306. Ways of Giving a Reason

.

Language choices for giving a reason vary widely

NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF REASONS

Reasons rank alongside consequences, examples, comparisons, exceptions and definitions as a key feature of factual and theoretical writing. They are especially important in argumentation (see 167. Ways of Arguing 1). Like other key writing features, they can be expressed in a wide variety of ways, some very basic and some quite esoteric. This post attempts to survey the main possibilities, indicating subtle differences of grammar and meaning that sometimes occur.

First, however, there is a need to establish clearly what is meant by a “reason”. Obviously, reasons say why. However, that is not enough to define them since purposes, motives, explanations and causes do the same.

A purpose is a future event or situation that a living being seeks to achieve through behaving in a particular way (see 60. Purpose Sentences with “for”). A motive is similar, but involves a more personal future gratification (see 276. Tricky Word Contrasts 11, #3). Reasons too may be either an event or a situation causing an action, but this may be either past or future, and there does not have to be any living being involved.

If “reason” is a wider term than “purpose” and “motive”, it is narrower than “explanation”: what is explained is sometimes something other than a reason, such as a meaning. Moreover, “explanation” often involves a more detailed indication of why.

“Cause” is perhaps the closest in meaning to “reason”. It is an event or situation leading to the occurrence or existence of one after it. The main difference between a cause and a reason is the possible timing relative to the consequence: causes before it, reasons either before or after. This results in both cause and reason being usable to refer to what is clearly a cause, but only reason being usable when the timing is either unclear or in the future. Consider this:

(a) The reason for the delay was unclear.

Here, allowance is made for the delay resulting from either an obstruction like a traffic jam (where cause of would be equally usable), or a mind-based purpose like avoiding a speeding ticket (where cause of would be less likely).

An additional feature of reason is its preference in descriptions of logical thinking: one would normally, for example, refer to the basis of a conclusion or generalization as its reason rather than as its cause. This is one reason why reason-giving is so important in argument.

The association of reasons with outcomes or logical ideas usually means that giving a reason requires mention of one of these too. It is important to appreciate, though, that not all co-occurring mentions of a reason and a consequence can be described as “reason-giving”. Consider this:

(b) Traffic congestion is constant here, so a wider road is needed.

Although the underlined words are a reason for what is said after them, they could be dismissed as reason-giving because they are not understandable as a reason while they are being read. Their aim is to inform the reader of something that is not expected to be already known, as a prelude to naming its consequence with so (see 32. Expressing Consequences). One way to highlight these words as a reason would be by making them the second half of the sentence after because, with so dropped.

The consequence that needs to be mentioned with a reason may, like other kinds of “partner” information, be in the same or a neighbouring sentence.

.

SINGLE-SENTENCE REASON GIVING

A reason given in the same sentence as its consequence may or may not come first. If it does, normally the only feature of it that is expected to be new information to the addressee will be its status as a reason for what follows. Moreover, it will not usually be the focus of the sentence (see 37. Subordination). Later-placed reasons, by contrast, may or may not have expected familiarity to the addressee, and they will tend to be the focus of the sentence.

There are various types of language that enable a reason and its consequence to co-occur in the same sentence.

.

1. Conjunctions

In sentences starting with a reason, a reason-showing conjunction is usually the first word. It is likely to be as, if, because or since. Note the difference between the following uses of as:

(c) As lead is poisonous, it is no longer added to petrol.

(d) As unemployment increases, wages tend to fall.

In (c), as purely indicates a reason, whereas in (d) it also marks two events as simultaneous (see 225. Simultaneous Occurrence, #2). I consider only the use in (c) a true reason indicator. Only there can because be used without modifying the meaning.

If introduces a likely but not certain reason (see 179. Deeper Meanings of “if”, under “Likely Conditions”).

Since indicates a logically predictable reason. Both of the the following sentences (from 61. “Since” versus “Because”) allow because, but only one also feels natural with since:

(e) … the sun is hottest at the Equator, pressure is lowest there.

(f) … the defendants were provoked, they used violence.

Since seems to fit (e) better than (f) because the outcome (low pressure) is a logical and inevitable outcome of the reason. The outcome in (f) is neither of these: it is just one of many fairly predictable possibilities. Since would also be possible in (c), even though the outcome is not inevitable, in order to emphasise its logicality.

Three alternatives to since are granted that, given that and seeing that. The first marks the reason as information supplied by somebody else; the others perhaps highlight its established familiarity (see 230. Multi-Word Conjunctions, #1).

All of the above conjunctions are also usable in the middle of their sentence, before a sentence-ending reason. Two others – for and the reason being (that) – are only found in that position.

.

2. Prepositions

Whereas reasons after a conjunction would without the conjunction be a complete sentence, those after a preposition would not (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #4). However, reasons after a preposition are more flexible: able to combine with a consequence in either an adverb-like way, like reasons after a conjunction, or an adjective-like way, with the consequence in noun form.

A typical reason preposition is because of. Compare how …because of the strength of the sun fits into each of the following:

(g) Pressure falls at the Equator…

(h) Low pressure at the Equator is…

The use in (g) is adverb-like, giving a reason for the action of the verb falls, whereas that in (h) is adjective-like, giving a reason for the noun idea low pressure (the two being linked by is: see 220. Features of Complements).

English has numerous prepositions that could indicate a reason. The majority – through, with, out of, because of, as a result of, due to, down to, over, owing to, on account of, thanks to, courtesy of – are also cause-showing. For a detailed overview, see 72. Causal Prepositions. In addition, there are behind (see the next section) and in view of (see 296. Tricky Word Contrasts 12, #4).

.

3. Verbs

The verb BE, along with wording suggesting “reason”, is the simplest for indicating a reason alongside its consequence in a single sentence:

(i) Gravity is (the reason) why unsupported objects fall.

(j) Gravity is the reason for unsupported objects falling.

(k) Gravity is behind unsupported objects falling.

(l) The fall of unsupported objects is due to gravity.

In all these sentences, the reason (gravity) and its consequence comprise or belong to the subject and complement of is.

The why after reason in (i) is necessary because the subsequent words (specifying the reason) are a subject-verb statement. It must be mentioned if reason is dropped, but otherwise it can be left unmentioned but understood. In (j), why is replaced by the preposition for (not of!) because the following words (objects falling) are a noun phrase rather than a statement.

The idea of “reason” in (k) is in the preposition behind – an extension of its basic meaning (see 229. Metaphorical Prepositions). In (l), gravity is marked as a reason by the multi-word preposition due to.

In (i), (j) and (k), the underlined words are replaceable by explains. If (i) and (j) had a reason instead of the reason, helps to explain would be better. In (j) and (k), underlies is also possible. In (j), (k) and (l), is linked to is a further option, while (l) (which ends with the reason) additionally allows is attributed to and is explained by.

The active form of ATTRIBUTE…TO, along with less formal PUT…DOWN TO, is useful for reporting someone else’s mention of a reason (see the end of 150. Verb Choices with Reported Speech, #1).

Underlies seems especially suited to stative consequences, e.g. …underlies a desire for riches. For more about it, see 81. Tricky Word Contrasts 2, #6.

.

NEW-SENTENCE REASON GIVING

A reason given in a separate sentence from its consequence usually follows it. Often, its reason-giving status will be understandable without the help of any special language (see 18. Relations between Sentences). However, help is possible with the following types of expression.

4. Connectors

Connectors are adverb-like indicators of a meaning link between adjacent sentences. They very commonly go at the start of their sentence before a comma, but most can also come later between two commas (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors). The main reason-giving connectors are this is because… and the reason is that…. Less common is it could be that… (see 289. Exotic Grammar Structures 8, #2).

When multiple reasons exist, signalling the first with for one thing shows this without necessarily requiring any more to be named. If more do need naming, though, they can follow in further sentences, common introducers being for another (thing), furthermore or moreover. Occasionally, instead of for one thing it may be necessary to say it is not just (that) (see 228. Exotic Grammar Structures 5, #2).

An alternative approach with multiple reason sentences is to start with a sentence indicating that multiple reasons exist and are about to be listed, and then to put each reason in a new sentence, along with a list connector like firstly, to begin with, secondly (etc.) or next. For examples, see 122. Signpost Words in Multi-Sentence Lists.

.

5. Connector Synonyms

Many words can express the meaning of a connector without actually being one (see 112. Synonyms of Connectors). Consider, for example, the following use of link:

(m) Some people prefer to drink water from beneath the ground. They typically link this to the mineral content of such water.

All of the verbs listed in #3 above seem able, like LINK above, to accompany a new-sentence reason as well as a same-sentence one.

Many nouns are also able to act as a synonym of a reason connector. Common ones include basis, factor, grounds, justification, link, motivation, motive, reason and source.

305. Wording next to Superlatives

.

There is a variety of typical wording that can accompany superlative adjectives and adverbs

THE COMPLEXITY OF SUPERLATIVES

The superlative form of adjectives and adverbs (with -est or most) is not difficult to recognise, form or understand, but the choice of wording next to it can be more of a problem because it is constrained by a surprising variety of grammatical rules. It is these rules that I wish to focus on here. I expect readers will know some of them already, but that few will know them all.

Before examining these rules, however, it may be helpful to summarise a few basics about superlatives. With superlative adjectives, the choice between -est and most is of course determined by syllable numbers, the former being preferred with single-syllable adjectives (e.g. clearest), the latter with most multi-syllable ones (e.g. most accurate).

For forming superlative adverbs, -est is again mainly possible with shorter forms. However, where these end with -ly, -est is often not simply added onto the end as with adjectives, but takes the place of -ly. For example, the -est form of clearly is clearest, not *clearliest. The -liest ending is only possible with -ly adverbs that could also be adjectives, such as early (for a list, see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs, #6). This rule means, of course, that superlative adjectives and adverbs with -est are spelled the same, leaving only adjectives and adverbs with most looking visibly different from each other.

Sometimes, though, short -ly adverbs like clearly are used with most instead of -est, probably because -est is considered rather informal. The only -est forms that do not allow this choice seem to be irregular ones like best, worst and furthest.

Superlative adjectives are usually located near a noun – before or after them – that they can be understood as “describing” (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives). Superlative adverbs, on the other hand, add information about a verb, adjective, other adverb or entire sentence. When both have the same spelling, a sentence position where these two uses can be especially difficult to distinguish is directly after a verb. Adjectives there are probably describing the verb’s subject; adverbs the verb. Consider this:

(a) Air coolers are best in dry climates.

The superlative best is here an adjective describing air coolers. This is because the verb (are) is the kind that must be followed by a “complement” – a noun or adjective giving information about its subject (see 220. Features of Complements, #2). Since there is no other noun or adjective after are that could be understood as its complement, best must be that word, and it must be an adjective because complements are not usually adverbs.

Best becomes an adverb in (a), however, if are is replaced by the verb work. This is not a complement-taking verb, so no wording after it can describe its subject. With best now lacking a noun to describe, it ceases to be an adjective and becomes an adverb instead. Thus, when a superlative after a verb has identically-spelled adjective and adverb forms, it is the grammatical properties of the verb that are the main clue to which of these forms is present.

Meaning-wise, superlatives, like comparatives, express what I have elsewhere called a “relative” difference – more or less of something rather than whether it is present or absent (see 216. Indicating Differences). Unlike with comparatives, though, the difference that they express relates to at least two other things, not just one (see 312. Grammar Command Test 3, #a).

.

THE PARTNER WORDING OF SUPERLATIVES

1. An Implicit Following Noun

Superlative adjectives differ from base-form ones in being usable without a nearby mention of the noun they are describing:

(c) When there are numerous tasks to undertake, start with the easiest.

Here, easiest has no noun in close proximity that it could be linked with in the normal manner of adjectives. It is linked to the implicit idea of “task” by the wider context. By contrast, if the base form easy was used instead, it would need to be followed by one(s), a pronoun referring back to tasks: ending with just *the easy would be grammatically incorrect. This pronoun-dropping property of superlatives is also possessed by comparative forms (see 102. Adjectives with no Noun 2).

A further use of superlative adjectives with an implicit following noun, this time shared by base-form nouns, is when the noun refers to the general idea of “people”. Just as the rich can mean “rich people” and the young can mean “young people” (see 6. Adjectives with No Noun 1), so the richest and the youngest can mean “people (in general) who are the richest/ youngest”.

.

2. A Preceding “the”

Superlative adjectives and adverbs mostly require the before them, but sometimes they can or must drop it. One place where the is sometimes dropped is before adjectives in the complement position:

(d) The police are (the) busiest in the summer.

Including the before the superlative complement busiest here is likely to make a comparison between the subject of the sentence (the police) and an implied similar group (e.g. other workers). Less probably, the comparison will be between the subject and itself in different situations. Dropping the, by contrast, only makes this latter kind of comparison. Replacing the with at their can do the same (see 311. Exotic Grammar Structures 9, #3).

One other place where the is sometimes dropped is before a superlative adverb saying something about a verb (i.e. not describing an adjective or other adverb, as in the most clearly visible). Dropping the makes no meaning difference:

(e) Motor accidents occur (the) most often at night.

For further details about the before superlatives, see 82. Common Errors in Making Comparisons, #9.

.

3. A Preceding “a(n)”

Sometimes, the before a superlative adjective needs to be replaced by a(n). A common marketing term, for example, is a best buy (= “merchandise providing best value for money”).

Using a shows that other “best buys” exist. The superlative form is possible because each “best buy” is in a different category from the others, and is being elevated only above the other members of its category, rather than all other “best buys”. For example, calling a TV a best buy would say it was the best TV to buy, without saying how it compared with other products.

.

4. A following “of”

Sometimes, a noun after a superlative adjective is separated from it by of meaning “among”:

(f) The most interesting of the anecdotes was (or were) provided by children.

A noun directly after a superlative adjective can be singular or plural in the normal way. With of, however, this noun is always plural, regardless of whether a singular or a plural idea is being expressed. This is because the superlative is not actually describing the plural noun after of, but is rather describing an earlier singular or plural version of it that has been left unmentioned to avoid repetition. In sentence (f), for example, the underlined part means “the most interesting anecdote (or anecdotes) of the anecdotes” (see 160. Uses of “of”, #5).

Of the is added after a superlative to show a very strong expectation that the subsequent noun represents an already-familiar idea. Of alone, by contrast, indicates a weak expectation, while a normal superlative, with nothing added, indicates a medium-level expectation (see 247. Exotic Grammar Structures 6, #3).

If a preposition after a superlative does not mean “among”, it cannot usually be of. Consider this:

(g) The Vatican is the smallest state … Europe.

Of is not possible in the space here because the idea of “among” clearly does not fit. The correct choice before a location name like Europe is in. Yet the idea of “among” is still implicit in the sentence: it could be made explicit by changing state into of the states.

A common task in English language tests is to paraphrase a sentence containing a superlative + of with one containing the corresponding comparative. Consider, for example, the following:

(h) Mercury is the nearest of the planets to the sun.

How might this be paraphrased by starting Mercury is nearer to the sun…? The key is to include the word other after than: …than any/all of the other planets.

.

5. A Preceding “one of the”

As indicated above, superlative adjectives can describe plural nouns as well as singular ones. For example, the most interesting chapters of a book would refer to two or more chapters out of a larger total in the book. The chapters may or may not all be equally interesting.

One of the before a superlative adjective indicates both that the adjective is describing multiple noun ideas and that accompanying information is about just one of them. If the noun is mentioned after the superlative adjective, it must be plural. In the book example, one of the most interesting (chapters) would associate accompanying information with one of the chapters covered by the superlative (see 263. Uses of “One” and “Ones”, #4).

.

6. A Preceding or Following Strength Expression

Strength expressions indicate how strongly or weakly an adjective or adverb meaning applies. For example, very, as in very fast, indicates high strength of base-form meanings. English has numerous strength words and phrases (mostly adverbial), but very few that are equally usable with base, comparative and superlative forms. Very links only with base forms (see 194. Adverbs that Say How Much).

Superlative adjectives and adverbs can be accompanied by a surprising variety of strength expressions, but their relative positions are not always the same: some strength expressions precede the superlative, some go after, and some allow a choice. Common possibilities are:

USUALLY BEFORE SUPERLATIVES

just about, fractionally, marginally, much, very much, easily, far and away, quite, the very

USUALLY AFTER SUPERLATIVES

available, conceivable, ever, of all, imaginable, possible, so far, yet

BEFORE OR AFTER

up to a point, by far

Note the difference between the positions of by far and far and away (see 292. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar 2, #6), plus the inclusion of strength-showing adjectives alongside adverbs in the after-superlative list (see 269. Exotic Grammar Structures 7, #3).

.

7. A Following Infinitive

Most superlative adjectives can make an adjective phrase by combining with a to (infinitive) verb:

(i) The cold virus is the likeliest to be contracted.

Often, the superlative’s base form is equally able to link with an infinitive (see 83. Adjectives before a “to” Verb). In (h), for example, likely would be equally grammatical before the indicated infinitive. With some superlatives, though, such replacement is not grammatically possible. This would be the case in (h), for example, if likeliest was replaced by most frequent.

It often seems to be the case that non-replaceable superlatives like the most frequent allow a following infinitive to be paraphrased with a relative clause (with who, which, that etc.) whereas replaceable ones do not (see 269. Exotic Grammar Structures 7, #4).

304. Adjectives Made from a Verb

.

Some English adjectives are made by changing a verb spelling

WORDS MADE FROM OTHER WORDS

A word can be said to be “made from” another word if it is clearly linked in meaning and most of its letters are the same but added to at the start or end. For example, the adjective microscopic could be described as made from the noun microscope, and the noun brilliance could be viewed as made from the adjective brilliant (see 255. Nouns Made from Adjectives).

English has numerous words made from other words. Already in this blog, there have been the above-mentioned post about adjectives, a similar one about nouns made from verbs (249. Action Noun Endings), and one about the variety of word endings in general (172. Multi-Use Suffixes). I believe this kind of study to be valuable in language learning for vocabulary development. English language coursebooks tend to approach it under the heading of “word families”.

Like the two noun types in previous Guinlist posts, adjectives made from verbs are numerous and characterised by a variety of endings. Presenting these endings along with a sizeable sample of their associated adjectives seems to be a worthwhile means of both helping new words to be learned and dealing with unfamiliar words during reading and writing (see 177. How to Guess Meanings in a Text).

.

RECOGNISING ADJECTIVES MADE FROM VERBS

Before the main discussion, it is useful to consider some problems that arise in the identification of adjectives made from verbs. One matter that is easily resolved is which of the various possible spellings of a verb – for example with or without -s – should be considered. The normal practice, also followed here, is to ignore special verb endings and just concentrate on the “base” form.

One recognition problem is adjectives spelt exactly the same as the base form of their related verb, such as clean, open and welcome (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives, #3). I suspect that some of these started out as verbs and started later to be used as adjectives as well, but others developed in reverse. With there seeming to be no clear indication of which usage is more “basic”, I include adjectives of this kind in the discussion below.

Another problem is adjectives that could as conceivably be made from a noun as from a verb. One type – illustrated by hopeful, panicky and photographic – is related to a noun and verb with identical spellings (hope, panic and photograph). I prefer to exclude such adjectives as derived from a verb because their endings are more typical of adjectives made from nouns (for numerous other -ful examples, see 106. Word-Like Suffixes).

A different adjective type is related to a noun and a verb that each has its own spelling, such as responsive (verb = RESPOND, noun = response). I do not exclude such adjectives, as there is no proof that they are related to the verb via the noun rather than directly.

.

ENDINGS OF VERB-DERIVED ADJECTIVES

1. “Zero” Endings

Adjectives spelled exactly like a related verb are surprisingly numerous. Some are “homonyms”, with unchanged pronunciation; some are “homographs”, pronounced differently (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs).

Common examples are absent, average, clean, clear, complete, content, corrupt, direct, dirty, double, empty, equal, hurt, level, lower, manifest, narrow, near, open, perfect, slow, suspect, total and welcome. The adjective present (opposite of absent) is excluded here because it lacks a meaning link with the verb PRESENT. The verb ABSENT normally needs a -self word as object (see 268. Types of “-self” Object, #5).

In addition, there are some longer adjectives – mostly homographs – that are spelt with -ate, e.g. animate, articulate, consummate, degenerate, deliberate, duplicate, prostrate and subordinate (see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #4).

Adjectives spelled the same as a verb are usually very similar in meaning to the verb’s “past” participle (with -ed or irregular equivalent). Often, the difference is that the adjective implies nothing about when its meaning began to be true of its partner noun, whereas a participle implies that this happened recently. For multiple examples, see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning.

Adjectives and verbs with the same spelling are easy to confuse grammatically. Care is especially needed in combinations with BE (see 140. Words with Unexpected Grammar 2, #f, and 231. Confusions of Similar Structures 3, #4).

.

2. “-ive”

This common ending very often combines with verbs ending in either -d(e), t(e) or -ss (exceptions in the list below are underlined). The -d(e) verb ending tends to become -s- (e.g. conclude-conclusive):

acquisitive, active, affirmative, assertive, attractive, attentive, collective, comparative, competitive, comprehensive, compulsive, conclusive, connective, corrosive, creative, cumulative, deceptive, decisive, deductive, demonstrative, descriptive, destructive, dismissive, distinctive, divisive, effective, erosive, exclusive, excessive, expansive, expensive, expressive, extensive, imaginative, impressive, impulsive, inclusive, indicative, instructive, manipulative, negative, operative, permissive, persuasive, possessive, predictive, prescriptive, productive, progressive, reactive, receptive, reflective, relative, repetitive, responsive, restrictive, retentive, speculative, subversive, successive, suggestive, supportive.

Note how cumulative drops the initial ac- of its related verb ACCUMULATE, while affirmative, imaginative, competitive and repetitive add an extra syllable. For more about vowel changes (destroy-destructive, impel- impulsive, receive-receptive), see 41. Unexpected Vowels in Derived Words.

Despite the size of the above list, it should not be thought that all –ive adjectives are made from a verb. Examples that are not are defective, festive, massive and qualitative.

.

3. “-ing” and “-ed”

Most people would probably associate these endings more with verbs than adjectives. However, many words made by combining a verb with -ing or -ed (or an “irregular” equivalent of -ed, as in begun, made and risen) can actually be an adjective rather than a verb. On verbs, these endings make participles, which are adjective-like and hence difficult to distinguish from adjectives. Nevertheless, adjectives made with -ing or -ed are not the same as participles (see 245. Adjectives with a Participle Ending).

Familiar -ing/-ed adjectives include caring, interesting, moving (= emotion-stirring), terrifying, advanced, determined, lost and surprised. For more examples, see the above post, plus 98. “Very”, “Much” and “Very Much”.

.

4. “-ible” and “-able”

Adding one of these endings to a verb usually creates an adjective that means “able to be -ed” (see 270. Paraphrasing Adjectives with Words of Other Kinds, #4). The equivalence to the passive meaning of the verb makes such adjectives a useful means of avoiding undesirable passive verb uses (see 27. How to Avoid Passive Verbs). Equivalence to the negative form of the verb is usually shown with a starting in- or –un-.

It is actually -able that is the more usual addition to a verb. Common adjectives with it include (un)acceptable, adaptable, (in)advisable, (dis)agreeable, appreciable, (un)approachable, (un)available, (un)believable, classifiable, (in)comparable, (in)conceivable, debatable, (un)deniable, dependable, (un)desirable, (in)dispensable, (un)endurable, (in)excusable, (un)imaginable, (un)knowable, laughable, likeable, (un)mentionable, (im)movable, notable, (un)observable, (im)passable, (un)profitable, (un)questionable, readable, (un)recognizable, (un)reliable, (ir)replaceable, (un)suitable, (un)thinkable, understandable, (un)usable and (in)valuable.

The relatively few -ible adjectives made from an English verb include (in)accessible, (in)digestible, (in)discernible, (in)divisible, (in)exhaustible, negligible, (in)omissible, (ir)responsible and suggestible. There are various other -ible words that are not made from an English verb, such as (in)credible, (in)edible, (in)eligible, (in)fallible, feasible, horrible, (un)intelligible, (il)legible, plausible, sensible and (in)visible.

Even a few -able words have no related verb, for example inevitable, knowledgeable, probable, viable and vulnerable.

.

5. “-ant” and “-ent”

Common verb-derived adjectives under these headings are:

-ant: abundant, defiant, dependant, dominant, expectant, hesitant, observant, reliant, resistant, resultant, significant, stagnant, tolerant, vibrant

-ent: competent, convergent, dependent, deterrent, different, divergent, emergent, existent, indulgent, insistent, recurrent, reminiscent, resident

Some of these are an active equivalent of a passive -able/-ible adjective (cp. observant/ observable, reliant/ reliable and tolerant/ tolerable). The pronunciation of -ant and -ent is the same (with /ə/), so that the wrong spelling is quite easy to choose (see 188. Causes of Common Spelling  Mistakes, #3). Note, however, the spelling choice with dependant/ dependent.

In addition, there are numerous adjectives, especially with -ent, that have no related verb. Brilliant and recent are examples; for more, see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #5 and #6.

.

6. “-tory”

This ending is found fairly equally on nouns and adjectives (see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #9). Common adjectives include:

anticipatory, articulatory, combinatory, confirmatory, discriminatory, explanatory, exploratory, expository, inflammatory, introductory, mandatory, migratory, participatory, preparatory, regulatory, respiratory, satisfactory, transitory

Also worth noting are sensory, (-ory instead of -tory) and auditory (with no related verb).

.

6. “-ic”

Fewer verb-derived adjectives seem to have this ending. The following equivalences are notable:

ANALYSE: analytic
APOLOGISE: apologetic
DIAGNOSE: diagnostic
EMPHASISE: emphatic
PHOTOGRAPH: photographic
PROPHESY: prophetic(al)
SYNTHESISE: synthetic
HORRIFY: horrific (or horrifying)
SPECIFY: specific

All of these adjectives except the last two are of Greek origin (see 90. The Greek Impact on English Vocabulary, #2). Also notable is the non-Greek terrific. It is one of two adjectives related to TERRIFY, the other being terrifying (see #3 above). It can be considered the more weakly-related because its meaning (“wonderful”) is more distant from that the verb (see 284. Words with a Surprising Meaning, #4).

.

7. Other

The verbs INFECT, PRESUME, REBEL and SUSPECT have related adjectives with -ous (infectious, presumptuous, rebellious, suspicious) – an ending more typical of adjectives without a corresponding verb (such as superfluous), and of noun-derived adjectives, such as dangerous (see the end of 255. Nouns Made from Adjectives). SUSPECT has two derived adjectives, the other being suspect (see #1 above).

CONCEIVE, DEFINE (= clearly fix) and MULTIPLY have the adjectives conceptual, definite and multiple.

Of the numerous verbs that have no corresponding adjective, some compensate by having a preposition phrase instead. For example, DENY corresponds to in denial, while ENDANGER has in danger for short-term danger (endangered being more long-term). Other correspondences include:

BEGIN: at the beginning (= alternative to the participle beginning)
BE EXAMINED: under examination
CONCERN (= worry): of concern (= active alternative to passive concerned)
DISPUTE: in dispute (= active alternative to passive disputed)
PROGRESS: in progress (progressive = modernising)
REACH: within reach (= alternative to reachable)
SET OUT: at the outset
TRANSIT: in transit (transitory = temporary)

Care is needed with preposition phrases not to confuse their adjective use (after the noun they are describing) with adverbial ones (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #2).