---
title: "Converting Words into Verbs"
description: "Convert nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding suffixes -ate, -ise (-ize), and -ify, understanding how word class changes affect sentence construction"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/converting-words-into-verbs-mt_p3tZiUaWAa
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/converting-words-into-verbs-mt_p3tZiUaWAa.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Converting Words into Verbs

Convert nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding suffixes -ate, -ise (-ize), and -ify, understanding how word class changes affect sentence construction

Subject: English · Area: Grammar & Punctuation · Ages 9 to 10
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/converting-words-into-verbs-mt_p3tZiUaWAa

## Ready when they can

- Add -ate, -ise, or -ify to nouns or adjectives to form verbs, e.g. pollen → pollinate, advert → advertise, simple → simplify
- Choose the correct verb-forming suffix for a given root and use the resulting verb in a sentence, e.g. 'They needed to classify the animals' from 'class'
- Identify the word-class change when a suffix converts a noun or adjective into a verb and explain how this affects the sentence structure

## Lesson: Turning words into verbs

You know endings like -ous in famous and -ly in happily change meaning. Some endings do something bigger: they turn a naming word (noun) or a describing word (adjective) into an action word (verb). Three common verb-making suffixes are -ate, -ise (or -ize), and -ify.

*(drawing: Add -ify to the noun class, and you get classify: an action word.)*

**Example.** Pollen is a noun. Add -ate and you get pollinate, a verb: 'Bees pollinate flowers every spring.' Advert is a noun. Add -ise and you get advertise, a verb: 'Shops advertise their sales on the radio.'

**Example.** Watch how the sentence changes. 'The class was loud' uses class as a naming word. 'We classify the rocks by color' uses classify as an action word, so the sentence needs someone doing the sorting.

**Example.** There is no single rule for which suffix a word takes, so notice patterns as you read: simple becomes simplify, active becomes activate, modern becomes modernize, and class becomes classify. When you meet a new word ending in -ate, -ise, or -ify, expect it to be a verb.

**Recap.** Add -ate, -ise, or -ify to a noun or adjective, and it becomes an action word: a verb.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Adjectives vs adverbs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/adjectives-vs-adverbs-mt_j351evNNnB)
- [Suffixes (age 7+)](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/suffixes-age-7-mt_tHtjfjjFrl)
- [Basic Nouns & Verbs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/basic-nouns-and-verbs-mt_yBJyCfhtem)

## Opens up

- [Vocabulary Strategies](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/vocabulary-strategies-mt_WZnwITSWr8)