Adjectives
We change adjectives into nouns when we want to speak of them as general ideas or concepts.
Adjectives can take a variety of different suffixes, depending on how they are spelled. “-ness” We often use the suffix “-ness” for many adjectives. Most of the time, we can simply add the suffix on to the end of the adjective without making any changes to its spelling.
For example:
• “The hardness of diamond makes it a great cutting tool.” (The adjective hard becomes the noun hardness.)
• “The child’s meekness is quite sweet.” (The adjective meek becomes the noun meekness.)
• “His gruffness is not appreciated.” (The adjective gruff becomes the noun gruffness.)
• “I don’t care for the roughness of my hands.” (The adjective rough becomes the noun roughness.)
• “I don’t think you understand the seriousness of the situation.” (The adjective serious becomes the noun seriousness.)
• “Please don’t underestimate my gratefulness.” (The adjective grateful becomes the noun gratefulness.) However, when we use this suffix with an adjective ending in “-y,” we change “y” to “i”:
• “We’re waiting for some steadiness in the market.” (The adjective steady becomes the noun steadiness.)
• “The teacher puts her students’ happiness above all else.” (The adjective happy becomes the noun happiness.) Some adjectives ending in a “-t” preceded by a long vowel sound can take this suffix as well:
• “Her greatness is without question.” (The adjective great becomes the noun greatness.)
• “The flatness of the Earth was disproven long ago.” (The adjective flat becomes the noun flatness.) “-y” Other adjectives that end in a “-t” preceded by a consonant will take the suffix “- y” to become nouns.
For example:
• “This project will be fraught with difficulty.” (The adjective difficult becomes the noun difficulty.)
• “That’s enough of your modesty.” (The adjective modest becomes the noun modesty.)
• “Honesty is a very important virtue.” (The adjective honest becomes the noun honesty.) “-ity” When adjectives end in “-e,” they often take the suffix “-ity” to become nouns. However, there is often a change to the spelling of the word. Usually, we simply drop “e” and replace it with “-ity,” as in: • “There is a scarcity of food in the city.” (The adjective scarce becomes the noun scarcity.)
• “Kindness is a rarity in this world.” (The adjective rare becomes the noun rarity.) When the word ends in “ble,” though, we have to change “le” to “il,” as in:
• “This project is your responsibility.” (The adjective responsible becomes the noun responsibility.)
• “I have no question of your ability.” (The adjective able becomes the noun ability.) Uniquely, we also use the “-ity” suffix to change the adjective hilarious to hilarity, even though other adjectives with similar endings (such as serious, grievous, callous, etc.) take the suffix “-ness.” “-ance” and “-ence” We often use the suffix “-ance” for adjectives ending in “-ant,” as in: • “This is of the utmost importance.” (The adjective important becomes the noun importance.)
• “Your ignorance is astounding.” (The adjective ignorant becomes the noun ignorance.) We often use the suffix “-ence” for adjectives ending in “-ent,” as in:
• “We demand greater independence.” (The adjective independent becomes the noun independence.) • “Silence is expected during tests.” (The adjective silent becomes the noun silence.)
