additional

additional — adjective

1. describing something that comes on top of what you already have, expected, or fi

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing something that comes on top of what you already have, expected, or first talked about, increasing the total amount or number.

Example

Mei hired two additional staff members to handle the busy summer season.

additional + plural countable noun

Passengers must pay an additional fee for each suitcase over 20 kilos.

additional + singular countable noun

Common collocations
  • additional information
  • additional cost
  • additional fee
  • additional support
  • additional staff
  • no additional charge
Synonyms
  • extra

    more everyday and flexible; works both before a noun and after 'be' (the cost is extra)

  • further

    often used for more steps, action, or information rather than physical things; slightly more formal

  • supplementary

    formal; suggests something added to support or complete a main item, e.g. supplementary materials

  • added

    stresses that something has been put on top of what was there before; common in 'added cost / added bonus'

Grammar Patterns

additional + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun (attributive). Cannot stand alone after a linking verb — say 'the cost is extra', not 'the cost is additional'.

Common Mistakes

The fee is additional.
There is an additional fee.
'additional' goes before a noun; use 'extra' after a linking verb.
I need additional of water.
I need additional water.' or 'I need more water.
'additional' modifies a noun directly, with no 'of'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words point to something added to an original amount, but they fit different situations. 'Additional' is neutral and slightly formal, very common in business and official writing: 'an additional fee', 'additional information'. 'Extra' is the everyday spoken choice and is the most flexible — it can sit before a noun or stand alone after 'be' ('the dessert is extra'). 'Further' usually applies to actions, steps, or information rather than physical objects, as in 'further questions' or 'further details'. 'Supplementary' is the most formal and suggests something that supports or completes the main item, like 'supplementary reading' or 'a supplementary report'. So you might pay an extra five dollars at a café, request further information from a website, read supplementary chapters for a course, and hire additional staff for a project.

additional ↗extra ↗further ↗supplementary ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • at no additional cost
  • no additional charge
  • any additional questions

Prepositions

  • additional to

Etymology

LatinLate LatinEnglish

Comes from Late Latin 'additionalis', built on Latin 'additio' meaning 'an adding to', from the verb 'addere' ('to add'). It entered English in the 1600s through legal and scholarly writing, where it described something joined onto an existing document or sum. The everyday meaning of 'extra, more than first mentioned' grew naturally from this 'added on' core idea.