Adjective: Formation and Usage

1.   Adjectives

Adjectives qualify and classify nouns. In other words, they describe qualities of people, things and ideas. The following section details some of the points that need to be taken into account when using adjectives in English.

 

1.1.    Adjective formation

As is the case in C_ATALAN, English adjectives can be formed from nouns and verbs, eg doubt

→ doubtful (dubte → dubtós) and read → readable (llegir → llegible). A thorough treatment of suffixation is beyond the scope of this study, but in the following two sub-sections we will give examples of the most important suffixes used to derive adjectives from nouns and verbs.

 

1.1.1.     Adjectives derived from nouns

The most productive suffixes for deriving adjectives from nouns are:

-ful, (in C_ATALAN, ple de or a number of suffixes).

-ed, which indicates that the adjective is provided with or has the quality of the noun.

-ic, -ous, -al, -like and -ish, which indicate that the adjective has the quality described by the noun.

-ly and -y, which indicate qualities.

-less, which indicates that the adjective is lacking in the quality described by the noun.

-en, which indicates the material of which an object is made.

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ful
art → artful	fruit → fruitful	sin → sinful
awe → awful	grace → graceful	skill → skilful
beauty → beautiful	harm → harmful	sorrow → sorrowful
care → careful	help → helpful	soul → soulful
cheer → cheerful	hope → hopeful	spite → spiteful
colour → colourful	joy → joyful	stress → stressful
deceit → deceitful	law → lawful	success → successful
delight → delightful	master → masterful	tact → tactful
disgrace → disgraceful	meaning → meaningful	taste → tasteful
doubt → doubtful	pain → painful	thought → thoughtful
dread → dreadful	peace → peaceful	trust → trustful
duty → dutiful	play → playful	truth → truthful
event → eventful	power → powerful	waste → wasteful
faith → faithful	resource → resourceful	will → wilful
fate → fateful	respect → respectful	wish → wishful
fear → fearful	rest → restful	wonder → wonderful
flavour → flavourful	right → rightful	wrong → wrongful
fright → frightful	shame → shameful	youth → youthful

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ed
age → aged	experience → experienced	privilege → privileged
arch → arched	feather → feathered	ring → ringed
bias → biased	fork → forked	spirit → spirited
bigot → bigoted	gift → gifted	spot → spotted
braid → braided	heat → heated	stripe → striped
can → canned	ice → iced	wall → walled
conceit → conceited	marble → marbled	wing → winged
crowd → crowded	mask → masked	wire → wired
culture → cultured	oil → oiled	wood → wooded
date → dated	point → pointed	wretch → wretched
disease → diseased	principle → principled

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ic
academy → academic	cycle → cyclic	melody → melodic
acid → acidic	demon → demonic	meteor → meteoric
allergy → allergic	diabetes → diabetic	number → numeric
anarchy → anarchic	drama → dramatic	organ → organic
anaemia → anaemic	economy → economic	period → periodic
Arab → Arabic	empathy → empathic	poet → poetic
artist → artistic	galaxy → galactic	rhythm → rhythmic
atom → atomic	German → Germanic	Roman → Romanic
barbar → barbaric	Goth → Gothic	scene → scenic
centre → centric	graph → graphic	Semite → Semitic
citrus → citric	harmony → harmonic	sulphur → sulphuric
class → classic	hero → heroic	system → systemic
climate → climatic	history → historic	titan → titanic
comedy → comedic	hysteria → hysteric	volcano → volcanic
cosmos → cosmic	magnet → magnetic
crypt → cryptic	majesty → majestic

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ous
anxiety → anxious	glory → glorious	riot → riotous
bigamy → bigamous	grace → gracious	ruin → ruinous
bile → bilious	grief → grievous	space → spacious
bulb → bulbous	humour → humorous	study → studious
caution → cautious	joy → joyous	ulcer → ulcerous
covet → covetous	libel → libellous	usury → usurious
desire → desirous	lustre → lustrous	vapour → vaporous
envy → envious	lute → luteous	venom → venomous
fame → famous	nerve → nervous	vigour → vigorous
fibre → fibrous	pity → piteous	virtue → virtuous
fury → furious	pore → porous	wonder → wondrous
gas → gaseous	rigour → rigorous	zeal → zealous

 

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -al
beast → bestial	fate → fatal	nature → natural
bride → bridal	front → frontal	norm → normal
brute → brutal	globe → global	race → racial
cause → causal	grade → gradual	rent → rental
centre → central	herb → herbal	space → spatial
cynic → cynical	line → lineal	try → trial
face → facial	magic → magical	use → usual
fact → factual	music → musical

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -like
business → businesslike cat → catlike child → childlike	dream → dreamlike god → godlike lady → ladylike	life → lifelike war → warlike workman → workmanlike

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ish
amateur → amateurish	fool → foolish	prude → prudish
ape → apish	freak → freakish	self → selfish
book → bookish	girl → girlish	sheep → sheepish
boor → boorish	imp → impish	slug → sluggish
boy → boyish	kitten → kittenish	snob → snobbish
child → childish	mule → mulish	style → stylish
fever → feverish	owl → owlish	wasp → waspish
fiend → fiendish	pig → piggish

 

Note that the -ish suffix is also used with colours: greenish, reddish, etc.

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -ly
beast → beastly	kind → kindly	queen → queenly
brother → brotherly	king → kingly	saint → saintly
cost → costly	leisure → leisurely	scholar → scholarly
coward → cowardly	low → lowly	shape → shapely
curl → curly	man → manly	sick → sickly
death → deathly	master → masterly	sister → sisterly
earth → earthly	month → monthly	time → timely
father → fatherly	mother → motherly	week → weekly
friend → friendly	neighbour → neighbourly	woman → womanly
ghost → ghostly	night → nightly	wool → woolly
god → godly	order → orderly	world → worldly
heaven → heavenly	poor → poorly	year → yearly
hour → hourly	quarter → quarterly

 

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -y
air → airy	luck → lucky	snow → snowy
bag → baggy	milk → milky	soap → soapy
bitch → bitchy	mist → misty	squeak → squeaky
blood → bloody	mud → muddy	sugar → sugary
brain → brainy	oil → oily	summer → summery
cheek → cheeky	powder → powdery	sun → sunny
chunk → chunky	rain → rainy	sweat → sweaty
cloud → cloudy	risk → risky	thirst → thirsty
cream → creamy	rock → rocky	thrift → thrifty
dirt → dirty	room → roomy	touch → touchy
dream → dreamy	salt → salty	trick → tricky
dust → dusty	sand → sandy	water → watery
fish → fishy	sex → sexy	wax → waxy
freak → freaky	shine → shiny	wealth → wealthy
fun → funny	silk → silky	wind → windy
hair → hairy	sleep → sleepy	worth → worthy
itch → itchy	snoop → snoopy

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -less
age → ageless	hope → hopeless	root → rootless
aim → aimless	humour → humourless	self → selfless
air → airless	job → jobless	sense → senseless
art → artless	joy → joyless	shame → shameless
base → baseless	law → lawless	shape → shapeless
blame → blameless	life → lifeless	sight → sightless
bottom → bottomless	limit → limitless	sleep → sleepless
breath → breathless	love → loveless	smoke → smokeless
care → careless	luck → luckless	speech → speechless
clue → clueless	match → matchless	spine → spineless
colour → colourless	meaning → meaningless	spot → spotless
cord → cordless	mercy → merciless	stain → stainless
count → countless	mind → mindless	sugar → sugarless
doubt → doubtless	mother → motherless	sun → sunless
effort → effortless	motion → motionless	taste → tasteless
end → endless	name → nameless	thank → thankless
fault → faultless	need → needless	thought → thoughtless
fear → fearless	odour → odourless	time → timeless
flaw → flawless	pain → painless	tire → tireless
form → formless	penny → penniless	tooth → toothless
gut → gutless	pity → pitiless	top → topless
hair → hairless	point → pointless	use → useless
harm → harmless	power → powerless	voice → voiceless
head → headless	price → priceless	weight → weightless
heart → heartless	purpose → purposeless	wing → wingless
heed → heedless	remorse → remorseless	wire → wireless
help → helpless	rest → restless	word → wordless
home → homeless	roof → roofless	worth → worthless

 

 

 

Adjectives derived from nouns: -en
ash → ashen	hemp → hempen	wax → waxen
earth → earthen	lead → leaden	wheat → wheaten
flax → flaxen	rot → rotten	wood → wooden
gold → golden	silk → silken	wool → woollen

 

1.1.2.    Adjectives derived from verbs

The most productive suffixes for deriving adjectives from verbs are -able (in C_ATALAN, -able

and -ible), -ive (in C_ATALAN, -iu, -iva), -ant and -ent (in C_ATALAN, -ant, -ent and -int).

 

 

Adjectives derived from verbs: -able
adapt → adaptable	desire → desirable	pass → passable
admire → admirable	do → doable	pay → payable
adore → adorable	drink → drinkable	quote → quotable
advise → advisable	elect → electable	read → readable
agree → agreeable	endure → endurable	remove → removable
avail → available	excite → excitable	suit → suitable
bear → bearable	imitate → imitable	tolerate → tolerable
break → breakable	laugh → laughable	use → usable
count → countable	like → likeable	vary → variable
cure → curable	live → liveable	wash → washable
debate → debatable	love → lovable	work → workable
deny → deniable	move → movable	write → writable

 

 

Some adjectives derived from verbs ending in silent e can also be spelled including the e     (for example, like → likable or likeable); however, the spelling without the e is more common. Also, there are some adjectives that spell the suffix -ible, such as eat → edible and fail → fallible.

 

Adjectives derived from verbs: -ive
abort → abortive	defect → defective	invade → invasive
abuse → abusive	defend → defensive	invent → inventive
act → active	detect → detective	narrate → narrative
adapt → adaptive	direct → directive	negate → negative
adopt → adoptive	divide → divisive	object → objective
assert → assertive	effect → effective	offend → offensive
capture → captive	elect → elective	operate → operative
corrode → corrosive	exclude → exclusive	receive → receptive
create → creative	execute → executive	reduce → reductive
cure → curative	expand → expansive	resist → resistive
deceive → deceptive	expend → expensive	seduce → seductive
decide → decisive	explode → explosive	select → selective
deduct → deductive	imitate → imitative	talk → talkative

 

Note that adjectives derived from verbs ending in -d or -de are often, though not always, spelled with a -sive ending (expend → expensive, exclude → exclusive, etc.).

 

 

 

Adjectives derived from verbs: -ant
abound → abundant	dominate → dominant	repent → repentant
accept → acceptant	expect → expectant	resonate → resonant
ascend → ascendant	exult → exultant	retard → retardant
descend → descendant	hesitate → hesitant	stagnate → stagnant
deviate → deviant	radiate → radiant	tolerate → tolerant
disinfect → disinfectant	relax → relaxant	vacate → vacant

 

 

 

 

Adjectives derived from verbs: -ent
abhor → abhorrent	deter → deterrent	provide → provident
absorb → absorbent	differ → different	recur → recurrent
adhere → adherent	dissolve → dissolvent	reminisce → reminiscent
cohere → coherent	diverge → divergent	repel → repellent
coincide → coincident	emerge → emergent	reside → resident
compete → competent	excel → excellent	respond → respondent
confide → confident	exist → existent	resurge → resurgent
consist → consistent	indulge → indulgent	transcend → transcendent
correspond → correspondent	insist → insistent	urge → urgent
depend → dependent	luminesce → luminescent
descend → descendent	persist → persistent

 

 

 

 

1.2.   Comparative and superlative adjectives

English one-syllable adjectives and two-syllable adjectives ending in -y generally form their comparatives and superlatives adding to the root the suffixes -er and -est, respectively.

Examples:

slow, slower, (the) slowest happy, happier, (the) happiest

 

When the suffixes -er and -est are added to adjectives, certain morphological changes occur.

 

The final consonant is doubled if it is preceded by a single vowel:

big, bigger, (the) biggest fat, fatter, (the) fattest sad, sadder, (the) saddest

If the adjective ends in consonant + y, the y is changed to i: funny, funnier, (the) funniest

windy, windier, (the) windiest sly, slier, (the) sliest

 

If the adjective ends in a silent e, this letter is dropped:

lame, lamer, (the) lamest safe, safer, (the) safest wide, wider, (the) widest

1.1.    Compound adjectives

In the same way that English uses nouns to modify other nouns (see Mo 1.2.), it also forms compound adjectives formed by the combination word + adjective.

 

The adjectives that form part of these compounds are of four types: Compound adjectives in which the second element is formed body part + -ed.

 

 

Body part + -ed: -blooded
blue-blooded cold-blooded hot-blooded	pure-blooded red-blooded

 

 

 

Body part + -ed: -eyed
blue-eyed, green-eyed, etc.	eagle-eyed
clear-eyed	hawkeyed
cold-eyed	sharp-eyed
cross-eyed	wide-eyed

 

 

Body part + -ed: -faced
boldfaced moonfaced poker-faced	straight-faced two-faced

 

 

Body part + -ed: -haired
fair-haired longhaired	shorthaired

 

 

Body part +	-ed: -handed
bare-handed	red-handed
empty-handed	right-handed
evenhanded	shorthanded
heavy-handed	single-handed
high-handed	sure-handed
left-handed	underhanded
openhanded

 

Body part +	-ed: -headed
bigheaded	hardheaded
boneheaded	hotheaded
bubbleheaded	levelheaded
clearheaded	pigheaded
featherheaded

 

Body part +	-ed: -hearted
bighearted	hardhearted
brokenhearted	kindhearted
chickenhearted	lighthearted
coldhearted	softhearted
downhearted	tenderhearted
fainthearted	wholehearted
halfhearted

 

Body part +	-ed: -minded
absentminded	narrow-minded
broad-minded	open-minded
fair-minded	simpleminded
high-minded	single-minded

 

 

Body part + -ed: -mouthed
closemouthed foulmouthed	mealy-mouthed

 

 

Compound adjectives in which the second element is a participle or gerund.

 

 

Participle
custom-built	overcrowded
dry-cleaned	so-called
far-fetched	suntanned
handmade	typewritten
homemade	well-balanced
ill-advised	well-known
mass-produced

 

 

Gerund
backbreaking	nerve-racking
breathtaking	never-ending
easy-going	on-going
eye-catching	out-going
fast-acting	painstaking
good-looking	record-breaking
heart-breaking	spellbinding
long-lasting	up-coming

 

Compound adjectives in which the second element is a pure adjective.

 

 

Pure adjective: -free
carefree duty-free	tax-free

 

 

Pure adjective: -proof
bulletproof	rainproof
childproof	rustproof
dustproof	shockproof
fireproof	soundproof
foolproof	waterproof

 

 

Pure adjective: -sick
airsick carsick heartsick	homesick lovesick seasick

 

 

Pure adjective: others
accident-prone class-conscious	war-weary world-weary

 

 

Compound adjectives in which the second element is a colour adjective.

 

 

Colour adjective
ash-blonde blood-red bottle-green	ice-blue jet-black sea-green

 

 

The majority of these compounds are written with a hyphen, though in certain cases they have been combined into a single word.