Lesson 5: Understanding Word Forms
Noun, Verb, Adjective, & Adverb
This is the most important lesson in our Word Formation series! You have learned about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, as well as prefixes and suffixes. Now, we will put it all together to look at "word families1". You will see how one root word2 can change its form3 to become a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Understanding this will supercharge your vocabulary!
Word Family Example 1: "Beauty"
Let's look at one root idea: beauty. We can change its form to talk about the idea, an action, a description, or how an action is done.
| Word Type | Example Word | Function | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun (idea) | beauty | The *idea* or *quality*. | The beauty of Angkor Wat is famous. |
| Verb (action) | beautify | *To make* something beautiful. | They will beautify the park with flowers. |
| Adjective (describes a noun) | beautiful | Describes a thing. | Angkor Wat is a beautiful temple. |
| Adverb (describes a verb) | beautifully | Describes an action. | The Apsara dancers performed beautifully. |
Word Family Example 2: "Success"
Here is another common example with the root idea of success.
| Word Type | Example Word | Function | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun (idea) | success | The *idea* of achieving a goal. | I wish you success in your new job. |
| Verb (action) | succeed | *To achieve* a goal. | If you work hard, you will succeed. |
| Adjective (describes a person/thing) | successful | Describes someone who succeeds. | She is a successful business owner. |
| Adverb (describes a verb) | successfully | Describes an action. | He successfully passed the difficult exam. |
Usage Note: Recognizing a Word's Job
You can often identify a word's function by its position in a sentence.
- Nouns are often the subject or object: "Success requires hard work."
- Verbs usually come after the subject: "She succeeds in her goals."
- Adjectives come before a noun or after 'to be': "a successful person" / "She is successful."
- Adverbs modify verbs: "She completed the project successfully."
In Conversation
Srey is explaining word families to Bora.
Srey: My English homework is to learn the word family for "create".
Bora: Oh, that's a good one. So, 'create' is the verb, right? To make something new.
Srey: Yes. And the noun for the *idea* is creation. The painting is a beautiful creation.
Bora: And the noun for the *person* is the creator. What about the adjective?
Srey: A person who likes to create things is creative. My sister is very creative.
Bora: Perfect! And the adverb? How does she paint?
Srey: She paints creatively.
Bora: Amazing! One root word has so many forms!
quiz Check Your Understanding
1. In the sentence "She made a quick decision," what type of word is 'decision'?
- a) Verb
- b) Noun
- c) Adjective
Click to see the answer
Answer: b) Noun (It is the name of the thing she made).
2. Choose the correct word form: "He is a very ______ worker." (root: success)
- a) success
- b) succeed
- c) successful
Click to see the answer
Answer: c) successful (We need an adjective to describe the noun 'worker').
3. Choose the correct word form: "She completed the project ______." (root: success)
- a) success
- b) successful
- c) successfully
Click to see the answer
Answer: c) successfully (We need an adverb to describe the verb 'completed').
edit Your Mission
- Word Family Chart: Choose one word root: 'differ' or 'collect'. Use an online dictionary to find the noun, verb, and adjective forms. Create a small chart in your notebook.
- My Sentences: Write two sentences using different forms of the same root word. (e.g., "He is a careful driver. He always drives carefully.")
- Speak: Your mission is to use two different forms of a word in a conversation. (e.g., "The beauty of the temples is amazing. They are so beautiful.")
book Lesson Glossary
- Word Family (noun phrase) - Khmer: គ្រួសារពាក្យ (kruəsaa peak) - A group of words that share the same root word (e.g., beauty, beautiful, beautify). ↩
- Root Word (noun) - Khmer: ពាក្យដើម (peak daem) - The most basic form of a word with no prefixes or suffixes. ↩
- Form (noun) - Khmer: ទម្រង់ (tumrong) - The particular way a word exists; its type (noun, verb, etc.). ↩