What do -ness, -ment, and -ion have in common?

All three build nouns: kind becomes kindness, excite becomes excitement, celebrate becomes celebration. When a sentence needs a thing rather than an action or description, one of these endings usually supplies it.

How do suffixes help with big words on tests?

The ending announces the word's job before the whole word is even decoded. Seeing -able promises an adjective meaning can be done; seeing -ion promises a thing or process. Readers who use those signals handle unfamiliar vocabulary with far less guessing.

4th grade suffixes

4th grade suffixes worksheets

Fourth grade brings the noun-makers (-ness, -ment, -ion) and the heavyweight adjectives (-able, -ous): kindness, excitement, celebration, washable, dangerous. Students learn that a suffix sets a word's job in the sentence, which makes even unfamiliar long words predictable.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.4.4.b.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll get

Circle the letter of the word with the correct suffix.

The author signed our library books. famous · fameness · famement
Answer: famous
The crowd cheered with at the buzzer. exciteable · excitement · exciteness
The peacock spread its tail. glorious · gloriness · gloriment

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 60 sentences, 10 to a page. All 60 are on 3rd grade sheets too, along with 60 more.

Some of the answers:

comfortablemovablekindnessdarknessagreementhumorousdecorationcrossableenjoyablestatement

Choose the word. Circle the letter of the word with the correct suffix. 10 questions per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Sort the suffixes by the job they create: -ness, -ment, and -ion build nouns; -able and -ous build adjectives. Then test it in reverse: if the sentence needs a thing, a noun-making suffix wins (payment, not payable). That sentence-slot reasoning is the bridge to the Greek and Latin roots coming in later grades.

Watch for: -ful and -less are opposites on the same base: hopeful means full of hope, hopeless means without it. A suffix can change a word's job in the sentence: teach is an action, teacher is a person.

Common questions about 4th grade suffixes

What do -ness, -ment, and -ion have in common?: All three build nouns: kind becomes kindness, excite becomes excitement, celebrate becomes celebration. When a sentence needs a thing rather than an action or description, one of these endings usually supplies it.
How do suffixes help with big words on tests?: The ending announces the word's job before the whole word is even decoded. Seeing -able promises an adjective meaning can be done; seeing -ion promises a thing or process. Readers who use those signals handle unfamiliar vocabulary with far less guessing.

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Aligned to Common Core L.4.4.b. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated August 2026.

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