-an

See also Appendix:Variations of "an"

English

Alternative forms

• -ian

Etymology

From Latin -ānus, which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun.

Suffix

-an

1. of or pertaining to; adjective suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.

   Rome, Roman

   Minnesota, Minnesotan

2. Appended to nouns to form an agent noun.

   comedian, from comedy +‎ -an
   historian, from history +‎ -an

Synonyms

• (adjective-forming suffix): -al, -ar, -ese, -ic, -id, -ish, -like, -oid, -ous, -y

Translations

of or pertaining to

• German: -isch (de)
• Latin: -anus (la)
• Portuguese: -ão (pt) m, -ano (pt) m

• Spanish: -ano (es) m, -ana (es) f
• Swedish: -sk (sv), -isk (sv),

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Finnish

Suffix

-an

1. (personal) Forms the impersonal indicative present forms of verbs that include back vowels (a, o or u or i or e with a, o or u — compare -än), appended to the infinitive.

   • No changes in verbs that end in one a.

   juosta + -an -> juostaan

   • Verbs ending in -oa the beginning stem is followed by -ta- and then by this.

   sanoa, stem sano- + -ta- + -an -> sanotaan

   • Verbs ending in -aa or -ea the beginning stem is followed by -eta- and then by this.

   laittaa, stem lait- + -eta- + -an -> laitetaan

   paistaa, stem paist- + -eta- + -an -> paistetaan

   laskea, stem lask- + -eta- + -an -> lasketaan

2. (case suffix) A suffix variant for the illative singular, see -Vn.

   laiva boat (word includes back vowels, a — cf. -än) -> + -an = laivaan (on)to a/the boat; (in)to a/the boat

3. (possessive) A variant for the third-person suffix -nsa, see the usage notes below.

Usage notes

• (third-person possessive suffix variant): When the third-person suffix -nsa is appended to non-nominative noun forms that end in a single -a (those that are in singular and plural inessive, elative, adessive, ablative, essive and abessive and plural partitive and singular partitive ending with -ta), the S and A are very often omitted from the suffix and the last A of the case suffix preceding the remaining N is doubled — resulting in this -an. In standard Finnish, both the "full" form and the shortened form are acceptable (cf. -nsä). This same omission takes very often place also in the nominal verb forms used in shortened sentences (see the meanings of -nsa) and in the adverbs requiring this suffix:

Singular (parti.) laitettansa -> laitettaan — koiraansa -> -"- (no changes) (iness.) laitteessansa -> laitteessaan — koirassansa -> koirassaan (elat.) laitteestansa -> laitteestaan — koirastansa -> koirastaan (adess.) laitteellansa -> laitteellaan — koirallansa -> koirallaan (ablat.) laitteeltansa -> laitteeltaan — koiraltansa -> koiraltaan (ess.) laitteenansa -> laitteenaan — koiranansa -> koiranaan (abess.) laitteettansa -> laitteettaan — koirattansa -> koirattaan

Plural (partit.) laitteitansa -> laitteitaan — koiriansa -> koiriaan (iness.) laitteissansa -> laitteissaan — koirissansa -> koirissaan (elat.) laitteistansa -> laitteistaan — koiristansa -> koiristaan (adess.) laitteillansa -> laitteillaan — koirillansa -> koirillaan (ablat.) laitteiltansa -> laitteiltaan — koiriltansa -> koiriltaan (ess.) laitteinansa -> laitteinaan — koirinansa -> koirinaan (abess.) laitteittansa -> laitteittaan — koirittansa -> koirittaan

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Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɒn/

Suffix

-an

1. Added to a back vowel adjective or numeral to create an adverb.

   pontos (“accurate”) → pontosan (“accurately”)

   hat (“six”) → Hatan mentünk moziba. - Six of us went to the cinema.

   nyolc (“eight”) → Nyolcan vannak a szobában. - There are eight people in the room.

2. Added to a back vowel stem - often an onomatopoeias - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.

   kattan (“to click, to make one clicking sound”)

   robban (“to explode”)

Usage notes

• (adverbial suffix): See under -n
• (verb suffix): Member of the following suffix cluster:

  -an is added to back vowel words

  -en is added to front vowel words

Derived terms

[+] Hungarian adverbs suffixed with -an

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

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Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay -an, from Proto-Malayic *-an, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *-an, from Proto-Austronesian *-an.

Suffix

-an

1. Suffix for collectivity
2. Suffix for similarity
3. Suffix for object
4. Suffix for place
5. Suffix for instrument

   bangun (“to wake up, to get up”) + -an = bangunan (“building”)

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Malay

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *-an, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *-an, from Proto-Austronesian *-an.

Alternative forms

• -ان

Pronunciation

• IPA: /an/
• Rhymes: -an

Suffix

-an (Jawi spelling -ان)

1. Suffix for collectivity
2. Suffix for similarity
3. Suffix for object
4. Suffix for place
5. Suffix for instrument

   bangun (“to wake up, to get up”) + -an = bangunan (“building”)

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Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-aną

Suffix

-an

1. (verbal suffix) used to form the infinitive of most verbs (exceptions are verbs like flēon "to flee" )

   singan "to sing"

   niman "to take"

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish -án.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /an/

Suffix

-an m

1. A masculine suffix used to form nouns meaning a smaller form of something, often used for male given names.
   1. Cailean, Eòghan, Ailean, Beathan
   2. clàran, clachan, bioran

Etymology 2

Cognate to Irish -anna, Manx -yn.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ən/

Suffix

-an pl

1. Used to form regular plurals of nouns.
   1. clach (“stone”) > clachan
   2. damh (“ox, stag”) > damhan
   3. leannan (“lover, sweetheart”) > leannanan

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Serbo-Croatian

Suffix

-an (Cyrillic spelling -ан)

1. Suffix appended to words to create a masculine noun, usually denoting a (often negative) feature or endearment.

Suffix

-an (Cyrillic spelling -ан)

1. Suffix appended to words to create an adjective.

   • jad + -an → jadan (“miserable”)

See also

• -ašan
• -ešan

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Spanish

Suffix

-an

1. Suffix indicating the third-person plural present indicative of -ar verbs.
2. Suffix indicating the third-person plural present subjunctive of -er and -ir verbs.
3. Suffix indicating the third-person plural imperative of -er and -ir verbs.

See also

• -en

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Swedish

Suffix

-an

1. making a noun from a verb, similar to -ing and -ning, having -ningar as the plural, e.g. predika (“to preach”) → predikan (“a sermon”)
2. -an; making a noun, describing a person by belief or nationality, e.g. Tibet → tibetan, lutheran, vegetarian

Derived terms

[+] Swedish words suffixed with -an