Prepare for the Reading Specialist 221 Exam. Use flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations to enhance your readiness. Ace your test!

Multiple Choice

Which category includes endings such as er, ism, its, ful, able, action, ness, ment, ify, il that change a word's meaning?

Endings that change a word’s meaning are derivational endings. They attach to base words to form new words and often shift the word’s part of speech, not just show tense or number. For example, adding -er to a verb like teach makes a noun meaning “one who teaches” (teacher); adding -ness to an adjective like happy forms a noun meaning the state of being happy (happiness); adding -ment to a verb like develop yields a noun (development); -ful can turn a root into an adjective (beautiful); -able makes a verb into an adjective meaning “able to be” (readable); and -action or -ify can create nouns or verbs that express new concepts or actions. These endings fundamentally change meaning and/or grammatical category, unlike phonics (sound-symbol relationships), multisensory teaching methods, or formative assessment.

Endings that change a word’s meaning are derivational endings. They attach to base words to form new words and often shift the word’s part of speech, not just show tense or number. For example, adding -er to a verb like teach makes a noun meaning “one who teaches” (teacher); adding -ness to an adjective like happy forms a noun meaning the state of being happy (happiness); adding -ment to a verb like develop yields a noun (development); -ful can turn a root into an adjective (beautiful); -able makes a verb into an adjective meaning “able to be” (readable); and -action or -ify can create nouns or verbs that express new concepts or actions. These endings fundamentally change meaning and/or grammatical category, unlike phonics (sound-symbol relationships), multisensory teaching methods, or formative assessment.