Which statement about suffixes can change the part of speech or tense of a word?

Which statement about suffixes can change the part of speech or tense of a word?

• A. Suffixes indicate tense.
• B. Suffixes indicate plurality.
• C. Suffixes can change the part of speech or tense of a word.
• D. Suffixes have no effect on meaning.

Answer: (C)

Suffixes are endings added to a base word that can change how the word functions in a sentence. They can switch a word’s part of speech, such as turning an adjective into an adverb with -ly (bright → brightly) or changing a verb into a noun with endings like -ment or -tion (move → movement, create → creation). They can also mark tense on verbs, like adding -ed for past tense (talk → talked) or -ing for present participle (talk → talking). This broad ability to alter how a word behaves and when it happens makes the statement about suffixes changing part of speech or tense the most accurate. Suffixes can also indicate plurality (as in cats) or bring meaningful changes (such as -less meaning without or -ful meaning full of), which shows why a narrower claim wouldn’t be as complete. And saying suffixes have no effect on meaning is simply incorrect, since many suffixes add new meaning or shift the word’s function.

Suffixes are endings added to a base word that can change how the word functions in a sentence. They can switch a word’s part of speech, such as turning an adjective into an adverb with -ly (bright → brightly) or changing a verb into a noun with endings like -ment or -tion (move → movement, create → creation). They can also mark tense on verbs, like adding -ed for past tense (talk → talked) or -ing for present participle (talk → talking). This broad ability to alter how a word behaves and when it happens makes the statement about suffixes changing part of speech or tense the most accurate.

Suffixes can also indicate plurality (as in cats) or bring meaningful changes (such as -less meaning without or -ful meaning full of), which shows why a narrower claim wouldn’t be as complete. And saying suffixes have no effect on meaning is simply incorrect, since many suffixes add new meaning or shift the word’s function.