What is a suffix? These are letters added to the end of a word to change its grammatical category (for example, from a verb to a noun) or its meaning. For example, by adding the suffix “-er” to the verb work, it becomes the noun worker.
The suffix -ly: Quality and manner
This is the most common suffix used to form adverbs. It indicates the quality of an action or that something is related to the base adjective. It is generally added to adjectives.
Examples: slow – slowly, beauty – beautifully, quick – quickly and exceptional – exceptionally.
Practical rule: Approximately 80% of the time you see a word ending in “-ly” after a verb, it is an adverb.
He spoke clearly during the meeting.
The suffix -wards: Direction
This suffix is used to indicate where something is moving. It expresses direction. It is added to words that denote orientation (such as up, down, in, out). There are around 10 common words with this ending.
• Examples: inward (in), outward (out), downward (down), backward (back) and homeward (home).
Note on “toward”: It means “in the direction of” a specific place or area. You can move toward a place in different ways, for example, walking backwards (backwards) but in the direction of the camera.
| English (-wards) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| upwards | up |
| downwards | down |
| inwards | in |
| outwards | out |
| forwards | for |
| backwards | back |
| homewards | home |
| northwards | north |
| southwards | south |
| onwards | on |
She walked forwards without looking back.
The boat moved northwards along the coast.
The suffix -wise: Relation or topic
Unlike the previous ones, this suffix is useful for specifying the topic being discussed.
Function: It means “in relation to”, “regarding” or “as for” a specific topic.
Usage: It is commonly added to nouns.
Examples:
Time-wise: As for time (e.g. “Time-wise, this video lasts 15 minutes”).
Money-wise: As for money (e.g. “Money-wise, I am a poor man”).
Family-wise: Regarding the family.
Budget-wise: In relation to the budget.
Health-wise, I’m doing better.
Application summary
To identify or use these adverbs correctly, remember:
1. -ly describes how the action is performed (quality).
2. -wards describes where the action is going (direction).
3. -wise describes in what context what you say applies (relation to a topic)