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    Types of Derivation in English: Forming Agent Nouns from Verbs

    ESL Lesson Plans for All Grade Levels / By Heather Marie Kosur / Teaching English as a Second Language

    Verb-Noun Derivation

    Derivation is the process whereby the addition of affixes, chiefly prefixes and suffixes in English, to base forms results in the creation of new words. In English, the affixation of the suffixes -er, -or, and ­-ar to verbs creates nouns. The -er, -or, and ­-ar are referred to as agentive suffixes because their affixation to action verbs produces agent nouns, or nouns that identify the person or other entity performing the action. In other words, agent nouns are usually names for people. For example, affixing -er to the base form of the verb learn results in the noun learner, meaning someone who learns, and affixing -or to the base form of the verb interrogate results in the noun interrogator, meaning someone who interrogates.

    Some Agent Nouns

    The following three lists provide examples of some common agent nouns in English organized by -er, -or, and ­-ar suffix.

    Verb – Noun

    • bake – baker
    • clean – cleaner
    • dance – dancer
    • employ – employer
    • farm – farmer
    • garden – gardener
    • lead – leader
    • listen – listener
    • manage – manager
    • mourn – mourner
    • observe – observer
    • paint – painter
    • publish – publisher
    • read – reader
    • research – researcher
    • sell – seller
    • teach – teacher
    • travel – traveler
    • use – user
    • write – writer

    Verb – Noun

    • act – actor
    • administrate – administrator
    • advise – advisor
    • animate – animator
    • audit – auditor
    • conduct – conductor
    • decorate – decorator
    • direct – director
    • edit – editor
    • educate – educator
    • govern – governor
    • instruct – instructor
    • invent – inventor
    • investigate – investigator
    • negotiate – negotiator
    • operate – operator
    • possess – possessor
    • sail – sailor
    • supervise – supervisor
    • visit – visitor

    Verb – Noun

    • beg – beggar
    • lie – liar

    Spelling Rules for Agent Nouns

    For verbs spelled with a final consonant preceded by either two vowels or additional consonants or with a vowel preceded by a consonant, simply add the agent suffix:

    • act – actor
    • design – designer
    • ski – skier
    • teach – teacher

    For verbs spelled with a final w, x, or y preceded by a vowel, simply add the agent suffix:

    • box – boxer
    • brew – brewer
    • play – player
    • survey – surveyor

    For verbs spelled with a final "silent" e preceded by a consonant, remove the e and then add the agent suffix:

    • drive – driver
    • love – lover
    • observe – observer
    • supervise – supervisor

    For verbs spelled with a final y preceded by a consonant, change the y to i and then add the agent suffix:

    • cry – crier
    • fly – flier
    • supply – supplier
    • worry – worrier

    For two-syllable verbs spelled with a final le, remove the e and then add the agent suffix:

    • cobble – cobbler
    • handle – handler
    • meddle – meddler
    • tumble – tumbler

    For two-syllable verbs spelled with a final er, simply add the agent suffix:

    • discover – discoverer
    • gather – gatherer
    • murder – murderer
    • suffer – sufferer

    For one-syllable verbs that end in a single vowel followed by a single consonant other than w, x, or y, double the final consonant and then add the agent suffix:

    • beg – beggar
    • drum – drummer
    • jog – jogger
    • plan – planner

    For two-syllable verbs that end in a single vowel followed by a single consonant other than w, x, or y, double the final consonant and then add the agent suffix:

    • begin – beginner
    • format – formatter

    For verbs that end with the letter c, add the letter k after the c and then add the agent suffix:

    • frolic – frolicker
    • mimic – mimicker
    • picnic – picnicker
    • traffic – trafficker

    Printable Download

    For a more complete list of agent nouns derived from verbs, please download the printable Agent Nouns Vocabulary List.

    This post is part of the series: English Noun Suffixes: Names for People

    Suffixes are morphemes—the smallest linguistic units of a language with semantic meaning—affixed to the ends of words to create new words. This article explains a number of English noun suffixes that create nouns that are names for people including agent nouns and occupations.
    1. Deriving Nouns from Verbs: Names for People
    2. More Noun Suffixes: Names for People

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