Adjective Formation in English

Grammar
Forming English adjectives
We can create adjectives from nouns, verbs or even other adjectives by
using suffixes (endings) and prefixes (letters placed before the word).

Examples:
child → childish (noun + suffix)
inform → informative (verb + suffix)
possible → impossible (prefix + adjective)

Although there are many common prefixes and suffixes, there are no fixed rules that tell us
when to use which one. The best way to learn is through repetition and practice.

Making adjectives with suffixes

Many adjectives are formed by adding suffixes (endings) to nouns and verbs.

Many suffixes only fulfil a grammatical role and simply indicate that the word is now
an adjective, but there are some suffixes that carry their own meaning:

 The suffix -less means without something, whereas the suffix -ful usually means to
have something.
Example:
hopeful ≠ hopeless
 However, only few adjectives can be made into opposite pairs like this.
Examples:
homeless
but not: homeful
beautiful
but not: beautiless
 We can add the suffix -ish to nouns and adjectives to change their meaning to like
something.
Examples:
Don’t be childish.
= like a child
 The jacket is a bluish colour.
= like blue
 For some materials, we can add the suffix -en to create adjectives that mean made of.
Examples:
A wooden chair.
A woollen jumper.
 When added to a verb, the suffix -able creates adjectives that express ability.
Examples:
Is the water drinkable?
= can you drink it?

Spelling rules

Usually, we just add the suffix to the end of the verb or noun.

Examples:
drink → drinkable
success → successful

However, sometimes we must add, remove or change letters before adding a suffix.

 We double the final consonant after a short stressed vowel.

Example:
sun → sunny
 A -y at the end of a word becomes -i.
Example:
beauty → beautiful
 We remove the final -e if the suffix begins with a vowel, but -ee, -oe and -ye stay the
same.
Example:
fortune → fortunate
but: agree → agreeable
Table: Adjectives from nouns
The table below shows a list of common suffixes we can add to nouns to form adjectives:

Suffix Noun Adjective More Examples

comfortabl
-able comfort accountable, memorable …
e
-al nature natural brutal, foundational, magical, logical, normal …
-ate passion passionate accurate, corporate, fortunate …
-en gold golden silken, wooden, woollen …
-etic energy energetic genetic, magnetic …
-ful colour colourful beautiful, painful, peaceful, thoughtful, successful …
-ible response responsible accessible, horrible, sensible, terrible …
-ic history historic athletic, catastrophic, heroic, poetic, scientific …
alphabetica
-ical alphabet economical, historical …
l
-ish child childish foolish, selfish, greenish …
-less home homeless careless, doubtless, jobless, motionless …
-ly day daily friendly, lovely, monthly …
-ous fame famous advantageous, disastrous, religious, suspicious …
-y wind windy bloody, chilly, dirty, easy, rainy, sunny, wealthy …
Adjective or Adverb?

As shown in the table, the suffix -ly can be used to make adjectives from nouns.

Example:
friend → friendly

But wait! I hear you ask, I thought -ly is the ending for adverbs and not adjectives?

Actually, it’s both!

 Some words ending in -ly are purely adjectives:

Examples:
That’s a lovely dress.
He’s a friendly guy.
 Some words ending in -ly are solely adverbs:
Examples:
He ran quickly.
 The teacher speaks slowly.
 And some words ending in -ly are both:
Example:
A weekly meeting. (adjective)
We update the website weekly. (adverb)

The difference depends on how they are used in a sentence.

Table: Adjectives from verbs

The table below shows some of the most common suffixes we can add to verbs to form
adjectives:

Suffi
Verb Adjective More Examples
x
-able read readable adaptable, believable, forgettable, reliable …
-ative talk talkative conservative, informative …
-ive attract attractive active, creative, negative, relative …
-ed* annoy annoyed confused, embarrassed, excited …
-ing* annoy annoying confusing, embarrassing, exciting …
-ful help helpful harmful, hopeful, playful, useful …

*-ed or -ing?

Some adjectives formed from verbs can have two possible endings: -ed or -ing.

Examples:
confuse – confused/confusing
bore – bored/boring

The difference between -ed and -ing adjectives is as follows:

 -ed adjectives describe a person’s feelings.

Example:
Erica is bored at work.
= she feels bored
 -ing adjectives describe the effect of a noun. Adjectives ending in -ing describe the
thing or person that causes a feeling.

Example:
 Erica’s job is boring.
= the job bores Erica
Info

Be careful! Confusing the -ed and -ing endings can completely change the meaning of
a sentence.

Example:
I was terrified on Halloween.
I felt scared
I was terrifying on Halloween.
I was scary and caused everyone else to feel scared

See participles and confusing words for more information and exercises on the difference
between -ed and -ing.

Country Adjectives
Adjectives that describe nationality are always written with capital letters.

 We usually form country adjectives by adding -n to the end of the word.

Example:
America → American
Russia → Russian
Australia → Australian
 But we can also use -ese, -i, -ian and -ish to build country adjectives.

Example:
Japan → Japanese
Iraq → Iraqi
Ukraine → Ukrainian
The table below provides an overview of country adjectives.

Suffi
Country Adjective Example
x
China Chinese

-ese Portugal Portuguese In China, we met a lot of Chinese people.

Suda Sudanese
Pakistan Pakistani

-i Yemen Yemeni Pakistani cuisine is often served with rice or bread.

Qatar Qatari
Canada Canadian

-ian Italy Italian Canadian people are famous for being very polite.

Palestine Palestinian
Great Britain British

-ish Spain Spanish British weather is not the best.

Turkey Turkish
Austria Austrian

-n Jamaica Jamaican Jamaican music is famous all of the world.

Russia Russian
 Some countries have irregular forms.

Example:
Germany → German
France → French
Greece → Greek
Switzerland → Swiss
Ireland → Irish

For a detailed list of countries, languages and adjectives see: List of Countries and
Nationalities
Adjectives with prefixes
Most adjectives in English have an opposite. Often, these word pairs are completely different
to one another:

Examples:
big ≠ small
hot ≠ cold
tall ≠ short

However, we can also use prefixes to form opposite adjectives.

il-, im- and ir-

The prefixes il-, im- and ir- are only used before particular letters:

 il- comes before words that start with an -l

Example:
legal → illegal
 im- comes before words that start with an -m or a -p
Example:
patient → impatient
 ir- comes before words that start with an -r
Example:
responsible → irresponsible

The table below shows the most common adjectives that form their opposites with the
prefixes il-, im- and ir-:

Prefi Opposite
Adjective More Examples
x Adjective
legal illegal
il- illiterate, illegible, illegitimate …
logical illogical
patient impatient immobile, immoral, impartial, impersonal,
im-
mature immature impolite, impossible, improper …
regular irregular
ir- irrational, irrelevant, irreparable, irreplaceable …
responsible irresponsible
dis-, in- and un-

The most common prefixes for forming opposite adjectives are un-, dis-, and in-.

Unlike the prefixes above, there are no fixed rules as to which letters can follow the
prefixes un-, dis- and in-. The table below shows some typical examples:

Prefi Opposite
Adjective More Examples
x Adjective
lucky unlucky unable, unapologetic, uncertain, unclear,
un-
comfortable uncomfortable unimportant, unprepared, unsure …
honest dishonest disagreeable, disheartened, disgraceful,
dis-
respectful disrespectful disobedient …
correct incorrect inefficient, inexplicable, infamous, informal,
in-
accurate inaccurate inhumane …