Adjective Suffixes: changing word forms

Adjective Suffixes

Forming adjectives from other word forms

Noun — Adjective Word Form

NOUN WORD FORM	ADJECTIVE WORD FORM
Some adjectives are formed from nouns. Others are formed from verbs. Some are formed from words in Latin, Greek or other languages. There is no simple rule for adding suffixes, but there are some common patterns.	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. We often use an adjective after a BE verb or a stative verb. .
NOUN The sky was a spectacle. (a very beautiful thing to see)	BE + ADJECTIVE It was spectacular.	MODIFIER TO A NOUN It was a spectacular sky.
The sky was filled with colors.	It was colorful.	It was a colorful sky.
The sunset was red.	It looked reddish.	It was a reddish sky.
We felt awe. (a feeling of inspiration and respect)	It was awesome.	It was an awesome sight.

Common suffixes — noun to adjective word form

SUFFIX	NOUN – ADJECTIVE	NOUN – ADJECTIVE	NOUN – ADJECTIVE	NOUN – ADJECTIVE	NOUN – ADJECTIVE
-AL relating to	accident – accidental	brute – brutal	region – regional	universe –universal	person – personal
-ARY relating to quality or place	custom – customary	moment – momentary	caution – cautionary	honor – honorary	diet – dietary
-FUL full of	beauty – beautiful	wonder – wonderful	awe – awful	skill – skillful	success – successful
-IC having the nature of; caused by	athlete – athletic	base – basic	history – historic	photograph – photographic	science – scientific
-ICAL having the nature of	magic – magical	logic – logical	history – historical	practice – practical	statistic – statistical
-ISH origin, nature	fool – foolish	child – childish	self – selfish	sheep – sheepish	pink – pinkish
-LESS without	power – powerless	friend – friendless	worth – worthless	use – useless	home – homeless
-LIKE like	like – lifelike	lady – ladylike	war – warlike	child – childlike	bird – birdlike
-LY like	friend – friendly	cost – costly	month – monthly	day – daily	order – orderly
-OUS quality, nature	poison – poisonous	danger – dangerous	nerve – nervous	mystery – mysterious	victory – victorious
-Y like	rain – rainy	fun – funny	dirt – dirty	mess – messy	dirt – dirty

Adjectivalization – in linguistics, the forming of words from other categories , nouns and verbs, by suffixation. (CaGEL 1706)
Pop-Q "historic / historical"

Adjective Forms 2

Forming adjectives from verb word forms

Forming adjectives from noun word forms

VERB WORD FORM	ADJECTIVE WORD FORM
Some adjectives are formed from verbs.	Adding a suffix onto a verb form is another way of forming an adjective. A suffix is a part added to the end of a word to mark the word form. We often use an adjective after a BE verb or a stative verb. .
VERB They create ideas.	BE + ADJECTIVE They are creative.	MODIFIER TO A NOUN They have creative minds.
She is expecting a baby.	She is an expectant mother.	We congratulated the expectant mother.
They don't permit smoking here.	Smoking is permissible. allowed	Smoking is a permissible activity.
They urge us to come immediately.	The matter is urgent.	They called us about an urgent matter.
Today's news interests me.	The news is interesting. I am interested.	We have interesting news. I am an interested reader.

Part Adj 1 -ed / -ing

Common suffixes — verb to adjective word form

SUFFIX	VERB – ADJECTIVE	VERB – ADJECTIVE	VERB – ADJECTIVE	VERB – ADJECTIVE	VERB – ADJECTIVE
-ABLE able, can do	agree – agreeable	expand – expandable	laugh – laughable	pass – passable	remark – remarkable
-IBLE able, can do	access – accessible	force – forcible	sense – sensible	flex – flexible	permit – permissible
-ANT performing agent	please – pleasant	rely – reliant	ignore – ignorant	resist – resistant	vacate – vacant
-ENT performing agent	excel – excellent	depend–dependent	confide – confident	urge – urgent	differ – different
-IVE causing effect	attract – attractive	create – creative	select – selective	posses – possessive	prevent – preventive
-ING causing effect	amuse – amusing	excite – exciting	confuse – confusing	relax –relaxing	surprise –surprising
-ED receiving effect	amuse – amused	excite – excited	confuse – confused	relax – relaxed	surprise – surprised
-EN receiving effect	freeze – frozen	lighten – lightened	darken – darkened	widen – widened	shorten – shortened

Adjectives

Similar but Different

VERB	SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT PAIRS	NOUN	SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT PAIRS
AWE	It was an awesome movie. having a great quality, inspiring It was an awful movie. having a terrible quality	CHILD	It was childish behavior (behaviour). having immature behavior, negative It was childlike behavior. qualities like a child, positive
DEPEND	We have two dependent children. needing someone for care We have two dependable children. having a nature of completing promises	CONFIDE	We are confident about winning. sure [L.confidere] The message is confidential. private [L. confidenti]
LAUGH	The laughing child was playing. having a good nature The laughable car was powered with tequila. impossible to be serious about	CRISP	It is a crisp day, today. cool and dry It is a crispy cracker. thin and crunchy (makes a pleasant sound )
LIGHT	She has light hair. a natural quality She has lightened hair. an unnatural/changed quality	FUN	We had a fun time at the movies. amusing We saw a funny movie. causing laughter
LOVE	He is a loving son. having a quality of giving love He is a lovable son. having a nature of attracting love	TACT	The general made a tactical advance. military move [L. tacticus] He is a tactful politician. having skills handling situations [L. tactus] tact (n.) – skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations
SELECT	He is selective a boo ut what he eats. having a quality of being choosy, picky They are selling selected items. particular, carefully chosen Select people can live there. a small number, exclusive, wealthy	TASTE	Your food is tasty. having a good taste You are a tasteful dresser. having good judgment for fashion
SENSE	He is a sensible person. reasonable [sensibilis] He is a sensitive person. easily irritated or hurt [L. sensitivus]	WORTH	He is a worthy competitor. He is a worthless competitor.

Adjectives -ic and -ical

-IC	-ICAL
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.	The -ical form is often added to a word that already has a final -ic. For example,. historic (of history) and historical (related to something that is historic). Such adjectives often have a different or an additional meaning from the more basic -ic form.
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	biological, chemical, critical, cynical, grammatical, fanatical, illogical, logical, mathematical, mechanical, medical, musical, pedagogical, physical, radical, surgical tactical, topical
He buys classic cars. traditional, old style	We listen to classical music. from a cultural (sometimes Greek, Roman, European) source, or 18thC.
His comic verse filled books. artistic comedy	His comical verse entertained audiences. funny
His economic theory was proved unsound. of the science of economics	His economical car was unsound. cheap
An electric motor powered the car. a particular machine	Electrical equipment makes our work easier. general, mass
That was a/an historic moment. recorded in past history	This is a/an historical moment. worthy of being recorded in history
The hysteric / hysterical woman was out of control. unable to control your behaviour or emotions	The movie was hysterical. very funny, causing uncontrollable laughter
The little girl played with a magic wand. of a mysterious source	It was a magical experience. mysterious, wonderful, exciting
He was a medic in the military. intern or doctor	He did medical research. related to medicine
He wrote in a poetic speech. imaginative, having the quality of poetry, like poetry	He wrote in a poetical manner. having the form of poetry
It's not politic to ask such questions wise	It was a political question. concerning government and politics

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

Pop-Q "Historical"

Practice 1

Lab Rats

Adjective Word Forms

Select the answer from the menu that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	FEEDBACK
1.	A new study shows that lab rats live short lives!
2.	Experiments cause their lives to be . experiment (n.) – a test in a laboratory to discover something new
3.	It's true. Lab rats don't live lives.
4.	At first, they may have lives, but later they don't.
5.	Lab rats are on lab assistants.
6.	Lab assistants have to clean up cages.
7.	Lab assistants run rats through mazes.	Part Mod 1 -ed / -ing
8.	If they go through the maze quickly, they get treats.
9.	Scientists use rats because they are to small changes.
10.	Experiments on rats are useful in research.
11.	Their lives are of good treatment .
12.	Better treatment will help rats live lives. treatment (n.) – the giving of care

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 in 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 "staycations". 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.

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

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.

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 the paragraph

Edit the text in the box.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	ANSWER CHECK
13.	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. EDIT 13: 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.
14.	For example, people who are used to eating out with friends on a daily basis may decide to eat in several nights each week. They may choose to socialize by having people over for a home-cook dinner. EDIT 14: For example, people who are used to eating out with friends on a daily basis may decide to eat in several nights each week. They may choose to socialize by having people over for a home-cook dinner.
15.	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. EDIT 15: 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.
16.	Vacations to exotic or far-away places become "staycations". People take car trips to less costing destinations. EDIT 16: Vacations to exotic or far-away places become “staycations”. People take car trips to less costing destinations.
17.	Memberships to sports clubs are seen as luxuries, while memberships to gyms are viewed as more basically. EDIT 17: Memberships to sports clubs are seen as luxuries, while memberships to gyms are viewed as more basically.
18.	Clothing purchases become more practical. Matching shoes to outfits is a thing of the past — unfashionable. EDIT 18: Clothing purchases become more practical. Matching shoes to outfits is a thing of the past — unfashionable.
19.	What does not change is surprised. People continue buying their children toys and taking them to amusement parks. EDIT 19: What does not change is surprised. People continue buying their children toys and taking them to amusement parks.
20.	People continue buying the latest technologic inventions in televisions, computers, tablets and phones. This is logical because they still need entertainment and these are in-house options. EDIT 20: People continue buying the latest technologic inventions in televisions, computers, tablets and phones. This is logical because they still need entertainment and these are in-house options.
21.	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. EDIT 21: 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.
22.	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. EDIT 22: 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.

Related page Participle Modifiers 1 -ed / -ing

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