The word was is a verb noun

See also: Was, WAs, wás, wäs, wąs, Wąs, waˑs, waš, Waś, wäs-, and ƿas

Translingual[edit]

Symbol[edit]

was

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Washo.

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • wus
  • wuz

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e, from *h₂wes- (to reside), whence also vestal. The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (to become). The forms is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (to be). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (to reside).

Pronunciation[edit]

(stressed)

  • (UK, New Zealand) enPR: wŏz, wŭz, IPA(key): /wɒz/, /wʌz/
  • Audio (Southern England) (file)
  • (US) enPR: wŭz, wŏz, IPA(key): /wʌz/, /wɑz/
  • (General Australian) enPR: wŏz, IPA(key): /wɔz/
  • Rhymes: -ʌz, -ɒz

(unstressed)

  • (UK, US) enPR: wəz, IPA(key): /wəz/
  • (in the phrase “I was there.”)
  • Audio (Southern England) (file)

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

    It was a really humongous slice of cake.

    • 1915, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, I:
      I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that.
  3. (now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.

    There was three of them there.

  4. (now colloquial or nonstandard) second-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  5. (colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past indicative of be
    • 2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104:

      “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.”

  6. (colloquial, nonstandard) third-person plural simple past indicative of be
    • 1968, Etta James; Ellington Jordan; Billy Foster (lyrics and music), “I’d Rather Go Blind”, performed by Etta James:

      When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah

Derived terms[edit]

  • wasband
  • wasbian

See also[edit]

  • am
  • are
  • is
  • art
  • be
  • being
  • been
  • beest
  • wast
  • were
  • wert
  • woz
  • wuz

Further reading[edit]

  • If I Was or If I Were: Easy Guide on Appropriate Use, grammar.yourdictionary.com
  • When to use «If I was» vs. «If I were»?, english.stackexchange.com
  • if I were you, if I was you at Google Ngram Viewer

Anagrams[edit]

  • ASW, AWS, SAW, Saw, aws, saw

Afrikaans[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

was (uncountable)

  1. wax

Verb[edit]

was

  1. past of wees

Verb[edit]

was (present was, present participle wassende, past participle gewas)

  1. to wash

Banda[edit]

Noun[edit]

was

  1. water

References[edit]

  • «Elat, Kei Besar» in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Cebuano[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Slang variant of wala

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. (slang) (informal) nothing; none.

Adjective[edit]

was

  1. (informal) absent.

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ʋɑs/
  • Rhymes: -ɑs

Etymology 1[edit]

Cognate with English wash.

Noun[edit]

was m (plural wassen, diminutive wasje n)

  1. laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just have been washed.
Derived terms[edit]
  • een kind kan de was doen
  • wasbeurt
  • wasmachine
  • wasmand
Descendants[edit]
  • Negerhollands: wasch, was

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Dutch *was, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą. Cognate with German Wachs, English wax, Danish voks, Swedish vax.

Noun[edit]

was m or n (plural wassen)

  1. wax
  2. growth
Derived terms[edit]
  • bijenwas
  • gewas
  • uit de kluiten gewassen
  • uitwas

Etymology 3[edit]

Cognate with English was.

Verb[edit]

was

  1. singular past indicative of zijn
  2. singular past indicative of wezen

Etymology 4[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first-person singular present indicative of wassen
  2. imperative of wassen

Anagrams[edit]

  • swa

German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • wat (colloquial in western and parts of northern Germany)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod. Cognate with Bavarian was, wås, Silesian German woas (was), Dutch wat, English what, Danish hvad. Doublet of wat.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /vas/
  • (Bavaria)
  • Rhymes: -as

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. (interrogative) what

    Was machst du heute?

    What are you doing today?
  2. (relative) which (referring to the entire preceding clause)

    Sie tanzte gut, was er bewunderte.

    She was a good dancer, which he admired.
  3. (relative) that, which (referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives)

    Das ist alles, was ich weiß.

    That’s all that I know.

    Das ist das Beste, was mir passieren konnte.

    That’s the best that could have happened to me.
  4. (relative, colloquial) that, which (referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das)

    Siehst du das weiße Haus, was renoviert wird?

    Do you see that white house, which is being renovated?
  5. (indefinite, colloquial) something, anything (instead of standard etwas)

    Ich hab was gefunden.

    I’ve found something.
    • 2017, Simone Meier, Fleisch, Kein & Aber 2018, p. 39:

      Er wollte Anna was antun.

      He wanted to do something to Anna.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Was is colloquially used with prepositions, chiefly but not exclusively in southern regions. Otherwise it is generally replaced with a pronominal adverb containing wo- (or in a few cases wes-). Hence: Womit hast du das gemacht? (With what did you do that?), instead of Mit was hast du das gemacht?, and weswegen instead of wegen was.
  • The genitive case, and the dative case if necessary for clearness, can be paraphrased by means of welcher Sache (what thing). Possessive genitives are more commonly paraphrased with wovon (of what). It is also possible to use the genitive form wessen, but it wouldn’t be used in questions such as Wessen ist das? because here it would be understood as the genitive form of wer.
  • The colloquial was meaning «something» can only be the first word in a sentence if followed by an adjective: Was Wichtiges fehlt noch. (Something important is missing.) Otherwise the full form etwas must be used: Etwas fehlt noch. (Something is missing.) The reason for this is that the latter sentence could be misinterpreted as a question if was were used.

Declension[edit]

Declension of was
nominative was
genitive wessen or (dated) wes
dative
accusative was

Derived terms[edit]

  • komme, was wolle
  • was ist dir; was ist Dir
  • was kostet es
  • was zum Geier; was zum Kuckuck
  • tun, was man nicht lassen kann
  • was auch immer
  • was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht
  • was geht
  • was gibt’s Neues
  • was du nicht sagst; was ihr nicht sagt; was Sie nicht sagen

Determiner[edit]

was

  1. (archaic) what; what kind of
    Synonym: was für
    • 1718, Johann Caspar Schwartz, Johann Caspar Schwartzens Fünfftes Dutzend Wund-artzneyischer Anmerckungen von vielerley Arten der Geschwülste und Geschwüre, Hamburg, page 97:

      […] denen Thieren und Gewächsen aber, von was Arten und Geschlechten selbige auch nur immer seyn mögen, […]

      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • 1742, Johann Christoph Gottsched, Versuch einer Critischen Dichtkunst, Leipzig, page 442:

      Held August, du kühner Krieger! / Du bist der beglückte Sieger, / Vor, und in, und nach dem Fall. / Auf was Arten, auf was Weisen, / Soll man deine Thaten preisen / Hier und da, und überall?

      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • 1786, Johann Michael Schosulan, Gründlicher Unterricht für das Landvolk: Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen etrunkenen, erhängten, erstickten, erfrornen, von Hitze verschmachteten und von Blitz berührten unglücklichen Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten, der Retter aber für sein eigenes Leben sich selbst sicher stellen solle., Wien, title:

      Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen […] Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten […] solle.

      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Usage notes[edit]

  • In the dative and genitive feminine, the inflected form waser occurred.

Adverb[edit]

was

  1. (colloquial) a little, somewhat

    Ich komm was später.

    I’ll arrive a little later.
  2. (interrogative, colloquial) why, what for
    Synonyms: warum, wieso, weshalb

    Was bist du heute so stumm?

    Why are you so silent today?

Gothic[edit]

Romanization[edit]

was

  1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃

Gros Ventre[edit]

Noun[edit]

was

  1. bear

Hunsrik[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /vas/

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. (interrogative) what

    Was machst-du?

    What are you doing?
  2. (relative) what

    Was-ich net esse, essd de Hund.

    What I don’t eat, the dog eats.
  3. (indefinite) something, anything

See also[edit]

  • etwas

Further reading[edit]

  • Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Low German[edit]

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
  2. third-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
  3. apocopated form of wasse (wash), second-person singular imperative of wassen (mainly used in the Netherlands, equivalent to other dialects’ wasche/waske)
  4. apocopated form of wasse (wax), second-person singular imperative of wassen
  5. apocopated form of wasse (grow), second-person singular imperative of wassen

Usage notes[edit]

Notes on the verb węsen (to be): In recent times (~1800) the old subjunctive wer is used in place of was by many speakers. This might be the old subjunctive which is now used as a preterite or a reduction of weren, which is the preterite plural indicative of the verb. It might also be an imitation of the High German cognate war. Many smaller dialectal clusters do this, but no dialect does it. That means: even though there are many regions within e.g. Lower Saxony that use wer for was, maybe even the majority, there is no straight connection between them, i.e. which form is used can depend on preference, speaker and specific region. Due to this «one town this way, one town that way»-nature of the situation no form can be named «standard» for a greater dialect, such as Low Saxon.

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [was]

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. genitive of wy
  2. accusative of wy
  3. locative of wy

Mayangna[edit]

Noun[edit]

was

  1. water
  2. stream, river

References[edit]

  • Smith, Ethnogeography of the Mayangna of Nicaragua, in Ethno- and historical geographic studies in Latin America: essays honoring William V. Davidson (2008), page 88: The location of 46 settlements from this list containing the term ”was» —meaning «water» or «stream» — were obtained[.]

Middle Dutch[edit]

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of wēsen

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English wæs (first/third person singular indicative past of wesan), from Proto-Germanic *was (first/third person singular indicative past of *wesaną).

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of been
    • c. 1375, “Book VI”, in Iohne Barbour, De geſtis bellis et uirtutibus domini Roberti de Brwyß [] (The Brus, Advocates MS. 19.2.2)‎[2], Ouchtirmunſye: Iohannes Ramſay, published 1489, folio 21, recto, lines 431-434; republished at Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, c. 2010:

      Thyꝛwall þ[at] was þ[air] capitain / Wes þ[air] in þe baꝛgain slain / ⁊ off his men þe maſt p[ar]ty / Ϸe laue fled full affrayitly

      Thirlwall, who was their commander / was killed there in the struggle / with the greatest part of his men; / the rest fled very frightened.
  2. (dialectal) second-person singular past indicative of been
  3. (dialectal) plural past indicative of been
Descendants[edit]
  • English: was
  • Scots: was, wis
  • Yola: waas, was, waz, ‘as, as

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. Alternative form of whos (whose, genitive)

Middle Low German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • wass

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of wēsen

Old High German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • uuas, ƿasManuscript spelling

Verb[edit]

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of wesan

Pennsylvania German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Compare German was, Dutch wat, English what.

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. (interrogative) what

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /vas/
  • Rhymes: -as
  • Syllabification: was

Pronoun[edit]

was

  1. genitive/accusative/locative of wy

Proto-Norse[edit]

Romanization[edit]

was

  1. Romanization of ᚹᚨᛊ

Scots[edit]

Noun[edit]

was

  1. plural of wa

Seychellois Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French ouest.

Noun[edit]

was

  1. west

References[edit]

  • Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol — Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois — Français

Somali[edit]

Verb[edit]

was

  1. fuck

Descendants[edit]

  • English: wass

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From WhatsApp.

Noun[edit]

was m (plural was)

  1. a message sent or received over WhatsApp

[edit]

  • wasapear

Tok Pisin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English watch.

Verb[edit]

was

  1. angel; any supernatural creature in heaven according to Christian theology
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:24:

      God i rausim pinis man na meri, na em i makim ol strongpela ensel bilong sanap na was i stap long hap sankamap bilong gaden Iden. Na tu em i putim wanpela bainat i gat paia i lait long en na i save tanim tanim long olgeta hap. Oltaim ol dispela ensel wantaim dispela bainat i save was i stap, nogut wanpela man i go klostu long dispela diwai bilong givim laip.

      →New International Version translation

Welsh[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /waːs/

Noun[edit]

was

  1. Soft mutation of gwas.

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
gwas was ngwas unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Yola[edit]

Verb[edit]

was

  1. Alternative form of waas
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3:

      At by mizluck was ee-pit t’drive in.

      Who by misluck was placed to drive in.

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 84

Many English words have a verb form and a noun form. This can be confusing. The verb form and the noun form are sometimes pronounced differently, which can be even more confusing!
I wrote this blog post to help ESL students use these words with confidence.

Table of Contents

  • Verb or Noun Grammar
  • Pronunciation
  • 72 verb and noun pair examples with audio
  • 150 One-syllable Verb and Noun pairs
  • 20 Nouns that you didn’t know had a verb form
  • Free 14-page PDF Download

Verb or Noun? – Grammar

Let’s start by answering a basic question.  What’s the difference between a noun and a verb?
A noun is a person, place, or thing.
A verb expresses an action or existence.
“A dog is running in the park.” – A DOG (thing) is running (action) in the PARK (place).

A basic English sentence will have this pattern. Subject – Verb – Object. The subject and object in a sentence will be nouns. DOG (Subject) is running (Verb) in the PARK (Object).

How can I tell a noun from a verb?

The sentence example above is very basic. Natural English sentences will use clauses and conjunctions to tell longer stories in a single sentence. Here is a simple way to tell if a word is a noun or a verb in a longer sentence.
Nouns often follow an article (a, an, the) or the possessive form of a noun or pronoun. (my, his/her, its, John’s, etc.)
Verbs will follow a subject and be conjugated (changed into past, present, future, continuous tense, etc.)

Noun – Happy birthday! I bought you a present.
The noun present follows the article a.
Verb – They will present their findings tomorrow at the meeting.
The verb present follows a subject – “They” – and is conjugated in the future tense. – will present

If you know the correct form, you can use the correct pronunciation.

Are all verb and noun pairs pronounced differently?

One-syllable Verb and Noun pairs

Many noun and verb pairs have only one syllable so there is no change in word stress between the verb and the noun. They all sound the same with a few exceptions. (You can find the exceptions in the one-syllable verb and noun list at the bottom of this post.)

Example:

list
noun – a series of names, items, figures, etc., especially when they are written or printed
“I wrote a shopping list this morning.”
verb – to write a list of things in a particular order
“I listed everything I need for my trip.”

List - verb and noun

Two-syllable Verb and Noun pairs

When noun and verb pairs are two syllables we pronounce them correctly by focusing on the syllable stress. English 2-syllable nouns will put stress on the first syllable. CONduct.
2-syllable verbs will put stress on the second syllable. conDUCT.

Example:

conduct
noun – CONduct – a person’s behavior in a particular place or in a particular situation
“Our school has a strict code of conduct.”
verb – conDUCT – to organize and/or do a particular activity 
“My university will conduct a survey on Friday.”

Three-syllable Verb and Noun pairs

There are a few cases where the verb and noun pair is three syllables and ends with the letters -ATE. For these examples, the sound of the last letters will change, not the stress. The stress will still be on the third syllable.

Example:

associate 
noun – asso-she-IT ~ a person that you work with, do business with, or spend a lot of time with
“Peter is a business associate of my father.” (asso-she-IT)
verb – to spend time with someone, especially a person or people that someone else does not approve of
“I try not to associate with angry or negative people.” (asso-she-ATE)

Associate audio below ↓

In this post, I will also give you 36 noun/verb pair examples with over 70 natural example sentences. Each example sentence has audio to improve your English listening skills and pronunciation. You can quickly start using the correct word stress with noun/verb pairs.

Noun and Verb Pair Vocabulary LIST

Listen to the correct pronunciation with natural example sentences below. The word definitions used in this post are from Oxford learner’s dictionaries. Links to the definitions are beside each word. N for the NOUN definition and V for the VERB definition.

*Some of the words on this list have multiple definitions, you can find other meanings at the links provided. (N V)

Verb and noun pairs examples with AUDIO

associate N V 

Noun – Peter is a business associate of my father. [asso・SHE・IT] Peter works with my dad.

Verb – ①I try not to associate with angry or negative people. [asso・SHE・ATE] I don’t like to spend time with negative people.

Verb – ② I like to associate new grammar with my own real experiences, it makes the grammar easier to remember. [asso・SHE・ATE] I connect new grammar to a real experience in my mind.


compound N V

Noun – They are building a large prison compound in my hometown. [COMpound] They are building a complex that will be surrounded by a wall.

Verb – Cutting the budget will not solve anything. Budget cuts will only compound our problems. [comPOUND] Reducing the budget will make things worse.


conduct N V

Noun – Our school has a strict code of conduct. [CONduct] We are told how to behave when we are at school.

Verb – My university will conduct a survey on Friday. [conDUCT] My university will organize a survey and ask the students some questions.


conflict N V

Noun – Sadly there are many conflicts in the world right now. [CONflict] Many places are having strong disagreements.

Verb – My experiences in Japan conflict with some of the stories I was told before I came. [conFLICT] The stories I was told are the opposite of my experience.
(I was told is the passive voice – learn this grammar HERE)


contest N V

Noun – I entered a break dancing contest when I was 12.  [CONtest] I entered a break dancing competition when I was 12.

Verb – After Donald passed away his youngest son contested his will. [conTEST] Donald’s youngest son opposed the will because he felt it was wrong.

verb and noun pairs example - contest

contract N V

Noun – I just signed a new 3-year contract with the high school where I teach English. [CONtract] I have an official 3-year agreement to work at the school.

Verb – The company was contracted to build a new 50,000-seat stadium. [conTRACT] The company has made an official agreement to build a stadium.


contrast N V

Noun – There is a big contrast between the customer service in Japan and the service I receive in Canada. [CONtrast] There is a big difference between the customer service at stores in these 2 countries.

Verb – I like to contrast American movies with Japanese movies. The style and pace are quite different. [conTRAST] I like to compare the 2 movie styles and show how they are different.

verb and noun pairs example - contrast

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I use Grammarly to help me catch these mistakes. It saves me a lot of time! It can help your English writing too. Get Grammarly for free.

decrease N V

Noun – There was a decrease in school applications last year. [DEcrease] The number of applications was reduced.

Verb – The number of students at my school decreased last year. [deCREASE] The student population became smaller.


delegate  N V

Noun – The meeting was attended by delegates from over 100 countries. [del・ah・GIT] People who were chosen to represent their countries attended the meeting.

Verb – I’m so busy at work. I think I will delegate some tasks to my assistant. [del・ah・GATE] I will give part of my work to my assistant.


desert N V

Noun – If you travel in the desert you should bring lots of water. [DEzert] If you travel in a dry area with little water, you should bring your own.

(Be careful of the noun dessert. It is spelled with two ‘S’s.)
– I think I’ll have cheesecake for dessert.
Dessert vs Desert – Pronounce these words CORRECTLY(Audio)

Verb – I was left in the mall by myself. My friends deserted me. [deZERT] My friends left me by myself in the mall.


detail N V

Noun – Édouard Manet’s paintings are beautiful, he pays attention to every detail. [DEtail] Manet pays attention to even the small points or features in his paintings.

Verb – This brochure details all the features of the car. [deTAIL] This brochure gives a list of facts and information about this car.

Detail - Noun and Verb meaning

discount N V

Noun – If I buy one jacket I can get a 30% discount on a second jacket. [DIScount] If I buy 2 jackets there will be a 30% price reduction on the second one.

Verb – Stores usually discount their clothes at the end of the season. [disCOUNT] They take some money off the usual price.


escort N V

Noun – When leaders travel to other countries they often have police escorts. [EScort] World leaders have local police travel with them to protect them.

Verb – It’s getting dark, please let me escort you home. [esCORT] Let me take you home so you are not alone, to make sure you are safe.


export N V

Noun – Lumber is one of Canada’s main exports. [EXport] Lumber is one of the main goods that it sells to other countries.

Verb – Canada exports lots of lumber and oil to the United States. [exPORT] Canada sells some of its resources to America. 


impact N V

Noun – Many people are climbing Mt. Everest and this has had a serious impact on the environment of Nepal. [IMpact] Many tourists come to climb the mountain. This has had a powerful effect on the environment.

Verb – The value of the Canadian dollar impacts businesses that export goods. [imPACT] The value of the Canadian dollar affects companies that sell goods to other countries.


import N V

Noun – This store sells lots of exotic furniture and other imports from overseas. [IMport] The store sells furniture and other things that came from other countries.

Verb – I was surprised to learn that America imports more than half of its oil from Canada! [imPORT] More than half of The United States’ oil is brought in from Canada.

verb and noun pairs example - imports

increase N V

Noun – There has been an increase in blood donations at the clinic. People want to help after the hurricane. [INcrease] There was a rise in the number of people who donated blood after the hurricane.

Verb – I really want to find a girlfriend. If I get out more and try new things I will increase my chances of meeting a nice girl. [inCREASE] If I go out and meet more people the chance that I will meet a nice girl becomes greater.


insert N V

Noun – I bought some inserts for my shoes. They’re soft and make it easier to walk. [INsert] I bought a thin cushion to put inside my shoes.

Verb – I inserted $2.00 in the vending machine but it didn’t give me my drink! [inSERT] I put $2.00 into the money slot of the vending machine but I didn’t get a drink.

insult N V

Noun – Mike said my suit looks cheap. That’s an insult! [INsult] Mike made a remark that was trying to offend me.

Verb – Mike insulted my suit this morning. What a jerk. [inSULT] Mike’s comment about my suit offended me.


invite N V

Noun – I didn’t get an invite to Craig’s party. Maybe he is mad at me. [INvite] I didn’t get a spoken or written request to come to Craig’s party.

Verb – Craig invited many people to his party. But not me. [inVITE] Craig asked many people to come to his party, but he didn’t ask me.


misprint N V

Noun – The ad in the newspaper says the shoes are $1000.00, but I think it’s a misprint. [MISprint] There is a mistake in the (printed) advertisement.

Verb – The printing company misprinted the ad. [misPRINT] Th company printed the ad incorrectly.


object N V ~ there are 4 uses of the NOUN object. Click the N to see them all!

Noun – A basic English sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object. [OBject] One use for the noun object is the thing in a sentence (also a noun) that is affected by the verb of the sentence.

Verb – I object to your question, it’s not relevant to the discussion. [obJECT] I disagree with your question, it is not related to what we are talking about.


permit N V

Noun – You can’t camp here without a permit from the park. [PERmit] You need an official document to be allowed to camp here.

Verb – The park rangers don’t permit fires here. [perMIT] Fires are not allowed in the forest.

Permit - Noun and Verb meaning

present N V

Noun – Happy birthday! I bought you a present! [PREsent] I bought a gift for you.

Verb – They will present their findings tomorrow at the meeting. [preSENT] The company will show us what they found for us to consider.


produce N V

Noun – It’s better to buy local produce. Imported produce is not as fresh. [PROduce] It is better to buy fruits and vegetables grown on farms close to where you live.

Verb – Our goal is to produce more solar batteries than any other company in the area. [proDUCE] Our goal is to make more solar batteries than anyone else in the area.


project N V

Noun – I’m working on a project for school. It’s about renewable energy. [PROject] I am making a piece of work involving the careful study of renewable energy.

Verb – Unemployment is projected to fall next year. That’s good news. [proJECT] The number of unemployed people is expected to drop next year.


protest N V

Noun – There was a large protest in front of the government office. [PROtest] People gathered in a group to express their strong disagreement with the government.

Verb – My class protested loudly when the teacher gave us 6 pages of summer homework. [proTEST] My class told the teacher that they don’t like the summer homework that he gave us.

rebel N V

Noun – James Dean was a popular actor in the 1950s. He had the image of a rebel. [REbel] The characters he played didn’t like rules or authority.

Verb – Teenagers often rebel against their parents. [reBEL] Teenagers often fight against their parents’ rules.


refund N V

Noun – The rain shoes I bought leaked! I took them back to the store and demanded a refund. [REfund] I strongly asked for the money back that I paid for the rain shoes. I brought the leaky shoes back to the store.

Verb – The store apologized and refunded my money. [reFUND] The store returned the money I paid for the rain shoes.


reject N V

Noun – The rain shoes were rejects and shouldn’t have been at the store. [REject] The shoes couldn’t be used and should not have been sold.

Verb – My idea for the new school mascot was rejected by the students. [reJECT] My idea was not accepted.

subject N V

Noun – A basic English sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object. [SUBject] In English grammar a subject is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun representing the person or thing that performs the action of the verb, about which something is stated, or, in a passive sentence, that is affected by the action of the verb. 

Verb – At karaoke last night I subjected everyone to my terrible singing. [subJECT] People were forced to listen to my terrible singing.


survey N V

Noun – My university will conduct a survey on Friday. They want to know how most students get to school. [SURvey] They did an investigation of how students get to school by asking questions.

Verb – The government surveyed the land so they could make a map of the area. [surVEY] The government looked at the land carefully to get an impression of it.


update N V

Noun – Will it rain tomorrow? I’ll check the weather app on my smartphone for an update. [UPdate] I will check my weather app for the most recent information about the weather.

Verb – I have to update the software on my smartphone. I hope it makes my phone faster. [upDATE] I have to make my software more modern by getting the newest version.

upgrade N V

Noun – On my flight to Canada I was given an upgrade to first-class. [UPgrade] I was given a seat of better quality.

Verb –  The airline upgraded me to first-class, [upGRADE] The airline moved me to a better seat.


upset N V

Noun – No one thought we would win the game because the other team was too strong, but we beat them easily. It was a total upset! [UPset] We beat the team that was expected to beat us.

Verb – Brenda has been crying all morning. I think something upset her. [upSET] Something happened to Brenda to make her unhappy.


One-syllable Verb and Noun pairs – List

One-syllable words rarely change sounds between the verb and noun forms, but there are a few exceptions. Below is a list of 150 common one-syllable Verb and Noun pairs, 4 word pairs with different pronunciation, and 23 uncommon word pairs that you probably didn’t know.

  • The noun and verb forms are often related in meaning. *For example ACHE and JUICE.
  • There are some examples where the meaning is totally different. The only thing that is the same is the spelling. *For example BOWL and FLY.

This is not a complete list, there are many one-syllable verb and noun pairs. I tried to include the most common words in this list with a verb and a noun form. 

  • ache
  • act
  • age
  • air
  • back
  • bat
  • belt
  • bet
  • bite
  • bowl
  • call
  • block
  • book
  • box
  • brush
  • buzz
  • dance
  • dare
  • dip
  • dot
  • drive
  • drum
  • dye
  • end
  • face
  • fall
  • fan
  • feast
  • fence
  • fight
  • file
  • fire
  • fish
  • flame
  • flash
  • flow
  • fly
  • fool
  • frame
  • front
  • grid
  • glaze
  • glow
  • grill
  • grow
  • growl
  • grunt
  • guard
  • guess
  • hail
  • hand
  • harm
  • help
  • hit
  • hope
  • hug
  • itch
  • jam
  • judge
  • juice
  • jump
  • kick
  • kiss
  • lace
  • lap
  • laugh
  • lie
  • limp
  • link
  • list
  • look 
  • love
  • mark
  • match
  • milk
  • mop
  • nail
  • nap
  • need
  • nest
  • nurse
  • oil
  • ooze
  • pain
  • paint
  • park
  • play
  • pat
  • pen
  • pet
  • pick
  • pin
  • pitch
  • plan
  • plug
  • pose
  • press
  • price
  • punch
  • quack
  • quilt
  • quote
  • race
  • rain
  • raise
  • rat
  • rise
  • rock
  • rope
  • run
  • rust
  • rest
  • sail
  • saw
  • scale
  • set
  • shave
  • shop
  • show
  • ship
  • sign
  • ski
  • sleep
  • smoke
  • snow
  • spill
  • spray
  • spring
  • stamp
  • stand
  • strike
  • string
  • sweat
  • tack
  • talk
  • tax
  • team
  • test
  • tie
  • tip
  • toast
  • train
  • trap
  • trip
  • view
  • visit
  • vote
  • walk
  • work
  • wrap
  • yawn
  • zone

Thanks to https://www.linguasorb.com/ for help making this list.

Four one-syllable Verb and Noun pairs with different pronunciations

use N V

Noun – In Tokyo, I have no use for a car. The public transportation is awesome. [YOU•S] For me a car has no purpose in Tokyo. I don’t need one because public transportation is very convenient.

Verb – If I need a car I can use my friend Kentaro’s, he said I can borrow it anytime. [YUUZ] I can do something {in this case DRIVE my friend Kentaro’s car} anytime. (Learn how to use the verbs LEND and BORROW HERE)

house N V

Noun – I just bought a new house. [HAUS] I just bought a new building to live in.

Verb – People whose homes were flooded were temporarily housed in community centers. [HOWZ] People whose homes were affected by the flood were given a place to live.

lead N V

Noun – Exposure to lead can make you sick. [LED] Lead is a chemical element and a heavy grey metal.

Verb – We hired a tour guide to lead us around Singapore. [LEED] A tour guide showed us around Singapore.

wind N V

Noun – The wind was strong today. It was perfect for sailing. [WIN・D] The air was moving quickly today.

Verb – I have to wind my watch all the time. It’s a pain. [WINE・D] I have to turn the small gear on the side of my watch to make it work.

Noun and Verb pair 14-page PDF E-guide

Download your printable PDF E-guide below. (It’s FREE!)↓

Find more helpful blog posts below.

  • How to use Adjectives as Nouns (20 examples, PDF + video)January 30, 2023
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  • 3 Adverbs of Probability – Definitely, Probably, and MaybeNovember 4, 2022
  • Past tense of READ and Past Participle of READ (Audio, Quiz, and PDF)October 21, 2022
  • Third-Person Singular – Your best Guide (Free 24-page eBook)October 14, 2022
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  • Present Perfect Continuous Grammar Guide (w/ Audio and PDF)October 4, 2022

was versus were

English can be difficult, especially when it comes to words that can be easily confused. A couple of examples would be who vs whom and further vs farther. Another combo that can get confusing is was vs were.

There are several reasons why you might be struggling to decide whether you should be using “was” or “were” in a sentence. The simplest of these is the conjugation of the singular and plural forms of the past tense of “to be.” While this can cause minor problems to those learning English as a second language as they study, first language English speakers usually have few problems with this. The most common cause of debate and confusion is the use of “were” instead of “was” in the subjunctive mood (We’ll explain that below if you aren’t sure what subjunctive mood is.). We’ll cover both past and subjunctive mood topics in this article, and you’ll soon see just how simple it all is.

Singular and Plural

As we’ve observed, this is the easiest of the choices you need to make, but it also gives rise to the problems that so many people have when they begin to use the subjunctive mood.

Singular: I was, he was, she was, it was – BUT you were. (Just to make things more fun!)

Plural: It’s always ‘were’, regardless of whether we’re talking about “they,” “we” or “you.” So far, so easy! But now we’ll examine how this relates to one of the most common errors in spoken or written English: the choice of “was” instead of “were” in the subjunctive mood.

If I were / was a rich man – the famous subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is used to describe or speculate on a hypothetical situation, and you’ll hear people using both ‘”was” and “were” in this context. But only one of these is correct. Whenever we’re talking about something that isn’t a reality at the moment, we discard “was” and choose “were” instead. It doesn’t matter whether we are referring to a single person or a group of people. As soon as we cross the border between reality and speculation, “were” is the only word to choose. For example

  • I was rich and I owned a house at the seaside.
  • If I were rich, I would have owned a house at the seaside.
  • He was the captain of the team and he chose a different strategy.
  • If he were captain of the team, he would have chosen a different strategy.

In each of the pairs of sentences above, the first one refers to something that actually happened in the past, and the word “was” is the correct choice. The second sentence is a wish or a speculation – it refers to an event that did not actually happen, and “were” is the correct choice.

  • They were the winning team, so they celebrated their victory.
  • If they were the winning team, they would celebrate their victory.

As we can see, the subjunctive mood doesn’t result in any change in word choice in this example. No matter how many people you are referring to, the subjunctive mood calls for the word “were.” If you’ve been prone to saying the incorrect “I wish I was,” “If he was” or “I wish she was” instead of the correct ‘I wish I were,” “If he were” or “I wish she were,” it will be easy to make the necessary adaptation and correct your grammar.

Look out for the subjunctive mood. As soon as something is a wish or a hypothetical (if) situation, you will always choose “were” over “was.”

It’s a common grammar mistake. In spoken as well as written English, you’ll find that just about everyone from plumbers to presidents is guilty of this mistake. Of course, when presidents make this error, those who know better will laugh at them, so if you’re hoping that what you say will be taken seriously, it’s worth learning when to use “were” instead of “was.” After all, once you understand the basic rules, it’s quite easy.

Word formation. Noun suffixes in English (grade 9)

как из глагола сделать существительное в английском

This is a lesson from the cycle «Word formation in English»  and in it we will consider the common noun suffixes: -er / or, -tion, -ing, -ness, -ence / ance (5). Exercises on word formation of a noun will help you understand how nouns are formed in English using suffixes, as well as prepare for English exams in the form of the OGE and USE.

for posting on other Internet resources is prohibited. EnglishInn.ru.

Basic noun suffixes in English (grade 9)

Remember 5 main noun suffixes. 

  1. er / or (worker)
  2. tion (informaproduction)
  3. ing (reading)
  4. ness (happyness)
  5. ence / ance (difference)

Next, let’s dwell in more detail on each of them.

1. Suffixes of nouns formed from a verb

  1. -er / or (doer suffix) dance — dancer work — workercollect — collector

    invent — inventor

  2. -tion (process suffix) collect — collection

    invent — invention

  3. -ingsuffer — suffering warn — warning

    mean — meaning

Remember three suffixes -er (-or), -tion, -ing, with the help of which nouns are formed from the verb.

2. Suffixes of nouns formed from an adjective

  1. -nessill — illness

    kind — kindness

  2. -ance / -ence (corresponding adjectives have suffixes: -ant / -ent) important — importance

    different — difference

Remember two suffixes: -ness, -ence (ance), with the help of which nouns are formed from an adjective.

Suffixes of nouns in English. Exercises

 Suffixes -ness & -tion Are the most common noun suffixes.
Exercise 1. Suffix -ness. Translate these nouns and indicate the adjectives from which they are derived.

foolishness, happiness, seriousness, illness, readiness, richness, strangeness, carelessness, whiteness, cleverness, greatness, brightness

Note.

Source: http://englishinn.ru/slovoobrazovanie-suffiksyi-sushhestvitelnyih-v-angliy.html

Formation of verbs in English

как из глагола сделать существительное в английском
Download this online tutorial in PDF

Verbs in English are formed using suffixes (detached, non-separable), prefixes and using conversion.

Formation of verbs using separate suffixes

New verbs are often formed from existing ones using separate suffixes. The most common single suffixes are: back, away, down, in, off, on, out, up, over… Separated suffixes are usually added to monosyllabic verb stems. Matching in form with adverbs, individual suffixes in some cases retain spatial shades of meaning, slightly changing the meaning of the original stem:

to go (to go) — to go away (to leave),

to come (to come) — to come back (to return),

to look (look) — to look up (look up)

In other cases, adding a separate suffix creates a verb with a completely new meaning:

to give (to give) — to give up (to give up some activity), to get (to receive) — to get off (get off the vehicle), to go (to go) — to go on (to continue doing something).

Examples of verbs with separate suffixes:

away: to go away to leave; to run away escape; to throw away to throw; to do away with smth. destroy, liquidate something; to take away

back: to come / go back — return

down: to sit down to sit down; to settle down to settle; to come down to go down; to climb down to get down, get off; to slow down to slow down (The vehicle slowed down at the next turn) to write down to write

in: to come in to enter (Come in, please!) to get in to enter the transport; to hand in hand in, hand over (Hand in your papers!) to run in to run in; to drop in visit

off: to bite off bite off; to cut off cut off, chop off; to take off take off (Take off your cap and boots) to switch off off (Switch off the lights, it isn’t dark.) to get off off the vehicle (This is where I usually get off).

on: to call on to attend (He often called on Helen when she was ill.) to go on to continue (Go on writing!) to carry on to continue some work; to put on put on, put on; to switch on turn on, turn on the light (Switch on the lights, it’s getting dark.) to get on live (How is Mike getting on?)

out: to get out to go out (Get out! Go away!) to run out to run out; to take out take out; to find out find out; to carry out execute (We should carry out our research.) to cut out cut; to make out understand, understand (I can’t make anything out).

over: to come over to come (Hey, Kate, come over to my place!) to talk over to discuss; to think over to think (We should think it over).

up: to come up to come; to drive up to drive up by car; to cheer up to cheer up, to cheer up (Cheer up, Jack! Don’t be sad, Jack!) to get up to get out of bed; to look up to look up; to shut up to shut up (Shut up, Terry!) to make up invent, compose; to wake up wake up

Formation of verbs using inseparable suffixes

Of the suffixes of the usual type for the formation of verbs, the suffix -ize is often used, which forms verbs with an abstract meaning: to realize, to privatize, to mobilize, to organize.

There are also verbs formed from adjectives using the -en suffix: broad (wide) — to broaden (expand) to lengthen, to widen, to redden, to darken.

Forming verbs using prefixes

With the help of prefixes, verbs are usually formed from the verbs themselves. Frequent verb prefixes are as follows:

The prefix ge-, which means repeated action:

reread

rebuild

rewrite (write again, rewrite)

Verbs with other meanings also have this prefix: to remember, to respect, to recover, etc.

The prefix dis-, which means an action opposite to that expressed by the derivative verb stem:

to disagree, to disappear, to disapprove, to discover, to dis.

The prefix mis-, which means an action performed by an error: to misunderstand (misunderstand), to mispronounce (mispronounce), to misbehave (misbehave), to mistake (make a mistake, mistakenly consider someone else).

Formation of verbs using conversion

Thus, verbs are formed mainly from nouns:

dust — to dust

a bomb (bomb) — to bomb (bomb)

water — to water

a hand (hand) — to hand (hand)

a head — to head

a finger (finger) — to finger (press with a finger)

winter (winter) — to winter (winter)

The number of verbs formed from nouns by conversion is very large.

Source: http://englishgu.ru/obrazovanie-glagolov-v-angliyskom-yazyike/

Suffixes in English: 40 Most Common

как из глагола сделать существительное в английском

Hey.

Source: https://corp.lingualeo.com/ru/2016/11/16/suffiksyi-v-angliyskom-yazyike/

Methods of forming nouns in English

How to replenish vocabulary more than 3 times without memorizing? Adopt this method and — voila! Vocabulary enlarged before our eyes.
This method is word formation. How does this work for nouns?

Briefly — about the main thing Usually the topic is studied indefinitely. There is a more effective method: covering the entire «puzzle» at a time. Seeing a clear picture, you can easily refine the little things without negativity.

So, the formation of nouns in English assumes skills:

  1. convert a noun from a verb and vice versa;
  2. use affixes;
  3. put a different emphasis;
  4. replace the consonant at the root;
  5. form compound words.

Many do not assume how many words they ALREADY know. They simply do not know how to use this wealth competently.
Having learned 5 skills, you can refer to the dictionary just to check it.

1. Conversion

Nouns in English are related to verbs in an interesting way: they can be the same word. This method is called  conversion… This is the first skill. Using it, it is easy to guess about the translation of 60% of English words. Moreover, verbs can be converted not only into nouns, but also into adjectives.

The examples below will help you understand the phenomenon of conversion.

Example: love = to love / love.  

Verb convergent word noun

dream, dream dream dream
call name name, title
lift up lift lift, lift
to send email mail
milk milk milk
pour water water
mind mind mind, opinion

Many are embarrassed that in translation into Russian, both words are not the same root. But the language is different.
It’s funny, but the British created it for themselves! For native speakers, these are absolutely identical words: to milk — milk (milk), to name — name (name — name).

2. Affixation

This «scary» word means suffixes plus prefixes. All prefixes are of two types: negative and significant.
Acquaintance with negative ones has already taken place through borrowing: dysfunction, antispam, deflation. Significant — different in meaning, but amenable to logic.

Prefixes

2 groups of prefixes will allow you to find the meaning of a word by context without a dictionary. If you learn the meaning of each prefix separately, the brain starts to panic, it looks for the right algorithm. It takes time, and speech slows down.

And most importantly, the desire to study the language at all disappears.

Example: everyone knows the prefixes «dis-«, «de-«, «anti-«. But for some reason they do not notice them in English!
An important detail: most negative prefixes of nouns work with verbs.  

Negative prefixes

Console Examples
anti- Antistress, antipode, antispam.
dis- Disharmony, disqualification.
de- Depiction, departure.
mis- Misfortune, misunderstanding.
as- Sedition, separation.
not- Nonconformist, nonstop.

Significant prefixes

Most are present in their native language, in borrowings.

You can check the skill of forming nouns in English using a dictionary, but after an independent attempt.
For example, form words: disqualification, pseudoscience, professional, extraordinary, hyperactive, and others. Such training is enjoyable and helps to understand the language.

Attachment type Examples of prefixes
involvement Anti-, co-, con-, contra-, vice-.
censures

Source: https://www.study.ru/courses/elementary/obrazovanie-sushchestvitelnyh

Suffixes in English — Learn All

There can be confusion between suffixes and endings in English (both are often called word endings), besides, English terminology in this matter is slightly different from Russian. Therefore, let’s start with the basic concepts.

The ending is an inflectional morpheme. It changes the form of a word, but not its meaning, and at the same time carries a grammatical load:

  • pencil — pencils (ending indicates plural)
  • work — worked (the ending indicates the elapsed time)

The suffix, in turn, is a derivational morpheme. Suffixes in English create new words, either by changing the meaning of the original one, or by converting one part of speech to another:

  • red — reddish (red — reddish)
  • teach — teacher (teach — teacher)

There are very few endings in English — these are -s (-es), -ed and -ing. There are a lot of suffixes in English. In this article, we will consider only the most common ones.

Profession and occupation suffixes (-er, -ent, -ess)

The -er suffix is ​​perhaps the most common and productive for «doers.» With it, you can form a noun from almost any verb.

  • write> writer — write> writer
  • bake> baker — oven> baker
  • paint> painter — paint> painter

Most modern words denoting the performer of an action are formed precisely with his help. This also applies to inanimate objects.

  • printer — printer
  • scanner — scanner

Many words that come from French and Latin have the -or suffix:

  • doctor — doctor
  • tailor — tailor
  • actor — actor

The English suffix -ist often denotes an activity related to science and medicine:

  • scientist — scientist
  • dentist — dentist
  • biologist — biologist

It also denotes an adherent of any views and beliefs:

  • pacifist — pacifist
  • communist — communist
  • realist — realist

Other suffixes in English of words of Latin and Greek origin:

Suffix -ian:

  • musician — musician
  • librarian — librarian
  • mathematician — mathematician

Suffix -ent:

  • student — student
  • resident — resident, resident
  • agent — agent

Suffix -ant:

  • informant — informant
  • assistant — assistant
  • confidant — confidant

The -ess suffix is ​​one of the few «feminine» suffixes in English:

  • waitress — waitress
  • actress — actress
  • princess — princess

Process, action, phenomenon suffixes (-ment, -ion, -ism)

The suffix in English -ment is needed when forming verbal nouns and means an action or its result:

  • movement — movement
  • entertainment — entertainment
  • concealment — concealment

The -ion suffix also denotes an action, process, or result of that process:

  • revolution — revolution
  • isolation — isolation
  • restriction — restriction

The suffix -ism denotes a system of views, beliefs:

  • racism — racism
  • communism — communism
  • pacifism — pacifism

State, quality, property suffixes (-ance / -ence, -dom, -hood, -ity, -ness, -ship, -th)

The -ance / -ence suffix in a noun usually matches the -ant / -ent suffix in an adjective:

  • different — difference
  • important — importance (important — importance)
  • independent — independence

The suffixes in English -hood and -ship mean a person’s condition associated with his age, social relations, and sometimes activity; or a group of people united by this state.

  • childhood — childhood
  • motherhood — motherhood
  • priesthood — clergy
  • friendship — friendship
  • internship — internship, internship

The suffix -dom means states and properties of a broader meaning:

  • freedom — freedom
  • wisdom — wisdom
  • martyrdom — Martyrdom

The suffix in English -ness means possession of some quality and serves to form nouns from adjectives:

  • kindness — kindness
  • usefulness — usefulness
  • vastness — vastness

The -th suffix more often means physical properties:

  • strength — strength
  • length — length
  • warmth — warm

The suffix -ity means property, quality, and is common for words of Latin origin:

  • brevity — brevity
  • velocity — speed
  • purity — purity

Adjective suffixes

The suffix -ful in English means possession of quality (and is related to the adjective full — «full»):

  • beautiful — beautiful
  • useful — useful

The -less suffix is ​​opposite in meaning to the previous one and means lack of quality:

  • careless — carefree
  • harmless — harmless

The suffix -able, -ible characterizes the property or accessibility for any action:

  • edible — edible
  • portable — portable, portable
  • admirable — admirable

The suffixes -ic and -al mean «related, related»:

  • heroic — heroic
  • mythic — mythical
  • cultural — cultural
  • musical — musical

The -ous suffix also carries a characteristic:

  • dangerous — dangerous
  • nutritious — nutritious

The English suffix -ish has several meanings:

expresses similarity (in terms of appearance, behavior)

  • girlish — girlish
  • childich — childish, childish
  • foolish — stupid

weakens the meaning of an adjective

  • reddish — reddish
  • narrowish — narrowish

means nationality, language or country

  • English — English
  • Swedish — Swedish

The suffix -ive means possession of a property, the ability:

  • attractive — attractive
  • sedative — sedative

The English suffix -y is used to form many simple adjectives:

  • rainy — rainy
  • dirty — dirty
  • sunny — sunny

Vertex suffixes

Verb suffixes are not so diverse and almost all have the meaning of «doing something» or «becoming something.»

Suffix -ate

  • motivate — to motivate
  • activate — activate

Suffix -en

  • lengthen — lengthen
  • strengthen — strengthen

Suffix -ify

  • verify — confirm
  • clarify — to clarify

Suffix -ize, -ise

  • visualize — render
  • neutralize — neutralize

Adverb suffix

Adverbs are formed with just one suffix in English -ly:

  • loudly — loudly
  • beautifully — beautifully
  • politely — politely

We read further:

10 ways to tell an adjective from an adverb in English

What are the types of sentences in English

5 simple rules for word order in English

Adverb, know your place!

Source: https://skyeng.ru/articles/chto-vy-ne-znali-o-suffiksah-v-anglijskom

Plural in English — online lessons for beginners

Read the entire lesson and do a short, easy listening exercise (a translation is shown after each assignment). In the second block of the exercise, you will be asked to write the same phrases under dictation, so listen and read carefully the phrases that you compose in the first block.  

  Start exercise  

In most cases, the plural in English is formed very simply — the ending “-s» or «-Is«, which read differently depending on the consonant in front of it — voiced or voiceless:

For words ending in «s, ss, ch, tch, x» (hissing or whistling sounds), the ending «-Is«, Which reads loudly [of].

In a side-by-side exercise (see the main exercise below), an English noun is shown; to see it in the plural, just click on the word.

In the lesson exercise, beginners will be able to compose phrases on their own — click on the English words to translate the phrase proposed in Russian. A few words that we will meet in the exercise:

  • to want [that uOnt] — to want (the verb following the verb «to want» requires the use of a particle «to«- I want to help you — I want to help you) to have [tu hEv] — to have one [uan] — one

Features of the use of plural nouns

Grammatical addition: in English, the plural can be in «countable nouns«. There are a number of nouns that are used only in the singular (we emphasize, in English; the use of words in Russian and English can both coincide and diverge, but we need to get out of the habit of making comparisons with the native language, and plunge into the logic of English):

  • money [mani] — money hair [hea] — hair advice [adv] — advice

A number of other nouns are used only in the plural form:

  • glasses [glAsiz] — glassesgoods [goodz] — goods trousers [trauzez] — trousers people [people] — people (singular, but implies the plural)

A number of English nouns form the plural in a special way:

  • man — men [men] — [men] — man / men, people woman — women [umen] — [wiming] — woman / women (we prepare the organs of speech for pronouncing [y], but immediately pronounce the next sound) child — children [child] — [chIldren] — child / children

A separate lesson will be devoted to these features of the plural in English; now it is important for beginners to remember the basic rule for the formation of the plural.

Plural adjectives

Adjectives in english do not change in the plural and do not change by gender:

  • good guy [good boy] — good boy good boys [good boys] — good boys good girl [good girl] — good girl good girls [good girls] — good girls

A noun before another noun can act as an adjective; in this case, it is not used in the plural:

  • life situations — life situations

▲ Start online exercise

Next: Articles A, AN, THE and a bit of TO. • Tutor: preparation for the exam and exam, passing international exams.
«My day» / «Working day» / «My day off»
TEST elementary / intermediate

Source: http://english.prolingvo.info/beginner/plural.php

Formation of adjectives in English

The formation of adjectives in English is a rather important and interesting topic. Of course, you can speak English at a fairly high level without going into such details, but such information will not be superfluous.

As in Russian, English adjectives can be derived from other parts of speech. These are usually verbs and nouns. Adjectives are formed using suffixes and prefixes. So, first things first.

Formation of English adjectives using prefixes

Prefixes, or prefixes, are added at the beginning of a word and change its meaning. Usually they change the meaning of the adjective to the opposite, negative. A few examples:

  • un— (unlucky)
  • in— (invisible)
  • dis— (discontent)
  • il— (illegal)
  • ir— (irrational)
  • im— (immovable)

There are several prefixes that change the meaning of a word, but without a negative meaning:

  • pre— (pre-emptive)
  • hyper— (hypertensive, hyperactive)

Formation of English adjectives using suffixes

There are a lot of varieties of English adjectives formed in the suffix way. As an example, there is a picture with the main suffixes, as well as a few examples of words.

  • ful (wonderful, graceful)
  • less (pointless, careless)
  • able (vulnerable, tolerable)
  • ible (terrible, permissible)
  • ant (pleasant, hesitant)
  • ent (different, patient)
  • ic (scientific, iconic)
  • ive (active, impressive)
  • y (angry, dirty)
  • ing (interesting, worrying)
  • ed (confused, excited)
  • al (general, typical)
  • (i) an (Victorian, American)
  • You reprise the theme of the  (gorgeous, famous)
  • ish (childish, Irish)

There is also a classification of English adjectives according to the parts of speech from which they are derived. Adjectives can be formed from nouns, verbs, as well as from other adjectives using various suffixes and prefixes, examples of which have already been considered. The very form of the word may also change. For example, the adjective long is formed from the noun length with a change at the root of the word.

Source: https://english-bird.ru/forming-adjectives/

Formation of nouns in English: suffixes, prefixes, etc.

To do it right assignments 26 — 31 from section «Grammar and Vocabulary» on the Unified State Exam in English, You need to know the most used prefixes and suffixes of nouns. 

I want to say right away that the article will be long, so be patient and read it to the end.

Helpful advice: 

Be sure to learn all the words from this article, as they are selected from real assignments of past years, which were proposed for implementation on the exam in English.

Work separately with each block, spelling out the words, even if they seem familiar to you.

Remember that in assignments 26 — 31 along with your ability to form new words using various affixes, your spelling skills are assessed!

Education model: Verb + er = Noun

When adding a suffix — er to a verb or noun, a noun is formed, denoting a profession, occupation of a person, as well as the names of some objects:

To write — writer, to sing — singer, to drive — driver, to teach — teacher, to examine — examiner, to learn — learner, to build — builder, to loaf — loafer (quitter)

Trumpet — trumpeter (trumpeter), bank — banker (banker), finance — financier (financier)

To contain — container (container), to dust — duster (duster), to grate — grater (grater), to mix — mixer (mixer), to shake — shaker (shaker), to blend — blender (blender), to open — opener (can-opener)

Mince (minced meat) — mincer (meat grinder)

Exception:   to lie (lie) — LIAR   (liar / liar)

Education model:Verb + or = noun

When adding a suffix — or a noun denoting a profession, occupation of a person is formed to the verb (these are mainly nouns of Latin and French origin):

To act — actor (actor), to advise — advisor / —er (advisor, consultant), to animate — animator (animator), to conduct — conductor (conductor), to create — creator (creator), to decorate — decorator (decorator, painter, wallpaper passer), to direct — director (director, director), to educate — educator (teacher), to illustrate — illustrator (illustrator), to invent — inventor (inventor), to invest — investor (investor, contributor), to instruct — instructor (instructor), to translate — translator (translator), to sail — sailor (sailor), to visit — visitor (visitor), to conquer — coqueror (conqueror)

Here are some more nouns with the suffix or, to remember:

doctor, professionalor, sculptureor, sponsor, ancestor (ancestor), tutor, mentor (mentor)

Education model: Noun + ist = Noun

When adding a suffix  -ist a noun is formed to the noun, denoting a profession, occupation of a person:

art — art (artist), cello — cell (cellist), chemistry — chem (chemist, pharmacist), drama — dramat (playwright), ecology — ecolog (ecologist), economics — econom (economist), geology — geolog (geologist), genetics — genetic (geneticist), guitar — guitar (guitarist), journal — journal (journalist), medal — medal (medalist), meteorology — meteorolog (meteorologist), optimism — optim

Source: https://crownenglishclub.ru/dlya-nachinayushhih/obrazovanie-sushhestvitelnyh-v-anglijskom-yazyke-suffiksy-pristavki-i-dr.html

Formation of words in English in examples

As in our native Russian, in other languages, words are also added, for example, with suffixes, as a result of which a new word is obtained. Knowledge of how words are formed in English opens up quite a lot to the student. Having mastered some simple rules and looking at a few examples, you will soon learn to intuitively “create” new phrases as you speak. Fortunately, this is easier in English than in Russian.

Nouns are the basis for word formation. It is from them that, as a rule, comes the formation of verbs, adjectives, as well as their various degrees. It is worth noting that English words are not inflected for cases, only prepositions are used for this.

There are many types of word formation. However, they are not difficult to learn. For a start, it’s a good idea to know how they are created.

Conversion: we create a new one without changing anything

It is common in the English language such a change when nothing changes, except for the part of speech. Such is the pun, however, it is. Most often, a noun is transformed, becoming a verb. In this case, the spelling and pronunciation remain the same. This is called conversion.

Attention! This is not a rule, that is, you cannot just take any noun and use it instead of a verb. It’s just that a lot of words are created in English that way. There are many examples:

  • a look — look
  • to look at — look
  • present — a gift
  • to present — to be present; present
  • present — present

It should be separately noted here that the word «present» in English is one of the many forms of the verb. It is included here to illustrate how multifaceted the use of the same word is in this case.

There are also words where the spelling remains the same, but the stress changes. A change in stress occurs along with a change in part of speech:

Conversion words are not worth experimenting with. Especially if you are with native speakers or if you are communicating with those who know it better than you. This type and the moments when it can be applied are studied in the process, as if by themselves.

Composition

Composition is a simple «mathematics of words». In this case, 2 words just add up into one. This is akin to our «plumbing» and the like. It’s the same in English.

New words are formed in this way simply — there are practically no additional letters for connection, most often the original words are simply written together or with a hyphen:

  • Schoolday — school day (in Russian it is advisable to replace it with «school day»).
  • Air-base — air base.

Changing parts of speech using suffixes

There are several suffixes in English that allow you to conveniently change the part of speech. In this case, most often the «connecting part» does not change.

In Russian it is more difficult: beauty is beautiful. That is, to transform it into an adjective, you also need to change the ending of the original «beauty». In English, a suffix is ​​simply added, and occasionally you only have to change one letter.

Here only the letter «y» has changed. In many cases, this is not required either.

How to write adjective comparison forms

Comparison of adjectives is about the same as in Russian. Let’s remember: high — higher — highest (highest).

In English, suffixes are used for this:

— er for comparison;

— the + word + suffix est for superlative.

  • tall (high) — taller — the tallest.

This is how all comparisons are formed; no more than a dozen exceptions. It should be remembered that if the original variant ends in «y», then before the suffix it will be replaced with «i». Also, in all cases when the word ends with «e», instead of «er» will be simply «r», instead of «est» — «st». The second «e» is, as it were, eaten.

This addition rule is valid for any suffixes, not just comparative degrees. Exceptions are very rare.

«-Ful» and «-less» for adjectives

There are not so many adjectives that exist on their own, which have not been affected in any way by the word formation of English words. More than half of all adjectives are formed with various suffixes. Among them «-ful» and «-less» — they require separate consideration.

Literally, they can be translated as «a lot, full» and «little, not enough», respectively.

  • Success is success.
  • Successful — «full of success», or rather successful.

This is how many adjectives are formed. In this case, as in all others, it must be borne in mind that not every method and not every word is suitable. Big experiments are not worth carrying out. But knowing all the suffixes will make translation from English several times easier. Just knowing the translation of one noun, reading a book or listening to another person, you can instantly draw a conclusion about what this or that adjective means.

  • help — help
  • helpless — helpless

If you come across words familiar to you with the addition of the suffixes «-ful» and «-less», you can first translate them verbatim and immediately recall a simpler and more frequently used translation.

Formation of adjectives from verbs

There is another way to «make» an adjective from a verb. There are the following suffixes used for this purpose:

  1. — able;
  2. — en;
  3. — al;
  4. — ible;
  5. — ant;
  6. — ent.

It should be noted that these are far from all, but the most used suffixes. As you learn English, you will most likely soon learn to guess what this or that suffix means if you didn’t know it before:

  • Eat — eatable
  • Effect — effective

How to make a noun out of a noun?

Also, with the help of simple suffixes -or and -er, the names of professions, statuses and the like are created. Sometimes from nouns, and sometimes from other parts of speech, verbs, for example.

  • Bike — biker
  • Teach — teacher
  • Work — worker

This rule is quite common. Basically, this is how the occupation is indicated in English: by adding a suffix, as a rule, to a noun or to a verb, you get a new noun that characterizes a person by his activities or hobbies. Sometimes such a word can also mean the object with which the action is performed:

  • To mix — mixer

Other endings are also used for the same purpose: -ment, -ent, -ant:

  • to study — student

How do you know which ending to use? Most often, short endings are added to short words, and long endings to long ones. Also, if you don’t know how to do it correctly, try to orient yourself by ear: substitute what sounds better. The rules were invented for a reason, they are quite intuitive.

«-Ly» and «-en»: Formation of adverbs and adjectives

To make an adjective or adverb out of a noun, the suffix «-ly» or «y» is often added:

  • Friend — friendly
  • Luck — lucky

With the help of all the same «-ly» and «-y», adverbs can be formed from adjectives:

  • Sad — sadly
  • Bad — badly

There is also a suffix «-en», with the help of which an object is converted into a property:

  • Wood — wooden
  • Gold — golden

Word formation using prefixes

In addition to suffixes, there are also so-called prefixes in English. In a sense, they are analogous to Russian prefixes and prepositions, many of them can even be translated.

Among the common ones are «un-«, as well as «ir-«, analogs of the particle «not»:

  • Irregular — irregular
  • Unknown — unknown

For the same purpose, the following prefixes are used:

  1. of;
  2. im;
  3. il;
  4. mis;
  5. non;
  6. say;
  7. anti.

There are also prefixes that mean «over», «over», «overly»:

  1. about;
  2. super;
  3. ultra;
  4. extra.

The list of the listed forms of word formation in English, given above, is not complete. This topic is very extensive, it requires more in-depth study. However, the main methods of word formation are shown, those that are used most often.

It will be difficult to just learn and apply them, but you can easily recognize new words in the language, just remembering this set of rules. It should be noted that it is very difficult to predict which particular suffix or prefix will be used. But in the process of studying you will often meet with them and gradually you will be able to remember their meaning automatically.

Article recommended by an expert: Maria Solomatina

Source: https://1hello.ru/grammatika/obrazovanie-slov-v-anglijskom-yazyke-v-primerax.html

Nouns in English (The Nouns): gender, classification, method of formation, 100 popular nouns

In this article we will talk about nouns in English, about their structure, classification, method of formation and use cases. And also you will find out which nouns are the most popular today.

A noun (the noun) is a word that is the name of something, for example, a person, object, place, quality, concept, etc. Answers the questions what is this? (what is this?) and who is this? (who is this?). The noun comes from the Latin word nomen (name).

Gender of nouns in English

In some languages, the noun has gender. This means that it «forces» other words, such as an adjective, to change their spelling according to certain rules. In Russian: a beautiful girl, an interesting film, etc. The gender category in grammar has nothing to do with the gender (gender) category in biology.

In English grammar, nouns have no gender category. But, on the other hand, the concept of the biological sex of a person or an object has a definite impact on some areas of English grammar.

The choice of a particular noun in English depends on where the personal or possessive pronoun occupies in the sentence. But such a difference in gender is noticeable only with nouns in the singular.

For example, the

— He didn’t appreciate his help. — He did not appreciate his help
— He didn’t appreciate it. — He didn’t appreciate it.

Despite the fact that before the word help is the possessive pronoun his, it does not become masculine, however, there is a certain «echo».

But with all this, according to some groups of nouns in English that name people, it is possible to determine whether it is masculine or feminine.

man — woman
husband — wife

The genus of some animals can be distinguished by their name.

Male (male) A cock — cock

A bull — bull

Female A hen — chicken

A cow — cow

Below is a table of masculine / feminine nouns.

As for the neuter gender, it can only be determined by the pronouns it and its.

— The truth will emerge. It always does. — The truth will be revealed. It always opens up.

Nouns denoting inanimate objects and abstract concepts are also neuter: government, summer, brochure, etc.

With some nouns of a general gender (i.e. when the word can be both masculine and feminine), you can determine the gender if you have the necessary information. But if there is no such knowledge, then choosing a suitable pronoun becomes problematic. For example,

— a driverhe / she (driver) — the cookhe / she (cook)

— doctorhe / she (doctor)

In the informal colloquial version of the English language, a solution was found — the pronoun their is most often used instead of his / her, even despite the singular number. Many believe that this is grammatically incorrect, however, this option has taken root and is widely used.

— Someone has left their coat in my room. “Someone left their coat in my office.

— Today, I picked up a few things at the store, and then I picked up my childs at school. Just a regular day in my lifes, many other daies! — Today I bought a few things in the store, then I took the children from school. Just an ordinary day in my life, just like every other day!

At first glance, quite normal sentences with several nouns. But this is only for the first time. In fact, several errors can be found here. Pay attention to the following words — childs, lifes, daies. The plural is incorrectly formed in these words.

Using the example of this sentence, it becomes clear that it is important to pay attention, it is necessary to use the noun in the singular or in the plural, and, accordingly, to know the rules for the formation of plural.

There are several basic rules for the formation of plural nouns in English.

  • 1. Most nouns in English require the addition of an ending —s. For example,

Source: https://englishmix.ru/grammatika/nouns/sushhestvitelnye-v-angliyskom-the-noun

Word formation in English

High USE results in English are a real opportunity for school graduates to enter universities for specialties that require proficiency in English. According to the official data, the section «Grammar and Vocabulary», where the language competence of graduates is checked, the examinees perform worse than the sections «Listening» and «Reading», so preparation for it requires serious attention. But word formation tasks seem to be especially difficult for graduates.

In different textbooks, word formation exercises are found, but there is no proper systematization in any of them. In this regard, it became necessary to create a system of exercises together with the generalization and systematization of students’ knowledge on the topic «Word formation».

At first glance, it may seem that there are many such exercises in any collection. But the structure of this collection is such that the systematization is carried out from simple to complex with increasing and expanding information.

First, students practice word formation using affixes of only nouns, then only adjectives, then nouns and adjectives, after which verbs, adverbs and numbers are added. There are exercises to recognize the suffixes of various parts of speech, to determine the composition of words.

The selection of exercises ends with a test, which includes all types of exercises.

This system of exercises can be used in preparation for the exam by repeating the topic «Word formation with the help of affixes».

Word formation using affixes

Many new words in English are formed by affixing, when the prefixes en-joy, dis-, re-read or the suffixes develop-ment, self-ish are added to the beginning or end of a word (root). Affixes are prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are at the beginning of a word, and suffixes are at the end. Prefixes, as a rule, change the meaning of a word, but do not change its belonging to one or another part of speech:

order (noun) order — disorder (noun) disorder.

Suffixes are used to form one part of speech from another:
beauty (noun) beautiful (adjective) beautiful.

Negative prefixes

Negative prefixes — un-, in-, dis-, non-.
Un- comfortable — uncomfortable, limited — unlimited. The prefix un- is sometimes attached to verbs to express the opposite action: to load — to unload, to lock — to unlock,

in-

ability — inability, complete — incomplete. Before l, the prefix in- turns into il-, before r — into ir-, and before m and p — into im-: legal — illegal, regular — irregular,

patient — impatient.

Dis- This prefix expresses negation or opposite action: negation opposite action to — to dis, to appear — to disappear, honest — dishonest, to arm — to disarm. Non- Words prefixed with non- are most often hyphenated:

conductor — non-conductor.

Prefixes with different meanings

Prefix Value Compliance with the Russian prefix Examples
anti- negation anti anti fascist — antifascist
co- between, mutually co- existence — co-existence
counter- counter- attack — counterattack
ex- former the ex- champion — ex-champion
one- делать  rich — enrich
inter- between, among, mutually national — international
mis- wrong, wrong to understand — to myunderstand
over- over, overly re- to load — to overload

Source: http://www.englishege.ru/grammar/150-slovoobrazovanie-v-anglijskom-yazyke.html

The participle in English (The Participle)

According to the impersonal forms of the verb, we only have the English participle for dessert. And here I have 2 news for you. I’ll start with the good one: a participle in English can correspond to a Russian participle. Bad news: the English participle can also correspond to the Russian participle. And bonus news: the English participle can be easily confused with a gerund. And in a whisper: the English participle has several forms. 

Now, don’t panic! Once you probably confused the letters «G» and «J» in the English alphabet, but this is already a distant past. We’ll figure it out, put it on the shelves and go to practice.


What is an English participle

This is another impersonal form of the verb that combines the following properties:

— verb (denotes action)
broken
heart — broken heart;

— adjective (can answer the question «which»)  
working
machine — a working mechanism;

— adverbs (can answer the question «how?», «Where?», «Where?», «When?», «Why?», «For what purpose?», «To what extent?») 
He was rather furious asking Ann about the school marks — He was pretty angry asking Anya about her grades. (Was angry when? Asking for grades)


Forms of the English participle

There are two main types:

1. participle I (Participle I), or present participle (Present Participle):

1.1. Present Participle Simple
This is an imperfect analogue of our Russian participle or gerunds.

Walking Look at that walking man. Look at that man walking.

I can’t be serious walking with you in the street. I can’t be serious walking down the street with you.

1.2. Present participle perfect
This is a perfect analogue of the Russian gerunds.

Having done
Having done the work she went home. After completing the work, she went home.

Source: https://iloveenglish.ru/theory/anglijskaya_grammatika/prichastie_v_anglijskom_yazike

English nouns (The Noun)

›Grammar and rules› Nouns ›English nouns (The Noun): structure, education, role in a sentence

The bitter truth when learning English is that it will not be very easy to immediately form beautiful sentences with introductory words and participial phrases. The fact is that, as in Russian, you first need to gain an active and passive vocabulary.

At the initial stage, it is not necessary to memorize some high-flown and fanciful adjectives in order to amaze the native speakers. Even if you achieve this goal, the conversation will not work out for you, because conversations in everyday life are usually about everyday trifles.

That is why let’s look at English nouns, touch on their differences, ways of education and compose the top 100 most common English words of this part of speech.

First, let’s figure out what English nouns are.

The Noun ([naun]) or noun in English is an independent part of speech that denotes an object / person / phenomena / abstract concepts and answers the questions what is this? (what is this?) and who is this? (who is this?).

Depending on their structure, meaning and method of formation, nouns can be divided into several groups.

English nouns: structure

English nouns are formed by:

  • Rhoda (gender)
  • Case
  • Number

Gender of nouns

The gender of nouns in English is masculine, feminine and neuter. There is no grammatical ending for separating genders in English, so they do not change by gender, they do not obey any grammar rule, which greatly facilitates the use of nouns. However, when replacing nouns with pronouns, it should be borne in mind that:

  • The pronouns he (he) and she (she) are used when talking about people:
Mom’s cooking.

(Mom loves to cook.)

She’s cooking.

(She loves to cook.)

The student is smart.

(This student is smart.)

He is smart.

(He is smart.)

Liz hasn’t found beautiful dresses.

(Liz couldn’t find any pretty dresses.)

She hasn’t found beautiful dresses.

(She couldn’t find any pretty dresses.)

  • The pronoun it (it) is used when talking about the neuter gender, that is, about inanimate objects and animals.
The dog was lying next to me.

(The dog was lying next to me.)

It was lying next to me.

(She was lying next to me.)

The book was written in 1996.

(The book was written in 1996.)

It was written in 1996.

(It was written in 1996.)

Now pet owners often use pronouns she / he in relation to them when they know their gender, so this English form of noun replacement is also possible.

Cases of nouns

The grammar of the English language has two cases in its arsenal:

  • The general case is the case that absolutely all nouns have. In this form, they are given in dictionaries and textbooks. The noun has no ending in this case.
nature nature
England England
grammar grammar
  • Possessive case — a case that is usually characteristic of animate objects. Such a case shows that some object or feature belongs to a particular person. The form is formed by adding an apostrophe to the noun and the ending –s. Let’s take a look at some of the features of using this form on tables:
  • If the noun is in singular, an apostrophe and the ending -s are added to it:
Jane’s family Jane’s family
sister’s book sister’s book
  • If the noun is plural and ends in -s, then only an apostrophe is added to it:
brothers’ presents brothers gifts
singers’ concerts concerts of singers
  • If a singular noun ends in -s, you can use two options:
Hopkins’s role Role of Hopkins
Hopkins’ role
  • If a subject or sign refers to several nouns at once, then the apostrophe and the ending are used only with the last one:
Tito and mia’s project Tito and Mia’s project
Helen and george’s ideas Helen and George’s ideas
  • If a subject or sign refers to several nouns separately, then an apostrophe and an ending are used with each:

Source: https://speakenglishwell.ru/anglijskie-sushhestvitelnye-the-noun/

Can a verb also be a noun? The short answer is: yes.

As we know a noun is a word that names things, such as persons, places and things, as well as feelings, ideas and acts. We also know that verbs are action words. We use verbs to describe what nouns do.  So how can a verb also be a noun.

Let’s take a look at an example:

The word: play.

I like to play in the park with my friends.
Play is a verb in this sentence.

We’re going to see a play tonight at the theater.
Play is a noun in this sentence.

There are lots of words that can be both a noun and a verb. Here are some:

  • Bait
  • Love
  • Peel
  • Bowl
  • Exit
  • Fly
  • Park
  • Ship

We’ve created some worksheets in our grade 3 grammar section for students to practice writing sentences with words that are both nouns and verbs.

Nouns that are verbs

For further practice, we also have worksheets on identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives in sentences.

Noun, adjective or verb

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