Suffix · forms adjectives
Turns a noun into an adjective meaning "related to" or "belonging to": nation becomes national.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
The suffix -al takes a noun and creates an adjective meaning "related to", "characteristic of" or "belonging to". From "nation" you get "national"; from "music" you get "musical"; from "origin" you get "original". It is one of the most frequent suffixes in academic, scientific and professional vocabulary. When you see a long adjective ending in -al, strip it off and look for the noun inside.
This suffix has the most direct cognates of any in English. In the vast majority of cases, the English -al word is identical or near-identical to the Spanish one: national = nacional musical = musical original = original natural = natural normal = normal Pronunciation differs (English -al is unstressed), but the words are practically the same. If Spanish uses a -al adjective, the English version exists and is spelled almost identically.
Some -al words work as both adjectives and nouns: an animal, a proposal, a signal, a trial, a journal. Context tells you which function the word is serving. The form is exactly the same.
Noun (usually Latin-origin) + al. No spelling changes.
When the base ends in -ic (logic, magic, music), the adjective may be -ical (logical, magical) or just -ic (magic, classic). Sometimes both forms coexist with slightly different meanings: economic (of the economy) vs economical (cost-saving).
-al/əl/ · soft, unstressed 'ul'
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
No consonant doubling. The suffix is simply -al or -ical: nation + al = national.
economic policy vs an economical car (one that uses little fuel). Two different adjectives.
tradition + al = traditional. Four syllables: tra-di-tion-al.
A trick to remember it
If Spanish uses a -al adjective (nacional, musical, natural), the English word is almost identical: national, musical, natural. That is mass free vocabulary. Just remember the English -al ending is unstressed.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
What is the difference between "economic" and "economical"?
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
"professional" comes from...
The suffix -al turns a noun into an adjective meaning "related to" or "belonging to": nation becomes national. In Spanish it usually maps to -al.
The ending -al is pronounced /əl/ · soft, unstressed 'ul'. For example, "national".
"nation" becomes "national". It is a typical example of the -al suffix.
Turns a noun into an adjective meaning "of", "relating to" or "characteristic of": economy becomes economic.
Turns a verb or noun into an adjective showing tendency or capacity: create becomes creative.
Turns a noun into an adjective meaning "full of" or "having that quality": danger becomes dangerous.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.