Adjectives can be formed in few ways:
- Nouns (city bus) can be adjectives.
- Adjectives can be derived from noun (music –> musical).
- Adjectives can be derived from verb (attract –> attractive).
- Adjectives can be non-derived (happy).
This post covers adjectives that are derived from verb (#3).
What is deverbal adjective?
Deverbal means derived from verb.
Deverbal adjectives are adjectives derived from verbs usually by adding suffix. Examples:
-able: adaptable, agreeable, avoidable, believable, changeable, dependable, forgivable, manageable, payable, regrettable, understandable, wearable
-ive: attractive, creative, defensive, destructive, explosive, impressive, inclusive, informative, persuasive, productive, responsive, supportive
-ing: annoying, boring, charming, exciting, fascinating, interesting, refreshing, satisfying, surprising, tiring [They have the same form as participles.]
-ed: bored, disappointed, excited, frightened, interested, pleased, relieved, shocked, surprised, tired
[They have the same form as participles. Note that talented and cultured are not deverbal adjectives as they’ve been derived from nouns (talent and culture), and not verb. They’re in fact denominal adjectives.]
-en: broken, chosen, frozen, hidden, woven, written
[They have the same form as participles. Note that golden and wooden are not deverbal adjectives as they’ve been derived from nouns (gold and wood), and not verb. They’re in fact denominal adjectives.]
-ful: fearful, helpful, hopeful, painful
-less: careless, fearless, tasteless
(Note: Adjectives can be derived from nouns as well. They’re called denominal adjective.)
These are not deverbal adjectives
Adjectives such as delectable, effable, formidable, inexorable, and palatable end with –able and adjectives such as cursive, massive, and passive end with –ive, but they’re not deverbal adjectives because they’re not derived from verbs. (Try breaking these adjectives into a verb and a suffix.)
These are non-derived adjectives (see #4 at the beginning of the post), which means they’re not derived from a noun or verb, that happen to end with –able and –ive.
Verbal vs. deverbal adjective
When participles modify a noun (or noun phrase), we call them verbal adjectives. Participles function as verb and, in such use, usually take the form of a phrase. Examples:
The man running down the street was late for his meeting. [The participle in the form of a phrase (also called participial phrase) running down the street functions as an adjective to modify noun phrase The man.]
The boy fixing his bike was determined to finish before sunset. [Being a transitive verb, fixing takes object his bike. That’s property of verb. The phrase fixing his bike functions as an adjective to modify noun phrase The boy.]
The documents approved by the committee were distributed to all members.
When participles function as adjective, we call them deverbal adjectives. More specifically, they’re called participial adjective, which is a subset of deverbal adjective. Examples:
The running tap was finally repaired.
The fixing job on the roof took longer than expected.
The approved proposal was sent to the board for final review.
