The suffixes that build Belarusian words. Learn twenty of them and a great deal of vocabulary becomes readable without a dictionary.
I can work out what an unfamiliar derived word means from its suffix, and form nouns and adjectives from words I know.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Ветлівасць - галоўная рыса гаспадара.
Politeness is a host's chief quality.
У мяне ёсць пытанне пра будаўніцтва.
I have a question about the construction.
Ліпавая гарбата з бярозавым сокам.
Lime tea with birch sap.
Сынок, вазьмі хлебушак са стала.
Son, take some bread from the table.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
The academic grammar's derivation section organises these by what they produce. The most useful groups for a learner:
| Suffix | Produces | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -нік / -ніца | a person by occupation | настаўнік, работнік, будаўнік |
| -ец / -ца | a person by origin or action | беларус, прадавец, чытач |
| -асць | an abstract quality | радасць, слабасць, ветлівасць |
| -нне / -ццё | an action or its result | чытанне, пытанне, жыццё |
| -ства / -цтва | a collective or condition | гаспадарства, сяброўства |
| -к(а) | a smaller or familiar thing | кніжка, хатка, сцежка |
-ск- / -цк- for belonging (беларускі, гарадскі, брацкі), -ов- / -ав- for material or source (бярозавы, ліпавы, дубовы), -лів- for a tendency (ветлівы, маўклівы, сумленны).
The month names you learned at A1 are built this way: ліпень from ліпа, верасень from верас.
Belarusian uses them constantly, and they carry warmth rather than size: сынок, дачушка, хлебушак, кніжачка. Refusing to use them sounds cold; using them everywhere sounds cloying. They belong in speech to and about family, children and food.
The point of knowing the suffixes is that an unfamiliar word stops being opaque. Будаўніцтва unpacks as будаваць plus the collective suffix - construction, the industry. Ветлівасць is ветлівы plus the abstract suffix - politeness. This is the fastest vocabulary growth available at B1.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: avoiding diminutives entirely, which sounds cold in contexts where Belarusian expects them.
Using -ость, -ние or -чество
Belarusian has -асць, -нне and -цтва: ветлівасць, пытанне, сяброўства.
Avoiding diminutives entirely
They carry warmth and are ordinary in speech to family, children and about food.
Using diminutives everywhere
They belong in specific registers, not in every sentence.
Treating derived words as unrelated vocabulary
Work backwards: будаўніцтва is будаваць plus a suffix.
Ветлівасць - галоўная рыса гаспадара.
Politeness is a host's chief quality.
<em>Ветлівы</em> plus the abstract suffix <em>-асць</em>.
У мяне ёсць пытанне пра будаўніцтва.
I have a question about the construction.
Two derived nouns: <em>-нне</em> for the action, <em>-цтва</em> for the collective.
Ліпавая гарбата з бярозавым сокам.
Lime tea with birch sap.
Both adjectives use <em>-ов- / -ав-</em> for material, from <em>ліпа</em> and <em>бяроза</em>.
Сынок, вазьмі хлебушак са стала.
Son, take some bread from the table.
Two diminutives carrying warmth rather than size - ordinary in family speech.
Настаўніца і будаўнік - гэта прафесіі.
A teacher and a builder are professions.
Both from <em>-нік / -ніца</em>, the occupational suffix.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises