Word part · Anglo-Saxon suffix
Suffix -en words: meaning and 25 examples
In short
The Anglo-Saxon suffix -en (from Old English) means "to make or become; or made of". Words with it include harden, sadden, sicken, shorten, frighten and threaten. Two jobs share one spelling.
- Part
- -en
- Meaning
- to make or become; or made of
- Origin
- Anglo-Saxon
- Words listed
- 25
Two jobs share one spelling. On a describing word it makes an action (soft, soften); on a material it describes what a thing is made of (wood, wooden).
Words with the Anglo-Saxon suffix -en
The list runs from shorter, common words to longer ones. The bands are a rough guide built from syllable count and how common each word is in our word list, not a grade-level standard. Read each word, then its word sum.
Colors:prefixroot or basesuffix
Start here: short, common words (about grades 3 and 4)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| harden | hard (root or base)+en (suffix)→harden | to make or become hard |
| sadden | sad (root or base)+en (suffix)→saddendouble the last letter | to make someone sad |
| sicken | sick (root or base)+en (suffix)→sicken | to make or become sick |
| shorten | short (root or base)+en (suffix)→shorten | to make something shorter |
| frighten | fright (root or base)+en (suffix)→frighten | to fill someone with fright |
| threaten | threat (root or base)+en (suffix)→threaten | to make a threat against someone |
| strengthen | strength (root or base)+en (suffix)→strengthen | to give something more strength |
| wooden | wood (root or base)+en (suffix)→wooden | made of wood |
| golden | gold (root or base)+en (suffix)→golden | made of gold, or the color of gold |
| hasten | haste (root or base)+en (suffix)→hastendrop the e | to hurry, or to make something happen sooner |
| hardened | hard (root or base)+en (suffix)+ed (suffix)→hardened | became hard in the past |
| frightened | fright (root or base)+en (suffix)+ed (suffix)→frightened | filled with fright |
Next: longer words (about grades 5 and 6)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| soften | soft (root or base)+en (suffix)→soften | to make or become soft |
| brighten | bright (root or base)+en (suffix)→brighten | to make or become bright |
| darken | dark (root or base)+en (suffix)→darken | to make or become dark |
| widen | wide (root or base)+en (suffix)→widendrop the e | to make something wider |
| flatten | flat (root or base)+en (suffix)→flattendouble the last letter | to make something flat |
| sharpen | sharp (root or base)+en (suffix)→sharpen | to make an edge or point sharp |
More words: deepen, lighten, tighten, thicken, loosen, straighten, weaken
How do you teach the suffix -en?
Start with soft and soften, said aloud, because the student can hear that the new word is an action. Then build harden, darken and brighten the same way. Ask the test question each time: can you put "to" in front of it? To soften works, so -en made an action. Save wooden and golden for a second day and teach them as the made-of job. Mixing both jobs on day one muddles the meaning.
A quick routine
Write five describing words: soft, dark, short, wide, sharp. Say, "Add en and you get an action. Soft becomes soften: to make something soft." The student adds the suffix to each word, reads it, and says the meaning in the frame "to make it ___." Stop at wide and ask what happens to the e. It drops, because -en starts with a vowel. Finish by dictating flatten, which doubles the t.
What do students mix up with -en?
Plenty of words end in e-n without this suffix. Chicken, kitchen, garden and seven have no base word in front, and taken, eaten and frozen use a different -en, the one that marks a finished action (has eaten). Enlarge puts en- at the front, which is a prefix. If removing -en does not leave a describing word or a material, it is not this suffix.
Some of these words change spelling where the parts join. The spelling rules pages cover dropping e, doubling and changing y to i. For the sounds inside these words, see the phonics word lists. Routines that fit: meanings of prefixes and suffixes, circle the parts, read the base and flexible routine for big words.
Questions people ask
What does the suffix -en mean?
-en means "to make or become; or made of". It is a Anglo-Saxon suffix. Two jobs share one spelling. On a describing word it makes an action (soft, soften); on a material it describes what a thing is made of (wood, wooden).
What are some words with the suffix -en?
Start with harden, sadden, sicken and shorten. Then move to soften and brighten. This page lists 25 words in all, most with a word sum that shows the parts.
Is the -en in golden the same as the -en in harden?
They share a spelling and both come from Old English, but they do different jobs. In harden it turns a describing word into an action. In golden it turns a material into a describing word. Teach them on different days.
Related word parts
- -yfull of, or like
- -izeto make, or to become
- -ifyto make
- -edit already happened
- -fulfull of
- en-to make, or to put into
Terms on this page: morpheme, root, prefix, suffix, base word, word sum, morphology.
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