Common Suffixesnoun to adjective

SUFFIX NOUN ADJECTIE NOUN ADJECTIE NOUN ADJECTIE

!A" relating to
accident accidental
region regional
brute brutal
person personal
region regional
universe universal
!A#$ relating to quality or place
custom customary
compliment complimentary
moment momentary
honor honorary
caution cautionary
diet dietary
!FU" full of
beauty beautiful
skill skillful
wonder wonderful
success successful
awe awful
delight delightful
!IC having the nature of; caused
by
athlete athletic
photograph photographic
base basic
science scientific
history historic
rhythm rhythmic
!ICA" having the nature of
magic magical
practice practical
logic logical
statistic statistical
history historical
alphabet alphabetical
-IS% origin, nature
fool foolish
sheep sheepish
child childish
pink pinkish
self selfish
girl girlish
!"ESS without
power powerless
use useless
friend friendless
home homeless
worth worthless
penny penniless
!"I&E like
like lifelike
child childlike
lady ladylike
bird birdlike
war warlike
spring springlike
!"$ like
friend friendly
day daily
cost costly
order orderly
month monthly
coward cowardly
!OUS quality, nature
poison poisonous
courtesy courteous
danger dangerous
mystery mysterious
nerve nervous
victory victorious
!$ like
rain rainy
mess messy
fun funny
dirt dirty
dirt dirty
spot spotty
Adjectives !ic and !ica'
-IC
There is no particular way to know whether a word will use the -ic or the -ical ending The suffi! -ic comes from
"rench -ique, or #reek -ikos and means having the nature of , or causing something
academic, algebraic, arithmetic, artistic, athletic, catholic, domestic, dramatic, egoistic, emphatic, energetic,
fantastic, geometric, strategic, linguistic, ma$estic, neurotic, pathetic, pedagogic, phonetic, public, semantic,
syntactic, systematic, tragic
%e buys c'assic cars traditional, old style %is comic verse filled books artistic comedy
%is economic theory was proved unsound of the science of economics
&n e'ect(ic motor powered the car a particular machine
That was a'an )isto(ic moment recorded in past history
The )*ste(ic + )*ste(ica' woman was out of control unable to control your behavior or emotions
The little girl played with a ma,ic wand of a mysterious source
%e was a medic in the military intern or doctor
%e wrote in a -oetic speech imaginative, having the quality of poetry, like poetry
The -ical form is often added to a word that already has a final -ic (uch ad$ectives often have a different or an
additional meaning from the more basic -ic form
alphabetical, alphanumerical, archeological, biblical, biological, chemical, chronological, critical, cynical, ethical,
grammatical, fanatical, illogical, logical, mathematical, mechanical, medical, musical, pedagogical, physical, radical,
surgical tactical, topical
)e listen to c'assica' music from a cultural *sometimes #reek, +oman, ,uropean- source, or ./thC
%is comica' verse entertained audiences funny
%e chose an economica' car ine!pensive to use
E'ect(ica' equipment makes our work easier general, mass
This is a'an )isto(ica' moment worthy of being recorded in history
The movie was )*ste(ica' very funny, causing uncontrollable laughter
It was a ma,ica' e!perience mysterious, wonderful, e!citing
%e did medica' research related to medicine
%e wrote in a -oetica' manner having the form of poetry
It was a -o'itica' question concerning government and politics
FO#.IN/ ADJECTIES
NOUNS
E#0S ADJECTIES
accident accidental
adventure adventurous
boy boyish
care careful
caution cautious
centre central
child childish
choose choosy
circle circular
collect collective
comfort comfortable
coward cowardly
danger dangerous
describe descriptive
distance distant
en$oy en$oyable
faith faithful
fame famous
father fatherly
fool foolish
forget forgetful
fortune fortunate
friend friendly
girl girlish
gold golden
harm harmful
hate hateful
height high
help helpful
hero heroic
hope hopeful
imagine imaginary
$oy $oyful
law lawful
length long
love lovable
man manly
mercy merciful
mine my
mischief mischievous
mountain mountainous
music musical
nation national
nature natural
noise noisy
north northern
obey obedient
parent parental
peace peaceful
person personal
pity pitiful
please pleasant
poison poisonous
pride proud
prosper prosperous
quarrel quarrelsome
science scientific
sense sensible
silk silky
skill skilful
smoke smoky
sorrow sorrowful
south southern
storm stormy
strength strong
study studious
success successful
sun sunny
talk talkative
terror terrible
thirsty thirsty
thought thoughtful
trouble troublesome
truth truthful
value valuable
victory victorious
war warlike
water watery
wave wavy
west western
winter wintry
wisdom wise
wood wooden
wool woolen
year yearly
youth young
0ne way to form an ad$ective is to add a suffi! to a noun, thereby transforming it into a modifier that can either be
used before the noun to be modified, or after a static verb, such as 1is1 or 1seems1 %owever, there aren2t any
concrete rules for adding these suffi!es )hat we have instead are some patterns that guide us when constructing
these words, patterns based upon the type of modification being implemented
Adjectives of #e'ation
Certain suffi!es will transform a noun into one that modifies another according to a state of being "or e!ample, the
suffi! 1-al1 can be added to the noun 1accident1 to form the ad$ective 1accidental,1 which will relate any noun it is
paired with to the state of being an accident &d$ectives that relate a noun to a quality can also be formed by adding
the suffi! 1-ary1 or 1-ous,1 such as constructing the ad$ective 1honorary1 from 1honor,1 or 1poisonous1 from 1poison1
Adjectives t)at Ex-(ess Natu(e
&d$ectives can also be formed that will modify a noun and e!press an aspect of its nature These suffi!es are3 1-ic,1 1-
ical,1 1-ish,1 and 1-ous1 The word 1photograph1 can be transformed into 1photographic1 simply by adding the suffi!
%owever, some nouns require a change in spelling 1&thlete1 and 1base1 must have the final 1-e1 dropped before
adding the suffi!es to construct 1athletic1 and 1basic1 1%istory1 loses its 1-y1 before the 1-ic1 can be added to make it
1historic1
Adjectives of Fu''ness
The suffi! 1-ful1 can be added to a certain nouns to construct ad$ectives that e!press how the noun to be modified is
full of the quality e!pressed by the ad$ective2s root In this way 1skill1 becomes 1skillful1 and 1wonder1 becomes
1wonderful1 %owever, some constructions require spelling changes3 The 1-y1 in beauty becomes an 1-i1 in the
transition from 1beauty1 to 1beautiful1 The 1-e1 in 1awe1 is dropped before it becomes 1awful1
Adjectives t)at Conve* Simi'a(it*
The suffi!es that e!press how a modified noun is like the root of an ad$ective are 1-like,1 1-ly,1 and 1-y1 They are
placed at the end of a noun, often with no spelling changes, and transform the nouns like 1child,1 1friend,1 and 1rain1
into 1childlike,1 1friendly,1 and 1rainy1 (ometimes, however, slight spelling changes occur (ometimes before adding
the suffi! 1-y,1 the final consonant is doubled In this way 1fun1 becomes 1funny1 and 1spot1 becomes 1spotty1