I. Complete the table by choosing words from the poem. Suffix Meaning Examples -ous full of, having the qualities of kindness 1. _______ous -ity the state of being very old or ancient 2. _______ity -est superlative form 3. ______est -less without something 4. ______less

Suffix Meaning Word from the poem The line it comes from -ous full of, having the qualities of kindness 1. gener ous “The generous Ganga is ours—” — gener- from Latin generosus , plus -ous : full of giving. -ity the state of being very old or ancient 2. antiqu ity “Of hoary antiquity is Bharat” — antique (old) turned into the noun for the state of being old. -est superlative form 3. divin est “The divinest music has been heard here” — divine pushed to its highest degree. -less without something 4. peer less “she’s peerless , let’s praise her!” — a peer is an equal, so peerless means having none. What suffixes do that prefixes do not: a prefix usually changes meaning ( happy → unhappy ), but a suffix usually changes the word class . -ity turns the adjective antique into a noun; -ous and -less turn nouns into adjectives; -est keeps the class but shifts the degree. Once you can see the suffix, you can predict how a new word will behave in a sentence even if you have never met it. Did you know? Peer in peerless is the same word as in “judged by a jury of his peers” — an equal, not a person who looks. It has nothing to do with peer meaning to squint at something; those are two different words that happen to be spelt alike.

II. Complete the following table by adding a different suffix to form new words. Also, create a sentence using the created word. One example has been done for you. Suffix Meaning Sentences -tion the action or process of Example: indicate—indication The dark clouds were an indication that it would ra

Suffix Meaning Root → new word Sentence of my own -tion the action or process of 1. educate → educa tion The education Krishtakka gave herself at sixty-two changed how her whole family thought about learning. -ive quality or nature of 2. create → creat ive Bharati’s creative use of a single refrain holds sixteen scattered lines together. -ment the action or result of 3. achieve → achieve ment Reading a whole novel within one Dassara was an achievement nobody in the village had expected. -ed past-tense version of a verb 4. praise → prais ed The class praised her translation of the poem into Kannada. Tip on spelling: a silent e is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel — create + -ive gives creative , not “createive”; praise + -ed gives praised . But it is kept before a suffix beginning with a consonant — achieve + -ment gives achievement . That one rule settles most mistakes in this exercise. Why the exercise asks for a sentence and not just a word: a suffix changes what a word can do grammatically. You cannot prove you have understood -ment until you have used achievement as a noun — with an article in front of it and a verb somewhere near. The sentence is the test, not the decoration.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9th English Chapter 1 Bharat Our Land (poem) — Vocabulary in Context

Book page 29–30 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

I. Complete the table by choosing words from the poem.

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-ous	full of, having the qualities of kindness	1. _______ous
-ity	the state of being very old or ancient	2. _______ity
-est	superlative form	3. ______est
-less	without something	4. ______less

Answer

Suffix	Meaning	Word from the poem	The line it comes from
-ous	full of, having the qualities of kindness	1. generous	“The generous Ganga is ours—” — gener- from Latin generosus, plus -ous: full of giving.
-ity	the state of being very old or ancient	2. antiquity	“Of hoary antiquity is Bharat” — antique (old) turned into the noun for the state of being old.
-est	superlative form	3. divinest	“The divinest music has been heard here” — divine pushed to its highest degree.
-less	without something	4. peerless	“she’s peerless, let’s praise her!” — a peer is an equal, so peerless means having none.

What suffixes do that prefixes do not: a prefix usually changes meaning (happy → unhappy), but a suffix usually changes the word class. -ity turns the adjective antique into a noun; -ous and -less turn nouns into adjectives; -est keeps the class but shifts the degree. Once you can see the suffix, you can predict how a new word will behave in a sentence even if you have never met it.

Did you know? Peer in peerless is the same word as in “judged by a jury of his peers” — an equal, not a person who looks. It has nothing to do with peer meaning to squint at something; those are two different words that happen to be spelt alike.

Q2.

II. Complete the following table by adding a different suffix to form new words. Also, create a sentence using the created word. One example has been done for you.

Suffix	Meaning	Sentences
-tion	the action or process of	Example: indicate—indication The dark clouds were an indication that it would rain soon. 1.
-ive	quality or nature of	2.
-ment	the action or result of	3.
-ed	past-tense version of a verb	4.

Answer

Suffix	Meaning	Root → new word	Sentence of my own
-tion	the action or process of	1. educate → education	The education Krishtakka gave herself at sixty-two changed how her whole family thought about learning.
-ive	quality or nature of	2. create → creative	Bharati’s creative use of a single refrain holds sixteen scattered lines together.
-ment	the action or result of	3. achieve → achievement	Reading a whole novel within one Dassara was an achievement nobody in the village had expected.
-ed	past-tense version of a verb	4. praise → praised	The class praised her translation of the poem into Kannada.

Tip on spelling: a silent e is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel — create + -ive gives creative, not “createive”; praise + -ed gives praised. But it is kept before a suffix beginning with a consonant — achieve + -ment gives achievement. That one rule settles most mistakes in this exercise.

Why the exercise asks for a sentence and not just a word: a suffix changes what a word can do grammatically. You cannot prove you have understood -ment until you have used achievement as a noun — with an article in front of it and a verb somewhere near. The sentence is the test, not the decoration.

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