A deverbal is a word that has been derived from a verb by adding, mostly, a suffix. The derived word is usually a noun (called deverbal noun) or an adjective (called deverbal adjective). Examples:
Deverbal nouns
clean –> cleaner, develop –> developer, drive –> driver [-er]
act –> actor, direct –> director [-or]
create –> creation, collect –> collection, explain –> explanation [-tion]
achieve –> achievement, develop –> development, employ –> employment [-ment]
Deverbal adjectives
avoid –> avoidable, believe –> believable, change –> changeable [-able]
destruct –> destructive, explode –> explosive, impress –> impressive [-ive]
excite –> exciting, fascinate –> fascinating, refresh –> refreshing [-ing]
disappoint –> disappointed, excite –> excited, frighten –> frightened [-ed]
hide –> hidden, weave –> woven, write –> written [-en]
fear –> fearful, help –> helpful, pain –> painful [-ful]
In this post, we learnt about deverbals. Learn about denominals, which can lead to nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
