Content
- How do you construct a noun derived from an adjective?
- On what occasions are nouns derived from adjectives used?
- Examples of nouns derived from adjectives
The nouns derived from adjectives are those that, as their name indicates, come from an adjective but that become nouns to be the nucleus or center of the sentence. Nouns that derive from an adjective are often called adjectival nouns.
How do you construct a noun derived from an adjective?
Most of the nouns that come from an adjective are constructed using a suffix. These might be:
- -ez. For example: old - old age
- -eza. For example: rough - roughness
- -ura. For example: white - whiteness
- -ia. For example: brave - bravery
- -dad. For example: ugly - ugliness
On what occasions are nouns derived from adjectives used?
These nouns are often used in sentences with an abstract character. For example: The ugliness of a lie instead of The ugliness of the lie. In this example we see how the adjective "ugly" becomes a noun derived from an adjective: ugliness.
Examples of nouns derived from adjectives
In the list that is read below, those nouns that derive from adjectives are detailed. The first column corresponds to the adjectives while the second corresponds to its derived nouns.
Acid - acidity | Loyal - loyalty |
Active - activity | Slow - slow |
Cheerful - joy | Clean - cleaning |
Kind - kindness | Luminous - luminosity |
Bitter - bitterness | Mature - maturity |
bitter - bitterness | Bad - bad |
Wide - wide | Mediocre - mediocrity |
Anxious - anxiety | Myopic - myopia |
Ancient - antiquity | Modern - modernity |
Assertive - assertiveness | Modest - modesty |
Cunning - cunning | Negative - negativity |
Attractive - attraction | Black - blackness |
Miser - greed | Nervous - nervousness |
Low - cheapness | Noble - nobility |
Beautiful / beautiful - beauty | New - novel |
White - whiteness | Obsessive - obsession |
Good - goodness | Optimistic - optimism |
Warm - warmth | Dark - darkness |
Coherent - coherence | Pedante - Pedantry |
Comfortable - comfort | Pedante - Pedantry |
Compassionate - compassion | Danger - dangerousness |
Committed - commitment | Small - smallness |
Cordial - cordiality | Heavy - heaviness |
Creative - creativity | Popular - popularity |
Cruel - cruelty | Positive - positivity |
Thin - thinness | Pure - purity |
Sweet - sweetness | Fast - fast |
Hard - hardness | Rare - rarity |
Effective - effectiveness | Straight - straightness |
Selfish - selfishness | Round - roundness |
Whole - integrity | Ridiculous - ridiculous |
Thick - thick | Rival - rivalry |
Spiritual - spirituality | Broken - break |
Excellent - excellence | Serious - serious |
Ugly - ugliness | Sympathetic - sympathy |
Fresh - freshness | Simple - simplicity |
Cold - coldness | Sober - sobriety |
Strong - fortress | Social - socialism |
Generous - generosity | Solidarity - solidarity |
Fat - fat | Dirty - dirt |
Fat - fat | Superficial - superficiality |
Great - greatness | Lukewarm - lukewarm |
Beautiful - loveliness | Tender - tenderness |
Honest - honesty | Fool - foolishness |
Idealist - idealism | Clumsy - clumsiness |
Idiot - idiocy | Sad - sadness |
Uncomfortable - discomfort | Useful - useful |
Smart - intelligence | Valid - validity |
Useless - useless | Brave - bravery |
Young - youth | Old - old age |