The -ous Quest

Worksheet Description

This worksheet presents an exciting quest for students to embark on, exploring the realm of adjectives ending with the suffix “-ous.” Each sentence on the sheet hints at a specific quality or characteristic but leaves the actual word a mystery to be solved by the student. The students are prompted to use their linguistic skills to transform the base words into their full, adjective forms by adding the magical suffix “-ous.” As they work through the ten sentences, they create words that describe someone or something possessing the qualities indicated.

The exercise aims to teach students about the power of the suffix “-ous” in converting nouns and verbs into adjectives that describe a notable quality or state of being. It emphasizes the pattern recognition in word formation, enhancing the students’ vocabulary and word construction skills. By completing this worksheet, students learn to recognize and form adjectives that are commonly used in descriptive writing. Furthermore, this worksheet helps to ingrain the concept that suffixes can change the function of a base word within a sentence, a fundamental lesson in English grammar and syntax.