English Word Formation

ENGLISH WORD FORMATION

A word may be:

• Simple (work, sun, good, short, etc.)
• Compound (workroom, sunflower, good-looking, etc.)
• Derived (worker, sunny, homeless, goodness, etc.)

Derived words are formed by:

• Suffixes (e.g. –er, -or, -ism, etc.)
• Prefixes (e.g. un-, im-, mis-, etc.)

Noun-forming suffixes

• -er, -or (worker, sailor)
• -ism (realism, naturalism)
• -ist (realist, naturalist)
• -ing (building, beginning, singing)
• -ion, -ation (dictation, profession)
• -ness (kindness, darkness, illness)
• -ment (development, movement)
• -ship (friendship, partnership)
• -hood (childhood, brotherhood)
• -ty, -ity (liberty, activity, cruelty)
• -y, -ie (daddy, birdie, auntie)
• -th (strenght, growth, lenght)

Adjective-forming Suffixes

• -ful
• -less
• -ous
• -y
• -ish
• -able
• -ly
• -en
• -ive
• -ic
• -al
• -an, -ian

(peaceful, beautiful)

(hopeless, careless)

(continuous, numerous)

(sunny, rainy, windy)

(childish, foolish, English)

(comfortable, admirable)

(friendly, daily, weekly)

(golden, wooden, woollen)

(negative, active, passive)

(heroic, dramatic, comic)

(cultural, political)

(African, Roman, Latvian)

Verb-forming Suffixes

• -en
• -ize, -ise
• -ate
• -fy

(shorten, darken, widen)

(advertise, recognize)

(educate, separate)

(electrify, qualify, simplify)

Adverb-forming Suffixes

• -ly
• -ward(s)

(quickly, easily, coldly)

(backward(s), upward(s))

Prefixes

• Un-
• Im-
• In-
• Mis-
• Dis-
• Re-
• Ex-

Umemployment

Impossible, improve

Indirect, inhuman

Misunderstand, mistrust

Dishonest, disappear

Return, reform, rewrite

Express, exclaim, extract