formation of adjectives

[akiane]

hi to all teachers!
I would be grateful to any teacher who can teach me how to form new adjectives. I know all the suffixes but very often I stumble and give up when I fail to form a new adjective because of all the suffixes I have no idea as to which one to add to the word. E.g.: respect. why do we add to it -ful or -able but not -ous or -ive?

 

[Raymott]

hi to all teachers!
I would be grateful to any teacher who can teach me how to form new adjectives. I know all the suffixes but very often I stumble and give up when I fail to form a new adjective because of all the suffixes I have no idea as to which one to add to the word. E.g.: respect. why do we add to it -ful or -able but not -ous or -ive?

There's no foolproof way. Several adjectives, meaning different things, can be formed from a word.
respectful - showing respect
respective - belonging to each separate person or thing mentioned
respectable - worthy of respect

You say you know the suffixes. Do you know their meanings? That is also important, as the above examples demonstrate.

 

[The Dude]

I'm afraid this will not be much help, but there isn't one rule that you can follow to form adjectives from verbs or nouns. I think you just have to learn them in context from lots or reading and listening.

Looking at it the other way, there are some rough guides to help you understand an adjective with a suffix. For example, if '-ful' is the suffix it usually means 'full of', or you actively have it (the stem). However if the stem ends in '-ed', that's likely to mean that you passively receive it (the stem). And then the suffix '-able' normally means the stem can be done.

But:
If you are adventurous, then you like adventure, but if something is adventurous then it has the quality of adventure.

Sadly, there is no consistency about this.

Perhaps someone else can pinpoint a guideline for making adjectives.

 

[mara_ce]

I´ve found some comments about adjectives on this website.