Formation of Adjectives
Adjectives can be formed from nouns, verbs, and other adjectives.
1) Formation of Adjectives From Nouns:
We can form adjectives from nouns by adding su#xes to a noun.
The Adjectives that are formed by adding -y or -al or -ial as a su#x are given
below in the table. If the noun has an ‘e’ in the ending, it is removed and -y or -
al or -ial is added as a su#x to the noun to form an adjective.
Su#x Noun (example) Adjective
Luck Lucky
Hair Hairy
-y
Storm Stormy
Length Lengthy
Accident Accidental
-al Sign In
Nature Natural
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Magic Magical
Commerce Commercial
-ial
Finance Financial
Adjectives formed by adding -lyor -ish or -ic as a su#x to nouns are given
below in the table. If the noun has a ‘y’ in the ending, it is removed and the
su#x is added to form an adjective.
Su#x Noun (example) Adjective
Man Manly
-ly Human Humanly
King Kingly
Girl Girlish
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Book Bookish
Tragedy Tragic
-ic
Artist Artistic
Adjectives formed by adding -ous or -some or -able or -full as a su#x to nouns
are given below in the table.
Su#x Rules Noun (example) Adjective
Mysterious
-If the noun ends in ‘y’, Mystery
remove it
-If the noun ends in ‘e’,
-ous Famous
remove it
Fame
-If the word ends with ‘-cle’
it is replaced by ‘-cul’ Miracle Miraculous
-some - Trouble Troublesome
Question Questionable
-able -
Laugh Laughable
-If the noun is ending with ‘-
-ful ty’, replace it with i Beauty Beautiful
Examples of some of the adjectives formed from nouns used in the sentences:
It was very childish of her to behave like that in front of the audience.
My younger brother is the most troublesome of the lot.
2) Formation of Adjectives from Verbs:
Su#xes like ‘-y’ , ‘-able’ , ‘-ous’ , ‘-al’ , ‘-ful’ , ‘-ic’ , ‘-less’ , ‘-ing’ and ‘-ive’ can be
added to verbs to form adjectives.
Su#x Verb Adjective
-y speed speedy
read readable
enjoy enjoyable
-able
shake shakeable
laugh laughable
-ous continue continuous
-al judge judgemental
hate hateful
-ful help helpful
forget forgetful
-ic see scenic
-less tire tireless
create creative
-ive
talk talkative
annoy annoying
-ing
amuse amusing
Some examples of adjectives formed from verbs used in sentences:
Switzerland is a very scenic place.
Arvind is a very annoying person.
3) Formation of Adjectives from Other Adjectives:
An adjective is formed from another adjective by adding a su#x like ‘-ly’ , ‘-ive’ ,
‘-al’ , ‘-ish’ , ‘-ier’ , ‘-est’.
Su#x Adjective Adjective
-ly weak weakly
-ive correct corrective
-al comic comical
green greenish
-ish
red reddish
easy easier
-it
funny funnier
-est "ne "nest
Some examples of adjectives formed from another adjective are used in the
sentences below:
The sky was reddish in the evening.
My brother is funnier than I expected him to be.
Formation of Compound Adjectives:
When two or more adjectives join together to modify the same noun they are
known as compound adjectives. They are separated with a hyphen.
The two words used to form a compound adjective can be a combination of
Number + noun
Adjective + noun
Noun + adjective
Noun + present/past participle
Adjective + past participle
Below are a few examples of compound adjectives used in sentences:
Arvind is going on a two-week vacation.
They stay in a twenty-story building.
It was a last-minute plan.
There was a ten-minute delay in the meeting.
Spelling Guidelines
We don't usually add or remove letters; instead, we simply put the su#x to the
end of the word. There are, however, several exceptions:
In words with a short stressed vowel before the last consonant, we double the
"nal consonant.
As an example, consider the phrase "sunny."
A -y at the end of a word becomes a -i.
Example: abundant bountiful bountiful bountiful bountiful
When a su#x begins with a vowel, the -e at the end of the word is lost, but the
-ee, -oe, and -ye remain una$ected.
As an example, consider the phrase "fortune" and "lucky."
acceptable agreement
To nouns ending in –ll, a -l is omitted before adding the su#x –full.
Skilful is an example of skill.
An adjective (abbreviated adj) is a term in linguistics that modi"es a noun or
noun phrase or characterizes its referent. Its semantic role is to alter the
information provided by the noun.
Adjectives have always been regarded as one of the primary components of
speech in the English language, but they were formerly classi"ed with nouns.
Certain words that were formerly categorised as adjectives, like this, my, and
so on, are now classi"ed as determiners.
Usage Patterns
Depending on the language, an adjective can either precede or follow a related
noun on a prepositive or postpositive basis. The pre- or post-position of an
adjective in a speci"c instance of its occurrence can be in%uenced by
structural, contextual, and stylistic issues. Adjective occurrences in English can
be divided into one of three categories:
1. Prepositive adjectives, also known as "attributive adjectives," appear as an
antecedent within a noun phrase. For example, "I put my happy kids in the
car," where happy appears as an antecedent inside the noun phrase "my
happy kids" and so works as a prepositive adjective.
2. Postpositive adjectives can appear: (a) immediately following a noun within
a noun phrase, such as "I took a short drive around with my happy kids"; (b) as
a copula or other linking mechanism following a corresponding noun or
pronoun, such as "My kids are happy," where happiness is a predicate
adjective (see also: Predicative expression, Subject complement); or (c) as an
appositive adjective within a noun phrase, such as, "My Kids, (who are)happy
to go cruising, are in the back seat."
3. Nominalized adjectives that serve as nouns One method is to remove a
noun from an adjective-noun noun phrase, leaving behind a nominalization.
Happy is a nominalized adjective, short for "happy one" or "cheerful book," in
the statement "I read two books to them; he chose the sad book, while she
loved the happy." Another example is the phrase "out with the old, in with the
new," where "the old" refers to "that which is old" or "everything that is old,"
and "the new" refers to "that which is new." In such circumstances, the
adjective might also serve as a mass noun (as in the preceding example). In
English, it may also be used as a plural count noun to refer to a collective
group, as in "The meek will inherit the Earth," where "the meek" refers to
"those who are meek" or "those who are meek."
Distribution
Adjectives are a component of speech (word class) in the majority of
languages. In certain languages, words that perform the semantic role of
adjectives are classi"ed alongside other words, such as nouns or verbs. "Ford"
is certainly a noun in the phrase "a Ford automobile," but its function is
adjectival: it modi"es "car." Adjectives can act as nouns in some languages,
such as the Spanish phrase "uno rojo," which means "a red (one)."
In terms of "confusion" with verbs, a language may have a verb that means "to
be huge," and then use an attributive verb construction comparable to "big-
being house" to convey what English calls a "big home."
Another technique to communicate comparison is to use the terms "more"
and "most." However, there are no clear criteria for determining which
meaning is accurate for any particular adjective. In general, shorter adjectives
and those from Anglo-Saxon accept the su#xes, whereas longer adjectives
and those from French, Latin, or Greek do not—but the sound of the word can
occasionally be decisive.
Solved Questions
1) From the following set of nouns, verbs, and adjectives forms of the words,
identify the adjective:
Achieve, achievement, achievable
Evaporate, evaporating, evaporation
Glorious, glory, glorify
Enthuse, enthusiasm, enthusiastic
Answers: The adjectives from the following set of nouns are
Achievable
Evaporating
Glorious
Enthusiastic
2) From the set of words below, identify the adjective and the noun it is made
from:
Cease
Enumerate
Challenging
Answer: The adjective is challenging formed from the noun challenge.
