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Formation of Adjectives

18th August 2020 CHALLA Comments Off

Formation of Adjectives

Formation of Adjectives

 

It is very important to know the formation of Adjectives. The adjectives can be formed from the nouns, the verbs and other adjectives by adding prefixes and suffixes. 

 

Common suffixes used to form adjectives:

 

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word to make a new word. Suffix changes a word from one part of speech to another like a noun to an adjective.

 

Suffix Adjectives
-able solvable, comfortable, readable, believable, reliable, agreeable, passable, expandable, remarkable, laughable, payable
-ible accessible, incredible, invisible, accessible, flexible, forcible, permissible, sensible, 
-al, -ial professional, structural, national, legal, normal, industrial, presidential
-ical comical, musical, political, aeronautical, alphabetical
-ant important, relevant, pleasant, resistant, reliant, vacant, ignorant, compliant
-ent dependent, excellent, urgent, dependent, different, confident, equivalent
-ed bored, interested, fascinated,  amused, relaxed, excited, surprised, confused, overwhelmed
-ic generic, archaic, idealistic, historic, classic, economic, heroic, romantic
-ing boring, interesting, fascinating
-ish newish, reddish, childish, foolish, British, Irish
-ful helpful, colorful, useful, beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful
-less endless, priceless, timeless, worthless, careless, useless, hopeless
-eous/-ious/ -ous spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, adventurous, courageous, advantageous, famous, judicious, melodious
-ive active, alternative, creative, talkative, festive, cooperative, sensitive
-y angry, busy, healthy, windy, hairy, imaginary, glossy
-ly earthly, endearingly, kindly, timely, maturely
-ory introductory, advisory, anticipatory, compensatory

Common prefixes used to form adjectives:

 

A prefix is a letter or group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning.

 

Prefix Adjectives
im- imperfect, impolite, imbalance, impossible
ir- irrelevant, irrational, irresponsible, irregular, irreducible
il- illegal, illegible, illogical
in- inconvenient, inactive, incomplete, inappropriate,
un- unfair, unsure, unusual, unhappy, uninterested, unpleasant
dis- dishonest, disloyal, dissimilar, disabled
ultra-, super-, -hyper- ultra-compact, ultrasound, hyperactive
inter- international, interdisciplinary
trans- transatlantic, transmarine

Forming adjectives from Nouns:

 

Noun Adjective Noun Adjective Noun Adjective
distress  distressed hero heroic vision visionary
spite  spiteful wind windy inability unable
provision  provisional child childish testimony testimonial
hazard  hazardous beauty beautiful difficulty difficult
truth  truthful efficiency  efficient tribe tribal
effort   effortless effusion   effusive hostility hostile
man manly human humanly subordination subordinate
courage courageous sense senseless attitude attitudinal
storm stormy laugh laughable truism truistic
envy envious king kingly recreation recreational
advise advisory access  accessible  imagery imaginative
girl girlish danger dangerous tragedy tragic
gold golden length lengthy creation creative

 

Forming adjectives from Verbs:

 

Verb Adjective Verb Adjective
absorb absorbed read readable
bereave bereaved talk talkative
captivated  captivating use useful
care  careless like likable
fascinate  fascinated manipulate  manipulative
grieve  grievous thank  thankful
enjoy enjoyable hate hateful
help helpful laugh laughable
tickle ticklish adjust adjustable
tire tireless annoy annoying
judge judgemental differ different
forget forgetful see scenic
shake shakeable speed speedy

 

Formation of Adjectives from other Adjectives:

 

Adjective Adjective Adjective Adjective
three threesome easy easier
green greenish funny funnier
weak weakly gentle gentlest
red redden fine finest
legal illegal logical illogical
patient impatient mature immature
regular irregular responsible irresponsible
honest dishonest comfortable uncomfortable

 

Points to Focus:

Sometimes, we get confused with

-ing adjectives and -ed adjectives.

ing adjectives – They describe the effect

-ed adjectives – They describe how a person feels

  • His speech bored the audience. So they started clapping before it ended.
  • His speech was very boring
  • I am very much interested in his speech.
  • His speech is very interesting.
  • We were shocked to hear the news.
  • It was very shocking news