-ance, -ence
(mainly added to adjectives: -ant –> -ance, -ent -> -ence)
important – importance
independent – independence
intelligent – intelligence
-dom (non-productive!)
(added to adjectives and nouns)
free – freedom
king – kingdom
wise – wisdom
-hood
(added to nouns)
child – childhood
mother – motherhood
boy – boyhood
-ing
(added to verbs)
to meet – a meeting
to paint – a painting
-ion, -sion/-(a,i)tion
(added to verbs)
to act – action
to add – addition
to present – presentation
to compete – competition
There can be root changes:
to explain – explanation
to conclude – conclusion
to decide – decision
to describe – description
to solve – solution, to evolve – evolution
-(i,e)ty
(added to adjectives)
able – ability
active – activity
+ verbs
vary – variety
There can be phonetic changes
poor – poverty
-ment
(added to verbs)
to agree – agreement
to pay – payment
-ness
a quality, state
(added to adjectives)
happy – happiness
dark – darkness
-ship (non-productive!)
- a quality, state
(added to nouns)
friend – friendship
leader – leadership
relation – relationship
- a status
partner – partnership
member – membership
-th (non-productive!)
(added to adjectives, verbs)
A quality, an action or process
to grow – growth
true – truth
When derived from adjectives, nouns often change the root vowel:
long – length
deep – depth
strong – strength
wide – width
-y
(mainly added to verbs)
to discover – discovery
It can also be added to adjectives:
honest – honesty
difficult – difficulty