Making "-ize" and "-ify" verbs with "hua"
The suffix -化 (-huà) can be added to the end of many Chinese words to make them into verbs, the equivalent of "-ize" or "-ify" in English.
Contents
Structure
You can take some Chinese nouns and adjectives and add a -化 to the end of them to "-ize" or "-ify" them. Basically, -化 takes the noun or adjective and makes it into a verb. One example of how we do that in English is to take the adjective "modern" and add "-ize" to turn it into the verb "modernize." Most of the time, the Chinese words that -化 is added to are two-character words.
Noun / Adj. + 化
Examples
The following is a short list of -化 words and sentences. Note that while the suffix -化 most often corresponds to "-ize" or "-ify" in English, these are not the only options in English. (Ah, you gotta love the endless variety of the English language!)
With a Noun
- 中国化、美国化、个性化、数字化、城市化、两极化、边缘化sinicize/Chinese-ify, Americanize, personalize, digitize, urbanize, polarize, marginalize
- 我们 将 净化 整个 行业 。We will purify the entire industry.
- KFC 的 中国 本土化 经营 做 得 非常 成功。KFC's Chinese localization has been implemented very successfully.
- 邓小平 提出了 四 个 现代化：工业现代化、农业现代化、国防现代化、科学技术现代化。Deng Xiaoping set forth the Four Modernizations: industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, national defense modernization, and scientific technology modernization.
- 现在 我们 公司 的工作 流程 和 人事 管理 已经 初步 制度化 了。These days our company's workflows and HR management have already started to be systematized.
With an Adjective
- 美化、绿化、软化、现代化、自然化、多元化beautify, "greenify", soften, modernize, naturalize. diversify
- 你 不要 把 真相 浪漫化 ！Don't romanticize the truth!
- 你 应该 让 黄油 软化，然后 跟 面包 一起 吃。You should allow the butter to soften, then eat it with bread.
- 我们 保护 环境 是 为了 美化 我们 的 城市。We protect the environment in order to beautify our city.
- 每年 我们 的 绿化 面积 都 在 扩大。Every year our green[ified] area is expanding.
From Verb to Noun
Part of speech can be quite fluid in Chinese, and using the suffix -化 to change a noun or an adjective into a verb does not mean that verb can't also be used as a noun! So keep in mind that -化 can be not only "-ize" and "-ify," but also "-ization" and "-ification."
- 个性化personalize, personalization
- 现代化modernize, modernization
- 美化beautify, beautification
