The Suffix -ER: A FREE Morphology Lesson
Cate O'Donnell
3 min read
Nov 29, 2023
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Morphology is a powerful tool for teaching older students both decoding longer words and understanding new vocabulary words. We use the suffix -er in two ways. First, we can use the suffix -er to turn a verb into a noun which is the person who does that thing.
teach – teacher
In this lesson, we will focus on using the suffix -er to turn adjectives into comparative adjectives. We use comparative adjectives to compare two things. If we need to compare more than two things, we use superlative adjectives.
In this lesson, you will teach students many things.
suffixes come at the end of words
suffixes change the meaning of a word
suffixes are not words, but they are units of meaning
we use the suffix -er to turn adjectives into comparative adjectives
sometimes we have to change the spelling at the end of the base word to add the -er suffix
there are some irregular comparative adjectives
It is helpful for students to know the parts of speech as they work on morphology. If your students need to work on parts of speech, I highly recommend this writing program. It teaches writing complete sentences based on parts of speech. If you need to, you can even use these two programs at the same time.
Teaching the Suffix -ER
To teach your students about the suffix -er, display the presentation below. You can access the presentation from this website for free. You can also purchase the slideshow for use at school.
This lesson teaches the function of the suffix, but it focuses on spelling because there are so many spelling rules for adding suffixes that begin with a vowel. At the beginning of each lesson, you will share the slide with the basic information and the chart that shows the different spelling patterns. Then, students will practice the spelling patterns using this routine:
You display an adjective from the presentation.
Students write the adjective with the -er suffix in their writing notebooks or on a whiteboard.
You display the adjective with the suffix -er from the presentation (the next slide).
Students check their work and get immediate feedback.
This is a spiral review lesson. Each day, you will teach students one spelling pattern for the suffix -er. Students will practice that pattern and review any past patterns. The complete lesson will take ten days. You also get mixed review for practice later in the year to keep your students fresh.
Here is a review of the spelling rules for the suffix:
For most one-syllable adjectives, simply add "-er":
tall → taller
fast → faster
short → shorter
For one-syllable adjectives ending in "e", just add "-r":
nice → nicer
large → larger
fine → finer
For one-syllable adjectives ending in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, double the final consonant before adding "-er":
big → bigger
hot → hotter
thin → thinner
For two-syllable adjectives ending in "y", change the "y" to "i" and add "-er":
happy → happier
busy → busier
funny → funnier
For adjectives with two or more syllables that do not end in "y", use "more" before the adjective instead of adding "-er":
beautiful → more beautiful
important → more important
expensive → more expensive
Check out this list of words with the suffix. You can use this list to build your own activities for your classroom. You can also get a printable .pdf.
More Morphology Practice
Do you love this lesson? You can access all of the morphology lessons for FREE on this website! You can also purchase the presentations!
Base Words
The Suffixes -S and -ES
The Suffix -ING
The Suffix -ER for Comparative Adjectives
The Suffix -EST for Superlative Adjectives
The Suffix -ER for Someone Who
The Suffix -ED for Past Tense Verbs
The Prefix UN- MEANING OPPOSITE OR NOT
The Prefix RE- MEANING AGAIN
The Prefix DIS-
THE Suffixes -ER and -OR MEANING A PERSON WHO
The Prefix IN- Meaning Not
The Suffix -FUL Meaning Full Of
The Suffix -LESS Meaning Without
The Suffix -Y Meaning What Something is Like
The Suffix -LY Meaning How an Action is Done
The Prefix UNDER
The Prefix OVER
The Prefix NON
The Prefix PRE
The Prefixes BI/DI
The Prefix TRI
The Prefix QUAD
The Prefix OCT
THE SUFFIX ION
THE SUFFIX NESS
The Prefix SEMI
The Prefix SUPER
The Prefix MULTI
The Prefix POLY
The Prefix TELE
The Prefix MID
The Prefix MIS
The Prefix INTER
The Prefix DECA/DECI
The Prefix KILO
The Prefix SUB
