How can you tell they’ve got it: Converting Words into Verbs?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: 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. Or just try it together: Can your child take a word like "active" or "sharp" and turn it into a verb by adding a suffix — knowing that "activate" and "sharpen" are the verb forms?

English Grammar & Punctuation Ages 9–10

Converting Words into Verbs

Your child can turn a naming or describing word into an action word. Simple becomes simplify. Class becomes classify.

In curriculum terms

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

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

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

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

Can your child take a word like "active" or "sharp" and turn it into a verb by adding a suffix — knowing that "activate" and "sharpen" are the verb forms?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Basic Nouns & Verbsages 5–6Converting nouns and adjectives into verbs requires confident understanding of what nouns and verbs are as word classes

Suffixesages 7–9Converting word class via suffixes (-ate, -ise, -ify) requires secure suffix knowledge from the Y3-4 suffix programme

Converting Words into Verbsthis skill · ages 9–10

Unlocks

Nothing on the map depends on this yet.

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 2 ACARA · 1 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9E6LA06low confidenceYear 6 · Language

understand how ideas can be expanded and sharpened through careful choice of verbs, elaborated tenses and a range of adverb groups

AC9E3LA07low confidenceYear 3 · Language

understand how verbs represent different processes for doing, feeling, thinking, saying and relating

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

EN3-SPELL-01low confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2E5LY05low confidenceEnglish · Level 5 · Literacy strand

VC2E3LA07low confidenceEnglish · Level 3 · Language strand

VC2E6LA06low confidenceEnglish · Level 6 · Language strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Adjective Order in Sentencesages 9–10 Brackets and dashes for parenthesisages 9–10 Cohesion within paragraphsages 9–11 Commas Before Joining Wordsages 9–11

All Grammar & Punctuation skills →