English Word Formation: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs
Posted on Oct 17, 2025 in Communication
English Word Families: A Reference Table
This reference organizes related words by their part of speech, demonstrating common patterns in English word formation (morphology). Note that some cells may be empty if the corresponding form is rare or non-existent.
Core Word Families (A-L)
| Noun | Person/Agent | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|
| Noun | Person | To Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
| Belief | Believer | To Believe | Believable | Believably |
| Breadth | – | To Broaden | Broad | Broadly |
| Clearance | – | To Clear | Clear | Clearly |
| Depth | – | To Deepen | Deep | Deeply |
| Height | – | To Highlight | High | Highly |
| Length | – | – | Long | – |
| Loss | Loser | To Lose | Lost | – |
| Proof | Prover | To Prove | Proven/Proved | – |
| Repetition | Repeater | To Repeat | Repeated | Repeatedly |
| Solution | Solver | To Solve | Solved | – |
| Strength | – | To Strengthen | Strong | Strongly |
| Authenticity | – | To Authenticate | Authentic | Authentically |
| Socialization | – | To Socialize | Social/Anti-Social | Socially/Anti-Socially |
| Censorship | Censorer | To Censor | Censored | – |
| Collection | Collector | To Collect | Collective | Collectively |
| Childhood | Child | – | Childish | – |
| Creation/Creativity | Creator | To Create | Creative/Uncreative | Creatively/Uncreatively |
| Criticism | Critic | To Criticize | Critical | Critically |
| Drama | – | – | Dramatic | Dramatically |
| Endorsement | Endorser | To Endorse | Endorsed | – |
| Law/Legalization/Legality/Illegality | Lawyer/Legislator | To Legalize | Legal/Illegal | Legally/Illegally |
| Effect | – | – | Effective/Ineffective | Effectively/Ineffectively |
| Capability/Incapability | – | – | Capable/Incapable | Capably/Incapably |
| Inescapability | – | – | Inescapable | Inescapably |
| Intensity | Intensifier | To Intensify | Intensified | – |
| Interaction | – | To Interact | Interactive | Interactively |
| Likelihood | – | – | Likely/Unlikely | – |
| Modernism/Modernity | – | To Modernize | Modern | – |
| Purpose/Multi-Purpose | – | To Purpose | Purposeful | – |
Word Families (C-S)
| Noun | Person/Agent | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|
| Confidence | – | – | Confident | Confidently |
| Pointer | – | To Point | Pointless | Pointlessly |
| Season/Pre-Season | – | – | Seasonal | – |
| Responsibility/Irresponsibility | Responder | To Respond | Responsible/Irresponsible | Responsibly/Irresponsibly |
| Support | Supporter | To Support | Supportive | Supportively |
| Height/Tallness | – | – | Tallish/Tall | – |
| Credibility/Incredibility | – | – | Credible/Incredible | Credibly/Incredibly |
| Thought/Thoughtfulness | Thinker | To Think | Thinkable | Thinkably |
| Denial | – | To Deny | Undeniable | Undeniably |
| Consumption | Consumer | To Consume | Consumed | – |
| Choice | Choser | To Choose | Chosen | – |
| Variety/Variation | – | To Vary | Varied | – |
| Increase | – | To Increase | Increasing/Increased | Increasingly |
| Theory/Theorem | – | To Theorize | Theoretical | Theoretically |
| Certainty | – | – | Certain | Certainly |
| Decision | Decider | To Decide | Decisive | Decisively |
| Ability/Disability/Inability | – | To Be Able/Unable/Disable | Able/Unable/Disabled | Ably |
| Perfection/Imperfection | – | – | Perfect/Imperfect | Perfectly/Imperfectly |
| Sense/Sensitivity/Sensibility | – | – | Sensitive/Sensible | Sensitively/Sensibly |
| Security/Sureness | – | – | Sure/Unsure | Surely/Unsurely |
| Production | Producer | To Produce | Produced/Productive | Productively |
| Cynicism | Cynic | – | Cynical | Cynically |
| Importance | – | To Import | Important | Importantly |
| Innovation | Innovator | To Innovate | Innovative | Innovatively |
| Luck | – | – | Lucky | Luckily |
| Memory/Memories | – | To Memorize | Memorable | Memorably |
| Success/Failure | Successor | To Succeed | Successful/Unsuccessful | Successfully/Unsuccessfully |
| Fun | – | – | Funny | Funnily |
| Help | Helper | To Help | Helpful/Helpless | Helpfully/Helplessly |
Word Families (O-R)
| Noun | Person/Agent | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|
| Optimism | Optimist | – | Optimistic | Optimistically |
| Origin | – | To Originate | Original | Originally |
| Prediction | Predictor | To Predict | Predicted/Predictive | – |
| Resistance | Resister | To Resist | Resistant | Resistantly |
| Existence | – | To Exist | Existing/Existed | – |
| Attendance | Attendant | To Attend | Attended | – |
| Standard | – | To Standardize | Standard | – |
| Accessibility | – | To Access | Accessible | Accessibly |
Active and Passive Voice Transformations
These examples illustrate how active voice sentences are converted into passive voice across various tenses and using modals. The passive voice emphasizes the action or the recipient of the action, rather than the performer.
Verb Voice Examples
- Active: (He) fascinates (me). / (It) is punishing (him).
- Passive: I am fascinated. / He is being punished.
- Active: (I) was bored (by the lecture).
- Passive: I was bored. (State/Past Simple Passive)
- Active: (The storm) was punishing (the coast).
- Passive: The coast was being punished.
- Active: (I) have mailed (the package).
- Passive: The package has been mailed.
- Active: (The manager) had directed (the team).
- Passive: The team had been directed.
- Active: (I) will send (the message).
- Passive: The message will be sent.
- Active: (I) am going to make (a decision).
- Passive: A decision is going to be made.
- Active: (The judge) would punish (the criminal).
- Passive: The criminal would be punished.
Modals in Passive Voice
- Active: (Someone) has to apply (the rule).
- Passive: The rule has to be applied.
Dative Passive Constructions
- A letter was sent by me to him. (Focus on the letter)
- He was sent a letter by me. (Focus on the recipient, ‘He’)
