Spanish: An Essential Grammar

hundir to sink hundimiento sinking

salvar to save salvamento rescue/salvaging

The suffixes -ador, -edorand -idor(corresponding to -ar, -erand -ir verbs)

are used to form nouns denoting persons who perform the action denoted

by the verb:

navegar to sail/navigate navegador mariner, (internet)

browser

beber to drink bebedor drinker

seguir to follow seguidor follower/fan

Note: The feminine form of -doris often used for machines and household appli-

ances: secadora‘tumble dryer’, licuadora ‘liquidizer/blender’.

Another common process for deriving nouns from verbs consists in deleting

the -ar/-er/-irof the infinitive and adding -a, -o, or -e, but not according to

any definable rule:

cerrar to close cierre closing/closure

pagar to pay paga payment

volar to fly vuelo flight

The feminine form of a verb’s past participle (suffix: -adaor -ida) can often

be used to denote an action or the result of an action:

llegar to arrive llegada arrival

lavar to wash lavada wash

The suffix-adais applied to nouns to produce others denoting a blow or

other action with an instrument: puñal‘dagger’ > puñalada‘stabbing’, peine

‘comb’ > peinada‘combing’.

It also specifies the amount contained in an instrument: cuchara ‘spoon’ >

cucharada ‘spoonful’, or a period of time: tiempo‘time’ > temporada

‘season’.

The suffix -azois often used like -adato indicate a blow or action involving

an instrument: espalda ‘back’ > espaldazo‘pat on the back’, teléfono‘tele-

phone’ > telefonazo‘call/ring’.

It is also used with names to denote succinctly significant political events:

pinochetazo (Pinochet’s coup in Chile, 1973), fujimorazo(the autogolpe

by President Fujimori of Peru, 1992).

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1011

1

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40

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Word
formation

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