Adjectives from Nouns and Verbs. Verbs from Nouns and Adjectives

The typical suffixes forming adjectives from nouns and verbs and those forming verbs from nouns and adjectives

Note the meaning of the suffixes -ful and -less:

-ful means "having", "with", e.g. beautiful, careful, harmful, peaceful.

-less means "without", "lacking", e.g. careless, friendless, harmless.

Note that the suffix -ly is used both in adverbs and adjectives.

Note that the verbs in the list below do not follow the above pattern:

breath — to breathe      large — to enlarge

belief— to believe         proof—to prove

courage — to encourage                  relief— to relieve

danger — to endanger      rich — to enrich

Ex. 1. Go over the list of adjectives made from nouns and verbs and verbs made from nouns and adjectives and group them according to the suffixes used.

agriculture — agricultural to create — creative

alphabet — alphabetical        to cure — curable

ambition — ambitious     to agree — agreeable

anger — angry               to decide — decisive

courage — courageous     to enjoy — enjoyable

democracy — democratic  to predict — predictable

envy — envious               to prepare — preparatory

fortune — fortunate     to prevent — preventive

health — healthy               to suit — suitable

help — helpful               to talk — talkative

honour — honourable     to value — valuable

humour — humorous     dark — to darken

hunger—hungry               deaf—to deafen

luck — lucky                deep — to deepen

music — musical               fright — to frighten

mystery — mysterious     identity — to identify

nerve — nervous               ideal — to idealize

passion — passionate     length — to lengthen

science — scientific      pure — to purify

sense — sensitive               ripe — to ripen

thirst — thirsty               sharp — to sharpen

wave — wavy               weak — to weaken

week — weekly               wide — to widen

to adapt — adaptable     worse — to worsen

Ex. 2.    Complete the sentences using the appropriate derivatives of the words in brackets.

1. Those wires look a bit ... . If I were you I would be more careful. (danger) 2. English weather is very ... . It's often different from day to day. (change) 3. Long leather boots were extremely ... at one time. (fashion) 4. The country exports ... over two million tons of rice. (year) 5. Until the situation has settled down, it is not ... to travel to that country. (advise) 6. He's looking forward to starting his new job, but at the same time he's a bit ... . (nerve) 7. I'm very pleased with my job. It's a very... company to work in. (friend) 8. I think people who help the old, sick and ... are the salt of the earth. (home) 9. He's not very ... .What he needs is someone to look after him and do everything for him. (care) 10. Jack is always in trouble though the rest of the family are ... , honest people. (respect) 11. The report which doesn't contain all the necessary facts is ... and makes a bad impression. (use) 12. A lot of people wear jeans and sweaters because they are cheap and ... . (practice) 13. Smoking is... to health and in many countries a warning is printed on every packet of cigarettes.  (harm) 14. A taxi, sometimes called a cab, is the most ... way of travel. (comfort) 15. It takes ... patience to teach small children. (consider)

Negative Prefixes

For study

The prefixes dis-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, un- change the meaning of words from positive into negative. They are used with different parts of speech.

to obey — to disobey, legal — illegal, patient — impatient, definite — indefinite, regular — irregular, rest — unrest

§ The same negative prefix is usually used with all derivatives of a word: possible — impossible — impossibility; but: pleasant — unpleasant, displeased, displeasure; comfortable — uncomfortable, discomforted, discomfort; fortunate —unfortunate, misfortune.

§ Some words have two negative forms.

convenient — inconvenient, unconvenien;t decisive — indecisive, undecisive

Ex. 1. Go over the list of words with negative prefixes and group them according to the prefixes used.

conscious — unconscious tidy — untidy

convenient — inconvenient usual — unusual

curable — incurable     to agree — to disagree

dependent — independent to appear — to disappear

expensive — inexpensive  to approve — to disapprove

experienced — inexperienced to believe — to disbelieve

familiar — unfamiliar     to inherit — to disinherit

forgettable — unforgettable to like — to dislike

formal — informal       to lock — to unlock

friendly — unfriendly     to obey — to disobey

grateful — ungrateful     to pack — to unpack

happy — unhappy  to           satisfy — to dissatisfy

honest — dishonest     to tie — to untie

important — unimportant to trust — to distrust

legal — illegal               ability — inability

literate — illiterate            balance — imbalance

logical — illogical                  belief — disbelief

lucky — unlucky               comfort- discomfort

mature — immature          employment — unemployment

patient — impatient          experience — inexperience

pleasant — unpleasant      fortune — misfortune

popular — unpopular     happiness — unhappiness

possible — impossible     qualification — disqualification

punctual — unpunctual         respect — disrespect

regular — irregular      rest —unrest

respectful — disrespectful similarity — dissimilarity

responsible — irresponsible

Ex. 2. Add one of the negative prefixes in each space to make the word which follows opposite in meaning.

1. It is the most ...believable story I've ever heard. 2. I am afraid this is a very ...convenient arrangement. 3. The country became ...dependent soon after the end of World War II. 4. My parents ...approve of early marriages. 5. John left his job because he was ... able to deal with such a large amount of work. 6. When the ambulance came, the man was ...conscious after being knocked down by a car. 7. It’s his first job and he is very ...experienced. 8. We had a long talk but we still ... agree on a number of points. 9. Last summer I stayed in Paris for two weeks. It was an ...forgettable experience. 10. It was dark in the corridor and it took us ages to ...lock the door. 11. The sitting-room looks …tidy after last night's party. 12. Sailing in a boat during the storm was a very ...pleasant experience. 13. The weather is ...usually warm for this time of the year. 14. He's usually rather ...patient and ...friendly, but I must say hi was very sympathetic when I told him about my family problems 15. He just can't stop talking. He goes on and on about totally ...important things.

Mixed Practice

Ex. 1. Complete the sentences using the appropriate derivatives of the words in brackets.

     1. I had a ... with the boss about the work I was doing, so I left. (agree) 2. It's a good idea in theory, but rather ... . (practice) 3. He isn't fit for such a ... job. He's ... at making decisions. (response, hope) 4. Most people nowadays regard television as a... rather than a luxury. (necessary) 5. Having our passports stolen was a rather ... start to our holiday. (fortune) 6. I did a very stupid thing, but ... nobody saw me. (luck) 7. I like this car. It's always been very ... . (rely) 8. You are always ... . Isn't there anything that makes you happy? (misery) 9. It was a very ... experience and it took a long time to get over it. (upset) 10. The road signs were so ... that I didn't know which way to go. (confuse) 11. I'm afraid he's got very ... habits. (irritate) 12. It was only after a great deal of persistence that I got a ... answer. (satisfy) 13. It takes a lot of determination to ... in a ... business. (success, compete) 14.  His arrogant attitude made him ... with the other people in the office. (popular) 15. That was a rather ... remark. You've obviously upset him. (tact)