Adjective Suffixes
Forming adjectives from other word forms
Noun → Adjective word form
| NOUN WORD FORM |
|---|
Some adjectives are formed from nouns and others are formed from verbs. The word forms are from Latin, Greek and other languages. There is no simple rule for adding suffixes, but there are common patterns. |
| DET + NOUN (N) |
The sky was a spectacle. (a very beautiful thing to see) |
The sky was filled with colors. |
The sunset was red. |
We felt awe. (a feeling of inspiration and respect)
|
| ADJECTIVE WORD FORM | |
|---|---|
Adding a suffix onto a noun form is one way of forming an adjective. A suffix is a part added to the end of a word to mark the word form. An adjective is often used after It is or It seems (stative verbs). |
|
| BE + ADJ | DET + MODIFIER + N |
It was spectacular.¹ |
It was a spectacular sky. |
It was colorful. |
It was a colorful sky. |
It looked reddish. |
It was a reddish sky. |
It was awesome.
|
It was an awesome sight. |
¹It + be + adjective (predicate adjective or predicate complement) See describing be.
NP –noun phrase; N – noun; Det – determiner; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective
Also see Noun Suffixes.
Common Suffixes — noun to adjective
| SUFFIX | NOUN – ADJECTIVE | NOUN – ADJECTIVE | NOUN – ADJECTIVE |
|---|---|---|---|
-AL relating to |
accident – accidental region – regional |
brute – brutal person – personal |
region – regional universe –universal |
-ARY relating to quality or place |
custom – customary compliment – complimentary |
moment – momentary honor – honorary |
caution – cautionary diet – dietary |
-FUL full of |
beauty – beautiful skill – skillful |
wonder – wonderful success – successful |
awe – awful delight – delightful |
-IC having the nature of; caused by |
athlete – athletic photograph – photographic |
base – basic science – scientific |
history – historic rhythm– rhythmic |
-ICAL having the nature of |
magic – magical practice – practical |
logic – logical statistic – statistical |
history – historical alphabet – alphabetical |
-ISH origin, nature |
fool – foolish sheep – sheepish |
child – childish pink – pinkish |
self – selfish girl – girlish |
-LESS without |
power – powerless use – useless |
friend – friendless home – homeless |
worth – worthless penny – penniless |
-LIKE like |
like – lifelike child – childlike |
lady – ladylike bird – birdlike |
war – warlike spring – springlike |
-LY like |
friend – friendly day – daily |
cost – costly order – orderly |
month – monthly coward – cowardly |
-OUS quality, nature |
poison – poisonous courtesy – courteous |
danger – dangerous mystery – mysterious |
nerve – nervous victory – victorious |
-Y like |
rain – rainy mess – messy |
fun – funny dirt – dirty |
dirt – dirty spot – spotty |
Adjectivalization – in linguistics, the forming of words from other categories , nouns and verbs, by suffixation. (CaGEL 1706)
Pop-Q "historic / historical"
Adjective Forms 2
Changing verbs to adjectives
Verb word form → Adjective word form
| VERB WORD FORM |
|---|
Some adjectives are formed by adding a suffix to the verb form. A suffix is a part added to the end of a word to mark the word form. |
| VERB |
They create ideas. |
She is expecting a baby. |
They don't permit smoking here. |
They urge us to come immediately. |
Today's news interests me. |
| ADJECTIVE WORD FORM | |
|---|---|
Adjectives commonly occur after be verbs as predicate adjectives or predicate complements. Adjectives also occur as modifiers to nouns (pre-position and post-position) |
|
| BE + ADJECTIVE | MODIFIER TO A NOUN |
They are creative. |
They have creative minds. |
She is an expectant mother. |
We congratulated the expectant mother. |
Smoking is permissible. allowed |
Smoking is a permissible activity. |
The matter is urgent. |
This urgent matter needs your attention. |
The news is interesting. |
We have interesting news. |
Also see Modifiers ending in -ed / -ing
Common suffixes — verb to adjective
| SUFFIX | VERB – ADJECTIVE | VERB – ADJECTIVE | VERB – ADJECTIVE |
|---|---|---|---|
-ABLE able, can do |
agree – agreeable pass – passable |
expand – expandable remark – remarkable |
laugh – laughable pay – payable |
-IBLE able, can do |
access – accessible flex – flexible |
force – forcible permit – permissible |
sense – sensible force – forcible |
-ANT performing agent |
please – pleasant resist – resistant |
rely – reliant vacate – vacant |
ignore – ignorant comply – compliant |
-ENT performing agent |
excel – excellent urge – urgent |
depend – dependent differ – different |
confide – confident equal – equivalent |
-IVE causing effect |
attract – attractive posses – possessive |
create – creative prevent – preventive |
select – selective destruct – destructive |
-ING causing effect |
amuse – amusing relax –relaxing |
excite – exciting surprise –surprising |
confuse – confusing amaze – amusing |
-ED receiving effect |
amuse – amused relax – relaxed |
excite – excited surprise – surprised |
confuse – confused overwhelm – overwhelmed |
-EN receiving effect |
freeze – frozen braze – brazen |
lighten – lightened shorten – shortened |
darken – darkened widen – widened |
Adjectives
Similar but Different
| VERB | SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT PAIRS |
|---|---|
AWE |
It was an awesome movie. having a great quality, inspiring |
DEPEND |
We have two dependent children. needing someone for care |
LAUGH |
The laughing child was playing. having a good nature |
LIGHT |
She has light hair. a natural quality |
LOVE |
He is a loving son. having a quality of giving love |
SELECT |
He is selective a bout what he eats. having a quality of being choosy |
SENSE |
He is a sensible person. reasonable [sensible] |
| NOUN | SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT PAIRS |
|---|---|
CHILD |
It was childish behavior (behavior). having immature behavior, negative |
CONFIDE |
We are confident about winning. sure [L.confidere] |
CRISP |
It is a crisp day, today. cool and dry |
FUN |
We had a fun time at the movies. amusing |
TACT |
The general made a tactical advance. military move [L. tacticus] |
TASTE |
Your food is tasty. having a good taste |
WORTH |
He is a worthy competitor. |
Adjective
Suffixes -ic versus -ical
Adjectives -ic and -ical
| -IC |
|---|
There is no particular way to know whether a word will use the -ic or the -ical ending. The suffix -ic comes from French -ique, or Greek -ikos. and means having the nature of , or causing something. |
academic, algebraic, arithmetic, artistic, athletic, catholic, domestic, dramatic, egoistic, emphatic, energetic, fantastic, geometric, strategic, linguistic, majestic, neurotic, pathetic, pedagogic, phonetic, public, semantic, syntactic, systematic, tragic |
He buys classic cars. traditional, old style |
His comic verse filled books. artistic comedy |
His economic theory was proved unsound. of the science of economics |
An electric motor powered the car. a particular machine |
That was a/an historic moment. recorded in past history |
The hysteric / hysterical woman was out of control. unable to control your behavior or emotions |
The little girl played with a magic wand. of a mysterious source |
He was a medic in the military. intern or doctor |
He wrote in a poetic speech. imaginative, having the quality of poetry, like poetry |
It's not politic to ask such questions wise |
| -ICAL |
|---|
The -ical form is often added to a word that already has a final -ic. Such adjectives often have a different or an additional meaning from the more basic -ic form. |
alphabetical, alphanumerical, archeological, biblical, biological, chemical, chronological, critical, cynical, ethical, grammatical, fanatical, illogical, logical, mathematical, mechanical, medical, musical, pedagogical, physical, radical, surgical tactical, topical |
We listen to classical music. from a cultural (sometimes Greek, Roman, European) source, or 18thC. |
His comical verse entertained audiences. funny |
He chose an economical car. inexpensive to use |
Electrical equipment makes our work easier. general, mass |
This is a/an historical moment. worthy of being recorded in history |
The movie was hysterical. very funny, causing uncontrollable laughter |
It was a magical experience. mysterious, wonderful, exciting |
He did medical research. related to medicine |
He wrote in a poetical manner. having the form of poetry |
It was a political question. concerning government and politics |
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
| FOCUS | SOLUTION |
|---|---|
His answer was logic, but I didn't agree with him. How can I tell if a word is an adjective or a noun? → |
His answer was logical, but I didn't agree with him. Tip: If you want to know if a word is an adjective, place "very" before the word. It's very logical. (OK) / It's *very logic*. (not OK) |
My dad likes to listen to classic music on the car radio. |
My dad likes to listen to classical music on the car radio. |
Do you know where I can buy an economic car? |
Do you know where I can buy an economical car? (money saving, affordable, gas saving?) |
Hal is a tasty dresser. |
Hal is a tasteful dresser. |
It was a chilly, crispy day. |
It was a chilly, crisp day. (dry, low humidity) |
Don't shout at my son. He's a very sensible person. |
He's a very sensitive person. (easily hurt) |
Pop-Q "Historical"
Resources
- COCA. Corpus of Contemporary American English. Brigham Young University, 199–2012 http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ (online database of current word usage)
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 4th ed. 2009: Oxford University Press. Print. (254)
- Prefixes and Suffixes, Wikipedia,Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_roots,_suffixes_and_prefixes
Practice 1
Lab Rats
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Practice 2
Cutting Back
Intermediate – Advanced Level
Read for errors
In difficult economical times, people tend to become more practical in their daily lives. That is to say, they cut back on unnecessary activities and keep what is most logic. For example, people who are used to eating out on a daily basis may decide to eat at home a few more nights each week. Or they may choose to socialize by having people over for a home-cook dinner. Another method of saving is cutting down on visits to person care services. People may wait an extra week for haircuts or drop extra services such as pedicures and manicures. Vacations to exotic or far-away places become "stay-cations". Instead, people take car trips to less costing destinations. Memberships to sports clubs are seen as luxuries, while memberships to gyms viewed as more basically. Clothing purchases become more practical. Matching shoes to outfits is a thing of the past — unfashionable.
What does not change is surprised. People continue buying their children toys and taking them to amusement parks. People continue purchasing the latest technologic inventions in televisions, computers, tablets and phones. This is logical because they still need entertainment and these are in-house options. People buy gourmet foods in their supermarkets, and they buy fancy-like kitchen equipment such as small electric panini grills, coffee makers with capsules, and soda makers. This is their reward for being thrifty. In short, in tough times, people change their big out-of-house luxuries to little in-house luxuries. Parents set aside their comfortable for their children's needs. Big showy expenses are in poor taste. Small, in-home expenses are in good taste.
cut back, cut down (v.) – have less, use less, spend less
cut out, drop (v.)– do without, stop having
eat out (v.) – eat at a restaurant / eat in (v.) – eat at home
exotic (adj.) – foreign, unusual, interesting
frugal (adj.) – thrifty, saving money, not wasteful
gourmet (adj.) – very good or special food
have someone over (v.) – invite a person to your home
in-house (adj.) – used inside the home or made inside the business
in poor taste – judged as unsuitable, unfavorable behavior
luxury (n.) – extra, not necessary, but pleasant comfort from spending more
options (n.)– possible choices or selections
pedicures, manicures (n.) – services for the care of finger and toe nails
seen / viewed (passive verb) – are regarded, how people judge them
Edit for errors
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