Word formation. Verbs

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Today we are going to talk about verbs and the suffixes that help us to build them.

·                   According to their morphological composition verbs can be divided into simple, derivative, compound and phrasal.

Simple verbs have only one root: to ask, to build, to come.

Derivative verbs are composed with the help of prefixes or suffixes: to beautify, to brighten, to stimulate, to organize, to misunderstand, to discourage.

Compound verbs are two words which combine to make one meaning.

The first word is usually a noun, an adjective or a preposition, and the second word is a verb.

The words are sometimes written as one word and sometimes joined by hyphens.

hand-wash (noun + verb)

highlight (adjective + verb)

overcome (preposition + verb)

Sorry, I was daydreaming. What did you say?

Do you have to hand-wash this sweater or can it go in the washing machine?

The airline upgraded me to business class.

Compound verbs are much less common than compound nouns or compound adjectives.

Phrasal verbs consist of a verbal stem and a postposition: to come in, to look out, to give in, to bring up.

·                   Verbs sometimes have the same form as nouns or adjectives.

Verbs related to nouns

Could you hand me the dictionary?

We should position the noticeboard where everyone can see it.

I’ll email Sally to see if she is free on Thursday.

Verbs related to adjectives

I needed to calm my nerves before the interview.

The government hopes to slow the growth in road traffic over the next five years.

As they get older, most people’s hair starts to thin.

As you see, it is not always possible to identify a verb by its form.

However, some suffixes can show that the word is probably a verb.

Verbs with the suffixes ATE, EN, FY, ISH, IZE are regular; they add "ed" for the simple past and past participle.

Let’s start with -ize/-ise.

-ize is the most popular suffix for verb-formation in Present-day English.

Both forms are used, but the –ise form is more common in British English and the –ize form is more common in American English.

The suffix -ize forms new verbs from nouns and has the following set of meanings:

·                   to provide with

·                   to make (generally with adjective bases)

·                   to become

·                   to perform

·                   to act like

·                   to make into

For example:

apology (извинение) – apologize (приносить извинения)

sympathy (сочувствие) – sympathize (сочувствовать)

character (характер) – characterize (характеризовать)

summary (итог) – summarize (суммировать, подводить итог)

critics (критика) – criticize (критиковать)

emphasis (значение, акцент) – emphasize (придавать особое значение, подчеркнуть)

symbol (символ) – symbolize (символизировать)

It’s a lot easier to criticize than to offer useful suggestions.

There is also another common suffix that results in the creation of verbs: -ate.

It is much more likely to appear in verbs that come from the past participles of Latin verbs.

The suffix –ate has the following meanings:

·                   to act on

·                   to cause to become or be modified

·                   to furnish with

·                   to make something have a particular quality

For example: accommodate, associate, calculate, celebrate, communicate, concentrate, congratulate, decorate, dedicate, educate, fascinate, investigate, isolate, populate, regulate, relate, stimulate, translate.

He's calculated that it would take him five years to save up enough for a car.

The suffix –ate have some other parts of speech:

Nouns with ATE: advocate, candidate, certificate, chocolate.

Adjectives with ATE: accurate, appropriate, considerate, graduate, fortunate, immediate, private.

Another verb suffix –ify has the following meanings:

·                   to make something be in a particular state or condition

·                   to fill someone with a particular feeling

·                   to do something in a silly or annoying way

·                   to make something or someone be like or typical of a person or group

For example:

beautify – украшать

clarify – разъяснять

classify – классифицировать, систематизировать

falsify – искажать, подделывать

horrify –ужасать, страшить

terrify – ужасать, запугивать

identify – распознавать

justify – оправдывать, извинять

purify – очищать

qualify – оценивать

satisfy – удовлетворять

simplify – упрощать

I was terrified by the bull and wanted to run out of the field.

The suffix –en is used for building verbs from nouns and adjectives meaning quality or state. The verbs having this suffix mean:

·                   to make something have a particular quality.

For example:

black (черный) – blacken – делать черным, загрязнять

broad (широкий) – broaden – расширять

cheap (дешевый) – cheapen – снижать стоимость

dark (темный) – darken – затемнять

deep (глубокий) – deepen – углублять

high (высокий) – heighten – повышать, усиливать

long (длинный) – lengthen – удлинять

short (короткий) – shorten – укорачивать, сокращать

wide (широкий) – widen – расширять

strong (сильный) – strengthen – усиливать

shark (острый) – sharpen – заострять

quick (быстрый) – quicken – ускорять

I've asked my mum to shorten my trousers.

The name William is often shortened to Bill.

Note:

The prefix EN in many verbs is similar in meaning to the verbal suffix EN.

For example: enable, enact, enchant, enclose, encounter, encourage, endanger, enforce, engage, engrave, enjoy, enlarge, enlighten, enlist, enrich, ensure, encourage.

The suffix –en is also typical of some other parts of speech:

Nouns with EN: chicken, garden, heaven, kitten, specimen, token, etc.

Adjectives with EN: alien, golden, open, silken, sudden, wooden, woolen, etc.

Past participles with EN: beaten, broken, chosen, forbidden, taken, written, etc.

Now it’s time to practice the rule.

Form the verbs from the given words. Remember the rules of the tenses. Some of the verbs are irregular.

We had such an unpleasant experience last summer when we arrived at our holiday destination. The rent of our holiday cottage was very cheapened.

The owners characterized the place as “a country cottage in a quiet picturesque village”. The cottage was big enough to accommodate all our family.

However, when we got to the place we were not satisfied with the view. It was not the same as we had hoped at all. There were lights everywhere. Crowds of people were shouting and celebrating something all the night.

Only in the morning we realized that there had been a football match at the stadium near the village.

That`s all for today.

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