源自拉丁語(yǔ)的-ive是英語(yǔ)中最重要的形容詞后綴之一。與表示行為的名詞后綴-ion—樣，-ive加綴在動(dòng)詞或動(dòng)詞詞根后，構(gòu)成相應(yīng)的形容詞，表示與該行為有關(guān)的性質(zhì)與傾向等，其意思相當(dāng)于英語(yǔ)的現(xiàn)在分詞后綴-ing (…的）或having to do with?ing (與…有關(guān)的）；having the quality of?ing (具有…性質(zhì)的）；tending to or likely to?（傾向于做…的）。由于拉丁構(gòu)詞的影響，-ive 還有-ative，-itive 等異體。

下面舉些代表性的例子加以說(shuō)明。

attractive [ attract v. 吸引；-ive→] a. attracting; having the quality of attracting 吸引的；有吸引力的 / Magnets have great attractive power for iron filings. 磁體對(duì)鐵屑有很強(qiáng)的吸引力。

interrogative [interrogat (← interrogate) v. 訊問(wèn)，質(zhì)問(wèn)；-ive→] a. having the quality or form of interrogating; asking a question 訊問(wèn)的；疑問(wèn)的/She threw an interrogative look at me. 她用疑

問(wèn)的眼光打量我一下。

imitative [imitat (←imitate) v. 模仿;-ive →] a. tending to imitate；fond of imitating 模仿的；愛(ài)模仿的 / Monkeys are imitative. 猴子喜歡模仿。

decisive [ decis = to decide 決定的；-ive=>“ having the quality of deciding 具有決定性質(zhì)的” →]a. giving a clear decision or result 決定性的；明確的；果斷的/ The Battle of Waterloo was a decisive defeat for Napoleon. 滑鐵盧戰(zhàn)役對(duì)拿破侖來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)致命的慘敗。

expensive [ expens = to expend v. 花費(fèi)；-ive=>“ tending to expend 傾向于多花錢的”→] a . costly; high-priced花費(fèi)的；昂貴的；高價(jià)的 / He wore an expensive necktie today.他今天系了 一條昂貴的領(lǐng)帶。