Suffixes: -ment, -ness

Dee and Kala just finished putting up the first billboard in their 'Save the Forest' campaign! "Now all ten thousand cars driving by will see our billboards and think about preserving nature!" "Kala, 'flowers add bright to the world' doesn't make any sense!" "Oh no Dee, we forgot to add the suffixes!" Quick! Let's help Dee and Kala fix their billboards by learning about the suffixes /mint/ and /niss/! A suffix is a group of letters at the end of a word that changes the meaning. Dee and Kala forgot to add the suffixes /mint/ and /niss/ to the billboard. The suffix /mint/ describes the action of doing something or the result of an action, and changes a word from a verb into a noun. For example, if we have the verb 'excite', (...) and add the suffix, '/mint/', we now have the noun excitement, which is the feeling that results from an action. What happens to 'govern' when we add the suffix '/mint/'? (...) It becomes the noun government, which describes the system that regulates or controls a nation, organization or people. The suffix /niss/ describes the state or quality of being, and changes a word from an adjective into a noun. For example, if we have the adjective 'dark' (...) and the suffix '/niss/', it becomes the noun darkness, which is a state of being dark without any light. What happens when we add '/niss/' to the adjective 'ill'? (...) It becomes the noun 'illness' which describes the state of being sick. For some words, we follow rules that change the spelling. Like when you add '/niss/' to a word that ends with a consonant followed by a , such as 'crazy', always change the to an . The word 'crazy' becomes 'craziness'. Now we're ready to help Kala and Dee. The first billboard says, 'Flowers add BRIGHT to the world'. Which suffix should be added to BRIGHT? (...) Bright is an adjective, so we add '/niss/' to make 'brightness'. Flowers add brightness to the world' describes the quality or state of being bright. The next one says, 'Improve of the earth is free'. Which suffix should be added to IMPROVE? (...) Improve is a verb, so we add '/mint/' to make 'improvement'. Improvement of the earth is free' describes the price of improving the earth. The last one says, 'Happy starts when you plant a tree'. Which suffix should be added to HAPPY? (...) Happy is an adjective, so we will add '/niss/'. BUT WAIT, happy ends with a consonant followed by a ! How do we add the ending? (...) Change the to an and add the suffix /niss/. Happiness starts when you plant a tree' describes a happy state of being. Before we see if Kala and Dee's Preserve Nature campaign is a success, let's summarize. Remember(...), the suffix /mint/ describes the action of doing something or the result of an action, and changes a word from a verb into a noun. The suffix /niss/ describes the state or quality of being, and changes a word from an adjective into a noun. If the word ends in consonant followed by a , change the to an before adding /niss/. "It's BEAUTIFUL!" "Here, your favorite flowers to celebrate our achieveMENT." "Bon appetit, I guess."