Suffixes -ous and -al Worksheets

Free printable suffixes: -ous and -al phonics worksheets. Four practice activities: decodable passage, word sort, phrasing cards, and rapid naming chart.

Grade: 3rd Phase 6: Greek & Latin Roots Pattern: Suffixes -ous (full of/having) and -al (relating to): famous, natural, musical, dangerous
famous natural musical dangerous national tropical magical nervous gradual historical joyous visual

1 Decodable Reading Passage

A short, decodable story embedding suffixes: -ous and -al words. Students read the passage then highlight all the target words.

Sam's Coastal Trip
Skill: Suffixes: -ous and -al  •  Sight Words: the, a, and, to, was, is, it, she, he, they, said, have, with, you, are, of, for, her, there, one
Sam's Coastal Trip coloring page illustration
Coloring page included in PDF
Sam and his dad went on a trip to a coastal forest. It was a grand national forest, full of tall green trees and deep brush. Sam had a clear goal for the day. He wanted to find a famous bird. The bird had bright red wings and a yellow tail. "Will we see it today?" Sam asked his dad, bouncing on his feet. "It is very hard to spot," his dad said. "It is typical for the bird to hide deep in the leaves." Sam felt a bit nervous about the hike. The woods felt so dark and wild. "Is it dangerous in here?" he asked, looking at a thick clump of ferns. "No, it is very safe," his dad told him with a kind smile. "We will just stick to the natural dirt path. You will be fine." They stepped off the grass and went deeper into the enormous woods. The trees blocked out much of the sunlight. Sam kept his eyes wide open. He looked at various bugs and plants along the way, hoping to spot a flash of red. The walk was a gradual climb up a long, tall hill. Sam stopped to drink some water and rest by a large stone. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. It was a sweet, musical chirp. Sam froze in his tracks. Was that the famous bird? He slowly looked up into the thick branches above his head. A bright little bird was resting right on a thin branch! Its red wings looked so bright where a bit of sunlight broke through the leaves. To Sam, the sight of it felt so magical. He could not believe his luck. "Look at that," his dad whispered. "You found it all by yourself." Sam grinned a huge, proud grin. He watched the bird puff out its chest and sing another musical song. Finding the shy bird was a joyous thing. It was the very best part of their coastal trip!
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Sam's Coastal Trip decodable reader mini-book
Free decodable reader Read “Sam's Coastal Trip” as an illustrated mini-book → The full printable story + coloring page, using only suffixes: -ous and -al sounds your child has learned.

2 Word Sort

Cut out the word cards and sort them into the correct columns: -ous (full of / having) vs -al (relating to).

-ous (full of / having)
-al (relating to)
famous
dangerous
nervous
joyous
enormous
various
natural
musical
national
tropical
historical
seasonal
coastal
formal
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3 Phrasing Practice Cards

Practice reading these phrases for fluency. Cut out the cards and read them quickly and smoothly.

a famous explorer
natural resources
a musical performance
a dangerous climb
national pride
tropical weather
feel nervous before
an enormous crowd
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4 RAN Chart (Rapid Naming)

Read each word in the grid as quickly as you can. Time yourself and try to beat your best time!

Decodable RAN Chart — Suffixes: -ous and -al
dangerous
famous
enormous
musical
natural
famous
natural
musical
famous
enormous
dangerous
dangerous
musical
natural
famous
enormous
Target words: famous, natural, musical, dangerous, enormous
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5 Word Search

Find and circle the suffixes: -ous and -al words hidden in the grid. Words go across, down, and diagonally — a fun way to reinforce suffixes: -ous and -al word recognition.

Suffixes: -ous and -al Word Search
J
V
I
S
U
A
L
U
X
E
N
N
Z
O
H
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T
O
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M
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DANGEROUS FAMOUS GRADUAL HISTORICAL JOYOUS MAGICAL MUSICAL NATIONAL NATURAL NERVOUS TROPICAL VISUAL
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📖 Decodable Readers for Suffixes: -ous and -al

Next step: once your child can sound out these words, have them read a matching decodable mini-book. Each Suffixes: -ous and -al reader is a printable story + coloring page using only sounds they've learned.

← Suffixes -ment and -ness Worksheets View All Phonics Skills Prefixes inter- and trans- Worksheets →

Free Printable Suffixes -ous and -al Worksheets

These free suffix worksheets cover -ous (full of / having) and -al (relating to) — the endings inside famous, dangerous, natural, musical, national, tropical, historical, and enormous. Activities include a decodable passage, a two-column word sort, fluency phrasing cards, and a rapid naming chart. Students learn to identify these suffixes in multisyllabic words and use them to figure out meaning. Each worksheet prints cleanly on US Letter paper.

For more early literacy resources, explore our sight word flashcards, tracing worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages.

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