.
- Say the new word in a sentence, so your partner hears that you know what it means. Then write it in your box.
- Cross out the base word. Nobody can use it again.
- If no base word works with your suffix, say "pass". Your turn is over.
- Take turns. The game ends when all base words are crossed out, or when both of you have passed twice in a row.
Points
You get 1 point for every real word that is spelled correctly. You get 1 bonus point if the base word changes its spelling when you add the suffix, like happy → happiness. A word that is misspelt or does not exist gives 0 points.
Challenge!
Do you think your partner's word is not real, or spelt wrong? Say "Challenge!" and look it up together. If the word is wrong, it is erased, and the base word is free again. If the word is right, your partner gets 1 extra point. So think before you challenge.
Watch the spelling
This is where the bonus points are hiding.
- Drop the silent e before a suffix that starts with a vowel: value + able → valuable.
- Keep the e before a suffix that starts with a consonant: care + ful → careful.
- One rebel breaks the rule: argue + ment → argument.
- Consonant + y becomes i: happy + ness → happiness, rely + able → reliable.
- -ful has only one l: hopeful, never "hopefull".
A few tips
Don't grab the easy words first. Some base words only work with one suffix, so think about which words you want to save and which ones you want to take before your partner does. And when you roll a six, use it wisely.
When you have finished
Count your points and then look at your list together. Which of your words are adjectives and which are nouns? Can any of them take a prefix too, like un- or dis-? (unbreakable, disagreement…) Finally, choose five of your words and use them in a short text.
Good luck – and may the dice be with you!
