Today we’ll be talking about nouns with the suffix –NESS. It’s one of the most productive suffixes in English, which means new words can be and are easily created with it.
We use this suffix to create nouns from adjectives.
We usually just add the suffix to the adjective:
rough → roughness
The sea was rough.
I was amazed at the roughness of the sea.
careful → carefulness
He’s a careful driver.
His carefulness is legendary.
rich → richness
You need a lot of rich foods.
The richness of the foods is only one of many factors.
tender → tenderness
She gave us a tender look.
Her tenderness gained our hearts right away.
If the adjective ends in –Y, we change it to –I:
happy → happiness
She seemed very happy.
Her happiness turned out an illusion, though.
clumsy → clumsiness
You’re such a clumsy person.
Your clumsiness has caused lots of problems.
lazy → laziness
He’s such a lazy man.
His wife blames his failures on his laziness.
