Welcome to our guide on how words can take different forms as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs! Many words in English change form depending on their role in a sentence, and understanding these transformations is key to mastering grammar and building vocabulary. Here you’ll find tables that show how specific words change across these categories, making it easier to identify and use them correctly. Whether you’re learning how to describe actions, qualities, or ideas, these tables provide a clear and practical reference to help you improve your English. Let’s explore how these forms work and discover their role in communication!
| NOUN | VERB | ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
|---|---|---|---|
| laughter | laugh | laughable | laughably |
| criticism | criticize | critical | critically |
| grief | grieve | grieving | N/A |
| heat | heat | hot | hotly |
| darkness | darken | dark | darkly |
| drama | dramatize | dramatic | dramatically |
| terror/terrorism/terrorist | terrorize | terrified/terrifying | terrifyingly |
| variety | vary | various | variously |
| advice/advisor | advise | advisable | advisably |
| life | live | living | N/A |
| sharpness | sharpen | sharp | sharply |
| origin | originate | original | originally |
| agreement | agree | agreeable | agreeably |
| poverty | impoverish | poor | poorly |
| number | number | numerous | numerously |
| addition | add | additional/added | additionally |
| weakness | weaken | weak | weakly |
| guide | guide | guided | N/A |
| mix/mixture | mix | mixed | N/A |
| congratulation | congratulate | congratulatory | N/A |
| continuation | continue | continued/continuous | continuously |
| denial | deny | deniable | deniably |
| argument | argue | argumentative/arguable | arguably |
| failure | fail | failed/failing | N/A |
| observation/observer | observe | observed/observant | observantly |
| possession | possess | possessive | possessively |
| NOUN | VERB | ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
|---|---|---|---|
| creation / creativity | create | creative | creatively |
| satisfaction | satisfy | satisfactory / satisfied | satisfactorily |
| application | apply | applicable | applicably |
| excitement | excite | excited / exciting | excitedly / excitingly |
| preparation | prepare | prepared / preparatory | preparedly |
| imagination | imagine | imaginative | imaginatively |
| pay / payment | pay | payable | N/A |
| explanation | explain | explanatory | N/A |
| industry / industrialisation | industrialize | industrial | industrially |
| response | respond | responsive | responsively |
| prevention | prevent | preventive | preventively |
| embarrassment | embarrass | embarrassing / embarrassed | embarrassingly |
| threat | threaten | threatening | threateningly |
| security | secure | secure | securely |
| protection | protect | protective | protectively |
| theory | theorize | theoretical | theoretically |
| completion | complete | completed | completely |
| symbol | symbolize | symbolic | symbolically |
| communication | communicate | communicative | communicatively |
| appreciation | appreciate | appreciative | appreciatively |
| end / ending | end | endless | endlessly |
| note / notice | notice | noticeable | noticeably |
| identification | identify | identifiable | identifiably |
| profit | profit | profitable | profitably |
| confirmation | confirm | confirmed / confirmative | N/A |
| defense | defend | defensive | defensively |
| NOUN | VERB | ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
|---|---|---|---|
| weakness | weaken | weak | weakly |
| description | describe | descriptive | descriptively |
| competition/competitor | compete | competitive | competitively |
| persuasion | persuade | persuasive | persuasively |
| appreciation | appreciate | appreciative | appreciatively |
| marriage | marry | married | N/A |
| reaction | react | reactive / reactionary | reactively / reactionarily |
| strength | strengthen | strong | strongly |
| suspicion / suspect | suspect | suspicious | suspiciously |
| education | educate | educational | educationally |
| apology | apologize | apologetic | apologetically |
| sympathy | sympathize | sympathetic | sympathetically |
| depth | deepen | deep | deeply |
| conclusion | conclude | conclusive | conclusively |
| warmth | warm | warm | warmly |
| sweetness | sweeten | sweet | sweetly |
| preference | prefer | (un)preferable | preferably |
| explosion | explode | explosive | explosively |
| discouragement | discourage | discouraging | discouragingly |
| shortage | shorten | short | shortly |
| closure | close | closed | closely |
| attention / attentiveness | attend | attentive | attentively |
| discovery / discoverer | discover | discovered | N/A |
| power | empower | powerful / powerless | powerfully/powerlessly |
| reliability | rely | reliable | reliably |
| speciality | specialize | special | specially |
Notes:
For terms like congratulatory or grieving, adverbs may exist but are rare and not frequently used in modern English.
Some words do not naturally have a commonly used adverb form (e.g., discover or living).