13 .
-tang-
-strict-
-gress-
-grat-
Meaning of root: touch
Meaning of whole words: something you
can touch; something you can’t touch
A corporation has to pay _____ible tax on
personal property it owns and in_____ible
tax on stocks, notes, and other paper
obligations.
14 .
-viv-
-mort-
-ject-
-vor-
Meaning of root: eat
Meaning of whole word: meat eating
Some dinosaurs were carni_____ous.
15 .
-viv-
-vor-
-secut-
-cred-
Meaning of root: live
Meaning of whole word: lively, full of life
Mr. Pinder is a talented author whose
_____id imagination brings the characters
to life.
16 .

they were signed.
180
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19 .
-frag-
-grat-
-viv-
-mort-
Meaning of root: break
Meaning of whole word: easy to
break, not strong
Her health is very _____ile at this
time.
20.
-gress-
-grad-
-cred-
-secut-
Meaning of root: step
Meaning of whole word: one step at
a time, little by little
Richard _____ually improved in his
anatomy course.
181
Reading
Answers
1.
interjects
2.

pedestrian
18 .
incorporation
19 .
fragile
20.
gradually
Suffixes
A suffix is a group of letters attached at the end of a word. Usually, suffixes indi-
cate the word’s part of speech. For example, a suffix may indicate that the word is
a noun, adjective, or adverb, and it may indicate the verb tense, aspect, or person.
I cover verb tenses, aspects, and forms in the “Structure Section” chapter.
Normally, the TOEFL test Reading section does not use incorrect parts of speech
in the answer choices. For example, if the word being tested is a noun, all the an-
swer choices are also nouns. Therefore, you normally can’t use your knowledge
of suffixes to eliminate answer choices without understanding the word. However,
understanding suffixes can be very useful in order to recognize that a word is re-
lated to another that you know.
If there are words or roots in this section that you don’t know, look them up in a
dictionary. In fact, you can often understand three or more words from learning
one root. The purpose of this section is to assist you in recognizing these suffixes,
not in forming words. (That is why I haven’t explained in detail how the suffix is
affixed to the root.)
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A suffix often tells whether the word is a noun, verb, or other form. The following
table offers an example of how suffixes work.
Root +Suffix = Part of speech
imagin- -e imagine (verb)
imagin- -ation imagination (noun)
imagin- -ary imaginary (adjective)

Following are suffixes from the same table that often apply to an intangible thing
(an abstract concept).
Suffix Concept
-ion, -sion, -tion concentration
-ance radiance
-ence competence
-ty, -ity, -cy legality
-ness stubbornness
-ism communism
Verb Endings
The endings -en and -ize normally indicate that the word is a verb.
The suffixes -en and -ize are normally added to nouns or adjectives to make verbs.
Root + Suffix = Verb
haste (noun) -en hasten
standard (noun or adjective) -ize standardize
Other examples of verbs created by -en are awaken, harden, flatten, shorten,
heighten, enlighten, weaken, hearten, darken, and strengthen.
Examples of verbs created by -ize are authorize, legalize, criticize, rationalize, in-
tellectualize, symbolize, neutralize, centralize, summarize, emphasize, visualize,
mobilize, categorize, stabilize, economize, and terrorize.
Adjective Endings
The following endings normally indicate that the word is an adjective: -less,
-ful, -al, -ous, -ious, -eous, -ed, -en (past participle), -ive, -able, and -ible.
183
Reading
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You normally add all the previous suffixes to nouns, except -able, -ible, and -ive,
which you add to verbs.
Suffix (Adjective Ending) Root + Suffix = Adjective
-less hopeless, thoughtless

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