Full of Meaning: Common Suffixes -ful, -less, -ness for Class 6

This Grade 6 worksheet helps students understand how the suffixes -ful, -less, and -ness attach to base words to create new words with distinct meanings — expressing fullness, absence, or a state of being. Through five well-designed activities including match the following, sort the words, fill in the blanks, multiple choice questions, and sentence rewriting, learners practise working with words like hopeful, careless, kindness, joyful, helpless, darkness, fearful, useless, and softness.

Why Suffixes -ful, -less, and -ness Matter in Grammar?

These three suffixes are among the most productive in the English language. For Grade 6 learners, this topic is important because:
1. -ful means full of (e.g., joyful = full of joy), -less means without (e.g., helpless = without help), and -ness indicates a state or quality (e.g., kindness = the state of being kind).
2. They convert nouns and adjectives into new adjectives and abstract nouns.
3. They are essential for descriptive writing and vocabulary development.
4. They help students understand the emotional and descriptive weight of words.

What's Inside This Worksheet?

This worksheet includes five grammar-rich activities that build fluency with the suffixes -ful, -less, and -ness:

Exercise 1 – Match the Following
Students match each suffixed word on the left to its correct meaning on the right. Example: hopeful → full of hope, careless → without care, kindness → state of kind, joyful → full of joy.

Exercise 2 – Sort the Words
Students sort base words into two suffix groups: Suffix -ful and Suffix -less. Words like care, joy, hope, ruth, thank, pain, sense, mind, and colour are categorised appropriately.

Exercise 3 – Fill in the Blanks
Students choose the correct suffixed word from a pair to complete each sentence. Example: "Anjali was __________ after winning the best student award." (joyless / joyful)

Exercise 4 – Multiple Choice Questions
Students select the correct suffix-based word from four options to complete each sentence. Example: "Be __________ while driving." (careless / sadness / hopeful / careful)

Exercise 5 – Sentence Rewriting
Students rewrite each sentence by replacing the incorrect suffix form with the correct -ful, -less, or -ness word. Example: "Anjali was very thankless for all the help she got at school" becomes "Anjali was very thankful for all the help she got at school."

Answer Key (For Parents & Educators)

Exercise 1 – Match the Following
hopeful → full of hope
careless → without care
kindness → state of kind
joyful → full of joy
darkness → state of dark
helpless → without help
sweetness → being sweet
fearful → full of fear
useless → without use
softness → state of soft

Exercise 2 – Sort the Words
Suffix -ful: care, joy, hope, ruth, thank, fruit, harm, pain, help
Suffix -less: sense, point, spot, mind, colour

Exercise 3 – Fill in the Blanks
1. joyful          
2. pointless
3. boring          
4. helpful
5. fearful         
6. kindness
7. darkness        
8. thankful
9. useless        
10. kindness

Exercise 4 – Multiple Choice Questions
1. d) careful          
2. c) darkness
3. d) thoughtful       
4. a) cheerful
5. c) harmless         
6. c) hopeless
7. c) cheerful         
8. b) cheerful
9. d) useless         
10. b) harmful

Exercise 5 – Sentence Rewriting
1. Anjali was very thankful for all the help she got at school.
2. Rahul found the cracked pen useless and threw it in the bin.
3. Diya showed great kindness to her younger classmates all week.
4. Pooja felt fearful before going up to the stage to perform.
5. Arjun said the old road was harmless for the cyclists today.
6. Neha remained hopeful even when things seemed very hard.
7. Kartik wore a graceful smile when he got his prize on stage.
8. Aarav described the broken torch as useless during a power cut.
9. Rohan said the homework was pointless because it had no marks.
10. Anjali walked through the dark corridor carefully at night.

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