All languages tend to be pragmatic and save time. If there’s a possibility to turn one meaning into multiple words with different functions, that’s likely to happen.
Learning how to form a noun from a verb in French is a trick to smart learning. Imagine you already learned one French verb, but you need it as a noun. Piece of cake. After our today’s lesson.
Stick with us to make more sense of your French learning.
What is nominalisation?
Nominalization is the act of forming a noun from a verb or an adjective. Many verbs in the French language can easily be converted into nouns with suffixes.
You can also change certain verbs to nouns depending on the context of a sentence. In French, there’s no specific rule for nominalization. Simply put there are different ways of creating nouns, but it’s almost impossible to determine which method applies to which noun. Therefore, dear learner, you must rely on your intuition, only after a long period of studying different cases.
Different methods of nominalization
Adding a suffix to the root of the verb
Here’s a long list of suffixes in French.
- -tion, – ition – uction – ation / punir, déduire, traduire – punition, déduction, traduction, graduation
- -sion / exploser, éroder, éclore – explosion, érosion, éclosion
- -ence, ance /exploser, éroder, éclore
- – ment / raisonner, render – raisonnement, rendement
- – age / tourner, abattre
- – ure / souder, gager, bruler – soudure, gageure, brulure
- – ée / level, monter, tourner, dicter – levée, montée, tournée, dictée
- -ie / incendier, envier, agoniser – incendie, envie, agonie
- te, -té / perdre, vendre, égaler – perte, vente, égalité
- erie / rêver, flâner, tromper – rêverie, flânerie, tromperie
- sson / cuire, boire – cuisson, boisson
- ise / prendre, mépriser, maîtriser – prise, méprise, maîtrise
- ade / rouler – roulade
- at / assassiner, plagier – assassinat, plagiat
To learn more about French nouns, read Singular and Plural Nouns in French.
Without changing the verb
Most of the time, a verb can be easily turned into a common noun by simply adding the article in front of a verb.
It’s the case with following verbs :
- rire → le rire
- dîner → le dîner
- déjeuner → le déjeuner
To learn more about French verbs, read Regular French Verbs in -ir (Present Simple Tense)
Deleting the verb ending
- débuter – le début
- ajouter – l’ajout
- sauter – le saut
- chanter – le chant
- arrêter – l’arrêt
Adding a suffix to the adjective
The same way is possible to create a noun from a verb, it’s possible to create a noun from adjective. Here’s the list of suffixes we usually add to adjectives to form a noun.
- ie / démocrate, diplomate, aristocrate – la démocratie, la diplomatie, l’aristocratie
- té / libre, égal, fraternel, sain, loyal, beau – la liberté, l’égalité, la fraternité, la santé, la loyauté, la beautté
- tude/ seul, apte, exact – la solitude, l’aptitude, l’exactitude
- erie / étourdi, pédant – l’étourderie, la pédanterie
- eur / grand, lent, lourd, large, blanc – la grandeur, la lenteur, la lourdeur, la largeur, la blancheur
- isme, iste / réel, classique, naturel, national – réalisme, classicisme, naturaliste, nationaliste
A Quick Takeaway
Perhaps learning the long list of French suffixes and other methods of forming a noun, seems boring but once you are familiar with the process, you’ll see how much learning French has gotten easier.