-eiro / -dade / -mento

Word Formation with Suffixes

Level 4

-eiro/-eira: jobs and trees (panadeiro, pereira). -dade: qualities (liberdade). -mento, -ción: actions and results (pensamento, creación).

How It Works

-eiro, -eira

  • Jobs: panadeiro, panadeira (baker), carpinteiro (carpenter), peixeira (fishmonger). The feminine follows the usual -a rule.
  • Trees and plants, usually feminine: pereira (pear tree), maceira (apple tree), laranxeira (orange tree); some are masculine: castiñeiro (chestnut tree), limoeiro (lemon tree).

-dade (qualities)

It makes nouns from adjectives: novo → novidade, capaz → capacidade, solidario → solidariedade. The most common forms are -idade and -edade (after -io: variedade). A few old words have plain -dade: verdade, bondade, liberdade. A small group of words ends in -tade instead: vontade (will), dificultade (difficulty), tempestade (storm).

-mento (actions and results)

It makes nouns from verbs and keeps the verb's vowel: pensar → pensamento, coñecer → coñecemento, nacer → nacemento, sentir → sentimento.

-ción, -sión appear in learned words: creación, nación, televisión. Some old words use -zón: razón, sazón.

Shops: -aría or -ería. Both are accepted, and -aría is preferred: panadaría (bakery), zapataría (shoe shop). Do not build them from the job word: never *panadeiría.

See also prefixes and compound words.

Examples (6)

  1. O panadeiro abre ás sete.

    The baker opens at seven.

    Pan + -eiro: the person who makes bread.

  2. No xardín hai unha pereira e dúas maceiras.

    In the garden there is a pear tree and two apple trees.

    Many fruit trees end in -eira.

  3. A liberdade é importante para todos.

    Freedom is important for everyone.

    -dade makes a noun from a quality.

  4. Fixémolo con moita vontade.

    We did it with a lot of determination.

    Vontade belongs to the small group of words that end in -tade.

  5. O nacemento do neno encheunos de alegría.

    The baby's birth filled us with joy.

    Nacer + -mento keeps the e of the verb: nacemento.

  6. A creación da empresa levou dous anos.

    Setting up the company took two years.

    -ción names an action in learned words.

Common Mistakes

  • Changing the verb vowel before -mento, as in Spanish.

    Tes moito coñecimento.
    Tes moito coñecemento.

    Galician keeps the e of coñecer: coñecemento.

  • Using the Spanish ending -ero.

    O panadero abre ás sete.
    O panadeiro abre ás sete.

    The Galician ending is -eiro.

  • Building a shop name from the job word.

    Vou á panadeiría.
    Vou á panadaría.

    The shop is panadaría (or panadería), never panadeiría.

How It Connects

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-eiro / -dade / -mentoLevel 4Word Formation with Suffixes

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Suffixes form new words with recognizable meanings and grammatical shapes.

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Words in This Pattern

-eiro-eira-mento-ción-idade