Formation of Adjectives from Nouns, Verbs, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Students often know that adjectives are words that describe the quality or features of a person, place, or thing. But understanding how adjectives are formed helps them go a step further in improving their grammar and writing. In this article, we will look into the formation of adjectives, from using prefixes and suffixes to creating compound adjectives and recognising nationality adjectives. Further, we will also explore some irregular forms that don’t follow common rules, making this guide both practical and easy to follow.

Formation of Adjectives: An Overview

Formation of Adjectives refers to how new adjectives are created from nouns, verbs, or other adjectives using prefixes, suffixes, or combining words. The main purpose of these formations is to describe qualities, appearances, nationalities, or characteristics in a more specific and meaningful way.

Type of Formation	Base Word	Adjective Form	Meaning
From Nouns	beauty	beautiful	Full of beauty
	child	childish	Like a child
From Verbs	help	helpful	Ready to help
	talk	talkative	Fond of talking
Using Prefixes	happy	unhappy	Not happy
	legal	illegal	Not legal
Using Suffixes	red	reddish	Somewhat red
	friend	friendly	Acting in a friendly way
Compound Adjectives	snow + white	snow-white	Pure white, like snow
	good + looking	good-looking	Appears attractive
Irregular Adjectives	good	good	Positive quality
	bad	bad	Negative quality
Nationality Adjectives	America	American	From America
	China	Chinese	From China

Also Read: 99+ Example of Sentences Using Adjectives

Formation of Adjectives from Nouns

Adjectives describe qualities and are often formed by adding suffixes to nouns. To form an adjective from a Noun, take a noun word and attach a suitable suffix based on the meaning you want to express. For example:

Suffix	Meaning of Suffix	Formation of Noun to Adjective
-ful	Full of	Beauty: beautiful
-less	Without	Hope: hopeless
-y	Having a quality	Sun: sunny
-ous / -ious	Having	Danger:  dangerous
-al / -ial	Related to	Nation:  national
-ic / -ical	Typical of	Hero:  heroic
-ish	Of the nature of	Child: childish
-ly	Like or characteristic of	Friend: friendly
-some	Causing or full of	Trouble: troublesome
-able / -ible	Capable of being	Comfort: comfortable

Rule of Spelling Changes in Adjective Formation From Noun

Let us learn the rules of writing correct spelling when forming Adjectives from Nouns

Point for Change	Rule of Spelling Change	Example
Doubling the consonants	If a noun ends in a short vowel followed by a single consonant, double the consonant before adding the suffix.	Sun:  sunny
Dropping the final ‘e’	If the noun ends in a silent ‘e’, drop the ‘e’ before adding the suffix.	Fame: famous
Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’	If the noun ends in a consonant + ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding the suffix (except with -ing or -ish).	Beauty: beautiful
Suffix variations	Some suffixes have different spellings but have similar meanings, such as -ous and -ious.	Luxury: luxuriousDanger: dangerous

Also Read: Difference between Adjective and Noun

Formation of Adjectives from a Verb

Verbs can be changed into adjectives by adding suffixes. These suffixes help describe actions, feelings, or qualities related to the verb. 

For example, 

• The suffix -ing is used to describe an ongoing action, such as interest becoming interesting, showing that something is happening right now or continuously.
• The suffix -ed describes a feeling or state caused by the action, like bore becoming bored, indicating how someone feels as a result of something.
• Adding -able means something is capable of being done, for example, read turns into readable, meaning that it can be read easily.
• The suffix -ive shows a quality or tendency, such as create becoming creative, meaning having the ability or tendency to create something.

Suffix	Meaning of Suffix	Formation of Verb to Adjective
-ing	Shows an ongoing action or something that causes the action.	Interest: Interesting
-ed	Describes a feeling or state caused by the action.	Bore: Bored
-able/ible	Capable of being done or worthy of being done.	Read: Readable
-ive/-ative	Having a particular quality or tendency	Create: Creative

Spelling Rules and Irregularities When Adding Suffixes to Verb 

When we add suffixes like -ing or -ed to verbs to form adjectives or other forms, sometimes the spelling of the original word changes. Here are two common rules:

Dropping the final ‘e’

If a verb ends with a silent ‘e’, we usually drop the ‘e’ before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel, such as -ing or -ed.

For example, create becomes creating and creative. Here ‘e’ is dropped before adding the suffix.

Doubling the consonant

If a verb ends with a short vowel followed by a single consonant, we double the final consonant before adding -ing or -ed.

For example, swim becomes swimming and swam becomes swam. 

Formation of Adjectives with the Use of Prefixes and Suffixes

We can make new adjectives by adding parts called prefixes or suffixes to other adjectives or adverbs. These additional words change the meaning of the original word and help us describe things better.

Prefixes (added at the beginning)

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word. Many prefixes which are added to form adjectives means not or the opposite of.

Prefix	Meaning	Example Word	New Word	Meaning of New Word
un-	Not or opposite of	happy	unhappy	Not happy
in-/im-/il-/ir-	Not or opposite of (depends on the first letter)	complete/possible / legal/regular	incomplete/impossible/ illegal/irregular	Not complete / Not possible / Not legal / Not regular
dis-	Not or opposite of	honest	dishonest	Not honest
non-	Not	existent	non-existent	Not existing
a-	Without	moral	amoral	Without morals

Suffixes (added at the end)

Suffixes are added to the end of a word. Many suffixes help form adjectives by showing qualities like somewhat, capable of, or having a tendency.

Suffix	Meaning	Example Word	New Word	Meaning of New Word
-ish	Somewhat or almost	red	reddish	Somewhat red
-ish	Somewhat or almost	old	oldish	Almost old
-able / -ible	Capable of being	read	readable	Capable of being read
-ive / -ative	Having a quality or tendency	create	creative	Having the quality of creating
-ful	Full of	beauty	beautiful	Full of beauty
-less	Without	hope	hopeless	Without hope

Also Read: Prefix and Suffix Exercises with Answers

Formation of Adjectives with Compound Adjectives

Compound adjectives are adjectives made by joining two or more words together. These words often use a hyphen (-) to link them and describe something more clearly.

Rule of Formation of Adjectives	Meaning / Use	Example	Explanation
Noun + Adjective	Describes something by combining a noun and an adjective	snow-white	Snow is the noun, white describes its color
Adjective + Noun + -ed	Describes someone or something by adding an adjective, a noun, and -ed	long-haired	Describes someone having long hair
Adjective + Present Participle	Describes qualities using an adjective followed by a verb form ending in -ing	good-looking	Describes someone or something that looks good
Adverb + Past Participle	Describes something using an adverb followed by a past participle	well-known	Describes something that is known well
Number + Noun	Describes age, size, or rating with a number and a noun	ten-year-old	Describes someone or something that is ten years old

Rule of Hyphenation in Compound Adjectives

Hyphens join words to form compound adjectives before nouns. They help avoid confusion but are not used after nouns or with adverbs ending in -ly, ensuring sentences stay easy to read and understand.

Rule of Hyphenation to form Compound Adjectives	Explanation	Example
Use hyphens before nouns	When the compound adjective comes before the noun it describes, use a hyphen to join the words.	i)well-known actor  ii)ten-year-old boy
Do not use hyphens after nouns	When the compound adjective comes after the noun, do not use a hyphen.	i)The actor is well known.  ii)The boy is ten years old.
Do not hyphenate adverbs ending in -ly	When the first word is an adverb ending in -ly, do not use a hyphen because the adverb clearly modifies the adjective.	i)highly skilled worker ii)fully grown tree

Also Read: 99+ Adjectives Starting with Letter S with Meanings and Examples [PDF Available]

Common Errors in the Formation of Adjectives

Some adjectives do not follow regular rules for forming adjectives. It is important to recognise these exceptions to avoid mistakes

Explanation	Examples
Basic adjectives: These are simple adjectives that are not formed by adding suffixes or prefixes. They are standalone words that describe qualities.	good, bad, big, small
Adjectives identical to nouns or verbs: Some words look the same as nouns or verbs but function as adjectives when they describe something.	gold ring, iron will, sleep cycle
Basic irregular adjectives: These are common adjectives that are simple words and do not follow typical rules of formation with suffixes.	good, bad, big, small
Adjectives identical to nouns or verbs: Words that look like nouns or verbs but act as adjectives in certain contexts.	gold ring, iron will, sleep cycle
Nationality adjectives formed from proper nouns: These adjectives are made from country names, usually by adding endings like -an, -ian, -ese, -ish, or -i.  For example, America becomes American, China becomes Chinese, Spain becomes Spanish, and Iraq becomes Iraqi.	America:AmericanChina: Chinese, Spain: SpanishIraq: Iraqi
Capitalisation rules for nationality adjectives: Since these adjectives come from proper nouns (country names), they always begin with a capital letter.	American, Chinese, Spanish, Iraqi

Formation of Adjectives Worksheet

Instructions: For each question, form the correct adjective by adding the appropriate suffix or prefix to the given word. Use your knowledge of adjective formation rules.

1. Create __________ (means full of creativity)
2. Interest  _________ (means causing interest)
3. Read  __________ (means capable of being read)
4. Hope  __________ (means full of hope)
5. Happy  __________ (means not happy)
6. Complete  __________ (means not complete)
7. Use __________ (means capable of being used)
8. Friend  __________ (means showing friendliness)
9. Appear  __________ (means not appearing)
10. Act  __________ (means active or full of action)
11. Bore  __________ (means feeling bored)
12. Snow + white  __________ (compound adjective describing snow colour)
13. Well + known  __________ (compound adjective)
14. China __________ (nationality adjective)
15. Spain __________ (nationality adjective)

Answers:

1.Creative
2. Interesting
3. Readable
4. Hopeful
5. Unhappy
6. Incomplete
7. Usable
8. Friendly
9. Disappear
10. Active
11. Bored
12. Snow-white
13. Well-known
14. Chinese
15. Spanish

Related Reads

Adjective vs. Adverb in English Grammer: Deciphering the Difference	Adjective Preposition: Definition, Examples & Exercises
What is Numerical Adjective and its Types	What are Proper Adjectives and How to Use Them?
99+ Adjectives Starting With The Letter A with Meanings and Examples [PDF Available]	Adjective Clause: Types, Examples with Usage & Exercises

FAQs

We hope this blog on ‘Formation of Adjectives’ was informative and helped you improve your English skills. You can also follow the Learn English page of Leverage Edu for more exciting and informative blogs related to English grammar and the English language.