Formation of Adjectives
Adjectives are formed from nouns, verbs and other adjectives. This chapter deals in detail with it.
It is necessary for you to know the way they are formed. You should be able to distinguish them and use them correctly in sentences.
I. Adjectives from noun
- He had an attitude of a little boy. (noun). He had a boyish attitude. (adjective)
- This child gave a lot of troubles in the class. (noun). This is a troublesome child in the class. (adjective)
- The soldier’s deed of courage was appreciated. (noun). The soldier’s courageous deed was appreciated. (adjective)
The above sentences show how the nouns in the first ones are changed and used as adjectives in the second sentences. These adjectives are example to show how adjectives are formed from nouns.
Some adjectives from Noun:
| NOUN | ADJECTIVE |
|---|---|
| care | careful |
| trouble | troublesome |
| hope | hopeful |
| sense | sensible |
| gold | golden |
| fame | famous |
| hero | heroic |
| home | homely |
| nature | natural |
| season | seasonal |
| dirt | dirty |
| anger | angry |
| circle | circular |
| comfort | comfortable |
| joy | joyful |
| heaven | heavenly |
| love | lovable / lovely |
| week | weekly |
| wood | wooden |
| sympathy | sympathetic |
(II) Adjectives from verbs:
- The Government had broaden the roads. (verb). The broad roads help us to avoid traffic jam. (adjective)
- The farmers fertilize the fields to get profit. (verb). The fertile land gave good profit. (adjective)
- We should popularize the great ideas of Dr. Abdul Kalam. (verb). Dr. Abdul Kalam is a popular Scientist. (adjective)
In the above sentences adjectives are formed from verbs.
| NOUN | ADJECTIVE |
|---|---|
| move | movable |
| civilise | civil |
| clarify | clear |
| popularize | popular |
| belittle | little |
| equalize | equal |
| ensure | sure |
| enable | able |
| specify | specific |
| purify | pure |
III. Adjectives from other adjectives:
- Nelson Mandela worked for the rights of the black people (adjective). She has a beautiful blackish hair. (adjective)
- We had a lot of comic moments during our trip. (adjective). Her comical expressions made then laugh at her. (adjective)
- We should be kind to the sick people. (adjective). His sickly appearance creates sympathy. (adjective)
The above sentences show how some adjectives are formed from other adjectives.
| NOUN | ADJECTIVE |
|---|---|
| black | blackish |
| tragic | tragical |
| red | reddish |
| whole | wholesome |
| sick | sickly |
| economic | economical |
| white | whitish |
| two | twofold |
| cheerful | cheering |
| classic | classical |
I. Form adjectives from the nouns and attach to suitable nouns:
- Pity (n) – piteous condition. (adj.). He took pity on the piteous condition of the victims.
- Time (n) – timely help (adj.). You should take time to thank for his timely help.
- Heaven (n) – heavenly happiness (adj.). The heavenly happiness made us feel as if we were in heaven.
- Love (n) – loving children (adj.). My loving children kiss me with love.
- Cost (n) – costly pen (adj.). My friend was shocked to know the cost of my costly pen.
- Wood (n) – wooden house. (adj.). We need fresh wood to construct a wooden house.
- Wonder (n) – wonderful park (adj.). The wonderful park of roses is the wonder in our town.
- Child (n) – childish behaviour (Adj.). Even a child cannot bear your childish behaviours.
- thought (a) – thoughtful speech (adj.). Your thoughtful speech filled our thought with pleasing ideas.
- Sense (n) – sensible questions (adj.). His sensible questions shake the sense of the speaker.
II. From adjectives from verbs:
- clarify (v) - clear explanation (adj.). The professor clarify our doubts with clear explanation.
- equalize (v) - equal wages (adj.). The management equalized the status of the workers with equal wages.
- enable (v) –able teacher (adj.). Hard work enables her to become a able teacher.
- belittle (v) – Little irritation. (adj.). He showed little irritation when they belittled him.
- purify (v) – pure water (adj.). You should purify it through boiling to get pure water.
III. Form adjective from adjectives:
- two (adj.) - two fold case. His twofold case made him spend two lakes of Rupees to win.
- whole (adj.) wholesome air. a) The whole area is filled with wholesome air. b) The whole family was given wholesome food.
- red (adj.) reddish hair. Her reddish hair shines in the red light.
- cheerful (adj.) - cheering beauty. The cheerful children enjoyed the cheering beauty of the waterfalls.
- classic (adj.) – classical dance (adj.). This is a classic film with fantastic classical dances.
