Adjectives - Forms
Identifying adjectives
There is no general rule for making adjectives. We know they are adjectives usually by what they do (their function) in a sentence. However, some word endings (suffixes) are typical of adjectives.
| suffix | examples |
|---|---|
| -able, -ible | comfortable, readable, incredible, invisible |
| -al, -ial | comical, normal, musical, industrial, presidential |
| -ful | beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful |
| -ic | classic, economic, heroic, romantic |
| -ical | aeronautical, alphabetical, political |
| -ish | British, childish, Irish, foolish |
| -ive, -ative | active, alternative, creative, talkative |
| -less | endless, motionless, priceless, timeless |
| -eous, -ious, -ous | spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, famous |
| -y | angry, busy, wealthy, windy |
Warning:
Adjectives ending in -ic and -ical often have different meanings:
Electric and electrical
What is the difference between 'comic' and 'comical'?
What is the difference between 'classic' and 'classical'?
What is the difference between economical and economic?
Forming adjectives from other words
Suffixes
Some adjectives are made from nouns and verbs by adding suffixes.
| noun | adjective |
|---|---|
| hero | heroic |
| wind | windy |
| child | childish |
| beauty | beautiful |
| verb | adjective |
|---|---|
| read | readable |
| talk | talkative |
| use | useful |
| like | likeable |
-ly
Some words ending in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs. These include:
- daily
- early
- monthly
- weekly
- nightly
- yearly
Adjective:
She gets a weekly payment from her parents.Adverb:
I pay my rent weekly.
Some words ending in -ly are only adjectives and not adverbs. These include:
- costly
- cowardly
- deadly
- friendly
- likely
- lonely
- lovely
- oily
- orderly
- scholarly
- silly
- smelly
- timely
- ugly
- woolly
We enjoyed the trip to America but it was a costly holiday.
Oily fish is very healthy because it contains omega 3.
Prefixes
Prefixes such as un-, in-, im-, il- and ir- change the meaning of adjectives. Adding these prefixes makes the meaning negative:
un-
- fair – unfair
- happy – unhappy
- sure – unsure
in-
- active – inactive
- appropriate – inappropriate
- complete – incomplete
ir-
- responsible – irresponsible
- regular – irregular
- reducible – irreducible
im-
- balance – imbalance
- polite – impolite
- possible – impossible
il-
- legal – illegal
- legible – illegible
- logical – illogical
Adjectives: with -ing and -ed
| -ing adjectives | -ed adjectives |
|---|---|
| -ing adjectives describe the effect | -ed adjectives describe how a person feels |
| The meeting was very boring. | I felt bored at the meeting. |
| That was an exciting game. | We were really excited about the game. |
| It was shocking to see what the storm had done to the house. | We were shocked to see what the storm had done to the house. |
