Improve Your Vocabulary: Suffixes Posted by Adir on Apr 11, 2014 in Spanish Vocabulary, Uncategorized
Suffixes are word endings that change the root of such word. We can turn an adjective into a noun, a noun into an adjective, a verb into a noun, a verb into an adject and so on.
Here are some common examples.
Transformación de un adjetivo en un sustantivo
-dez: pálido [pale] – palidez [paleness]
-idad: profundo [deep] – profundidad [depth]
-itud: exacto [exact] – exactitud [accuracy]
-ura: blanco [white] – blancura [whiteness]
Transformación de un sustantivo en un adjetivo
-al: ministerio [ministery] – ministerial [ministerial]
-ar: familia [family] – familiar [familiar]
-ico: volcán [volcano] – volcánico [volcanic]
-esco: novela [novel] – novelesco [fantastic, bizarre]
-ivo: sorpresa [surprise] – sorpresivo [unexpected]
-oso: carne [meat] – carnoso [thick, fleshy]
-udo: cuerno [horn] – cornudo [horned]
Transformación de un verbo en un sustantivo
-ción: perder [to lose] – perdición [ruin, downfall]
-dero: comer [to eat] – comedero [trough]
-dor: encender [to light] – encendedor [lighter]
-mento: salvar [to save] – salvamento [rescue]
-miento: pensar [to think] – pensamiento [thought]
-torio: interrogar [to question] – interrogatorio [interrogation, questioning]
Transformación de un verbo en un adjetivo
-ble: desear [to desire] – deseable [desirable] / creer [to believe] – creíble [believable]
-dizo: resbalar [to slip] – resbaladizo [slippery] / huir [to escape] – huidizo [evasive, shy]
-dor: trabajar [to work] – trabajador [worker] / beber [to drink] – bebedor [drinker, drunkard]
-nte: estimular [to stimulate] – estimulante [stimulating] / sorprender [to surprise] – sorprendente [surprising]
-tivo: comparar [to compare] – comparativo [comparative] / competir [to compete] – competitivo [competitive]
Transformación de un sustantivo en otro sustantivo
-ano: cirugía [surgery] – cirujano [surgeon]
-al: arena [sand] – arenal [sandy area, quicksand]
-ar: pino [pine] – pinar [pine wood, pine forrest]
-aje: cortina [curtain] – cortinaje [curtains]
-ado: alumno [student] – alumnado [student body]
-era: papel [paper] – papelera [wastepaper basket]
-ero: libro [book] – librero [bookcase, bookseller]
-ario: campana [bell] – campanario [bell tower]
-dor: leña [wood] – leñador [lumberjack]
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