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4 Word Formation
In English there are many word beginnings (prefixes) and word endings (suffixes) that can be added to a word to change its meaning or its word class. The most common ones are shown here, with examples of how they are used in the process of word formation. Many more are listed on the pages that follow.
Verb formation
The endings -ize and -ify can be added to many nouns and adjectives to form verbs, like this:
-ize
American Americanize
legal legalize
modern modernize
They want to make the factory more modern. They want to modernize the factory.
-ify
beauty beautify
liquid liquefy
pure purify
These tablets make the water pure. They purify the water.
Adverb formation
The ending -ly can be added to most adjectives to form adverbs, like this:
easy easily
quick quickly
stupid stupidly
His behaviour was stupid. He behaved stupidly.
Noun formation
The endings -er, -ment, and -ation can be added to many verbs to form nouns, like this:
-er
drive driver
fasten fastener
open opener
John drives a bus. He is a bus driver.
A can opener is a tool for opening cans.
-ment
amaze amazement
develop development
pay payment
Children develop very quickly. Their development is very quick.
-ation
admire admiration
associate association
examine examination
The doctor examined me carefully. He gave me a careful examination.
The endings -ity and -ness can be added to many adjectives to form nouns like this:
-ity, -ty
cruel cruelty
pure purify
stupid stupidity
Don't be so cruel. I hate cruelty.
dark darkness
happy happiness
kind kindness
It was very dark. The darkness made it impossible to see.
Adjective formation
The endings -y, -ic, -ical, -ful, and -less can be added to many nouns to form adjectives, like this:
-y
bush bushy
dirt dirty
smell smelly
There was an awful smell in the room. The room was very smelly.
-ic, -ical
atom atomic
grammar grammatical
poetry poetic
This book contains exercises on grammar. It contains grammatical exercises.
-ful
pain painful
hope hopeful
care careful
His broken leg caused him a lot of pain. It was very painful.
-less
pain painless
hope hopeless
care careless
The operation didn't cause her any pain. It was painless.
The ending -able can be added to many verbs to form adjectives, like this:
wash washable
love lovable
break breakable
You can wash this coat. It's washable.
Opposites
The following prefixes can be used in front of many words to produce an opposite meaning. Note, however, that the words formed in this way are not always EXACT opposites, and may have a slightly different meaning.
un-
happy unhappy
fortunate unfortunate
wind unwind
I'm not very happy. In fact I'm very unhappy.
in-
efficient inefficient