WORD FORMATION – M4

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MAIN TIPS

In a sentence or text you have to change the form of a word, e.g. from a noun to an adjective, or
from a verb to a noun. For example: The _____ was very nervous. (sing)

You have to complete the sentence with the person noun (singer). You change the verb (sing) into the
person noun (singer).

• Look at the word you have to change. Which words do you know that are in the same word
family?
• The beginning of the word is often the same and the end of the word changes.
• What form is the new word? A verb? A noun? An adjective? An adverb?
• Nouns often end: -ment, -ion, -ness, -ity, -ship. ENVIRONMENT, ACTION, FRIENDSHIP
• People nouns often end: -er, -or, -ist, -ian : FLORIST, PHYSICIAN
• Adjectives often end: -able, -ible, -ive, -al, -ic, -ed, -ing, -ful. INTERESTING/ED, PLAUSIBLE,
FAITHFUL
• Some verbs end: -ise, -ate, -en. REALISE, SHORTEN, STIPULATE
• Adverbs often end: -ly. FAITHFULLY
• Is the new word negative? If so, you may need a prefix, e.g. un- (unhappy), im- (impolite), in-
(inexperienced), dis- (dishonest), etc.
• If you don’t know the new word, guess. You may be right!

There are four main kinds of word formation: prefixes, suffixes, conversion and compounds.

Prefixes

We add prefixes before the base or stem of a word.

examples prefixes
monorail, monolingual mono- means ‘one’
multipurpose, multicultural multi- means ‘many’
post-war, postgraduate post- means ‘after’
unusual, undemocratic un- means ‘not’ or ‘opposite to’

Suffixes

We add suffixes after the base or stem of a word. The main purpose of a suffix is to show what class
of word it is (e.g. noun or adjective).

examples suffixes
terrorism, sexism -ism and -dom are used to form nouns
employer, actor -er and -or are used to form nouns to describe people who do things
pg. 1
examples suffixes
widen, simplify -en and -ify are used to form verbs
reasonable, unprofitable -able is used to form adjectives
unhappily, naturally -ly is a common suffix used to form adverbs

Conversion

Conversion involves the change of a word from one word class to another. For example, the verbs to
email and to microwave are formed from the nouns email and microwave:

Examples :

• Can you text her? (verb from noun text, meaning to send a text-message)
• They are always jetting somewhere. (verb from noun jet)
• If you’re not careful, some downloads can damage your computer. (noun from verb download)
• OK, so the meeting’s on Tuesday. That’s a definite. (noun from adjective)
• All companies have their ups and downs. (nouns from prepositions)

We also use conversion when we change a proper noun into a common noun:

• Has anybody seen my Dickens? (copy of a book by Dickens)

Compounding

When we use compounding, we link together two or more bases to create a new word. Normally, the
first item identifies a key feature of the second word. For example, the two bases back and ache can
combine to form the compound noun backache, and the two bases post and card combine to form
the compound noun postcard.

Compounds are found in all word classes. The most common types of compounds are:

• Nouns: car park, rock band

• Adjectives: heartbreaking, sugar-free, airsick
• Verbs: oven-bake, baby-sit, chain-smoke
• Adverbs: good-naturedly, nevertheless

It is sometimes difficult to know where to put hyphens in words that are compound ed. It is also
difficult to know whether to separate words (e.g. post box) or to join the words (e.g. postbox). Let’s say
we don’t put our focus on that. However, for your future jobs or university papers, check on a
dictionary.

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LESSON 1- ADJECTIVES AND NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES
Briefly:

OH MY! NO REAL RULE FOR THAT!!! But …still there are some tips. GENERALLY SPEAKING (not a
rule at all), you use:

il – before words that start with L: legal – illegal (but loyal – disloyal)

in – before words which don’t start with I or U: definite-indefinite, appropriate-inappropriate

im- before words that start with M or P: possible-impossible, memorable - immemorable

ir – before words which start with R: regular-irregular

un – before words that start…it’s a bit blurred here…with a vowel or consonant = unreliable / unimaginative

dis (meaning the opposite of a word): agree-disagree, like-dislike, utopian - dystopian

non (meaning NOT): non-refundable, non-disputable

Some words may have 2 prefixes but the meaning changes:

Dislike = not to like, you have a bad feeling for it Unlike = adverb= pas probable! Or not similar to!

A. Match the words with their definitions:

1 discover A noun or verb: slight pain, uneasiness

2 uncover B not suitable or proper in the circumstances
3 discomfort C not being capable, lacking the skills
4 uncomfortable D remove a cover or discover a secret
5 disable E dishonestly or unfairly taking something (money, bonds…)which belongs
to someone else
6 unable F adjective: disagreeable, uneasy

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7 inappropriate G impaired, invalidated (also verb) due to major injury…
8 misappropriate H find something/one unexpectedly or after a search
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B. Find the adjective and then its opposite with IN or UN of the following words, then complete the
sentences with the words you have found.

Adjective Opposite Adjective opposite

attention health
attract offend
comfort predict
competence reason
formality rely

1. My watch is very ……………………………………….so I’m never sure of what time it is.

2. If that chair is ……………………………………………….., try this one over here.
3. The atmosphere was very ……………………………………………… and everyone was on first-name terms.
4. He was so………………………………………………..that he sent everybody the wrong information.
5. Was it …………………………………………………….of me to expect them to do so much homework?
6. That terrible make up makes her look most …………………………………………….. .
7. He was a very ……………………………………….pupil and seemed to spend most of his time looking out the
window.
8. Eating all that junk food is ……………………………………….., especially if you don’t get much exercise.
9. He’s very………………………………………… :you never know what he is going to do next.
10. I thought it was an …………………………………………..remark but, apparently, she was deeply insulted.

C. As the previous exercise, you must first form an adjective from the words given. Next, you must form th
opposite of the adjective by using DIS-, IL-, IM-, NON-, or -LESS. Then, complete each sentence using
a suitable negative adjective.

Adjective Opposite Adjective opposite

alcohol organise
harm pain
honesty patience
logic tact
obey violence

1. My dog won’t hurt you, he’s quite …………………………………………

2. He’s so ……………………………………….that he would steal from his own mother.
3. The operation will be quite …………………………………………… . You won’t feel a thing.
4. The show was so ………………………………….. that nobody knew who was coming on next.
5. We are in favour of some sort of …………………………………………. protest, such as occupying a building.
6. That was a rather ………………………………………..remark you made about him losing all his hair.
7. I always drink something …………………………………………..if I am driving.
8. It isn’t surprising if some children are ……………………………………………in class if there’s so little discipline at
home.
pg. 4
 9. His reasoning is …………………………………. I can’t follow it at all.
10. Don’t be so……………………………..! I’m sure they will be here soon.

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Homework: random exercise (www.english-grammar.at)

pg. 5
 Key:
A.

1H 2D 3A 4F 5G 6C 7B 8E

B.

Adjective Opposite Adjective opposite

attention attentive inattentive health healthy unhealthy
attract attractive unattractive offend offensive inoffensive
comfort comfortable uncomfortable predict predictable unpredictable
competence competent incompetent reason reasonable unreasonable
formality formal informal rely reliable unreliable
1. Unreliable 2. Uncomfortable 3. Informal 4. Incompetent 5. Unreasonable 6. Unattractive 7. Inattentive
8. Unhealthy 9. Unpredictable 10. inoffensive

C.

Adjective Opposite Adjective opposite

alcohol alcoholic non-alcoholic organise organised/organisational disorganised
harm harmful harmless pain painful painless
honesty honest dishonest patience patient impatient
logic logical illogical tact tactful tactless
obey obedient disobedient violence violent non-violent

1. Harmless 2. Dishonest 3. Painless 4. Disorganised 5. Nonviolent 6. Tactless 7. Non-alcoholic 8. Disobedient

9. Illogical 10. impatient

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LESSON 2 – ADVERBS
USE OF ADVERBS

Adverbs are used to modify (add to the meaning of):

- Verbs they walked slowly down the roads.

- Adjectives She felt extremely tired.
- Adverbs He’s eating terribly slowly.
- Phrases We met him entirely by accident.
- Sentences Fortunately, we had enough milk left for breakfast.

FORMATION OF ADVERBS

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective:

careful-carefully extreme-extremely

! full-fully true-truly

!-le: comfortable - comfortably possible- possibly

! -y : easy -easily happy-happily !shy-shyly!

!-ic : dramatic-dramatically systematic-systematically !public-publicy!

ADVERBS ENDING IN -WARD(S) OR -WISE

There is a small group of adverbs which end in -ward(s) or -wise. The -ward(s) words can end in either
-ward or -wards (inward, inwards).

1. -wards: inwards, eastwards, upwards, downwards

2. -wise: clockwise, lengthwise, likewise

ADVERBS WITH THE SAME FORM AS ADJECTIVES

Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives. The most common are: fast (not fastly), left, hard,
outside, right, straight, late, well, and time words such as daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.

Compare
adjective adverb
This coconut is really hard. You’ll need a hammer to break it
You have to bang the door hard to shut it.
up.
She drives a fast car. They can swim quite fast now actually.
When I went outside, the light came on
An outside light would be a really good idea for our house.
automatically.
I get a monthly pay cheque. My company pays me monthly.

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In each of the sentences below, you need to fill in the blank with an adverb. Sometimes a negative form will be
required. As you do the exercise, notice how the adverbs are formed and how they are used in a sentence.
Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

1. She spoke …………………………………………… fast. INCREDIBLE

2. It rained …………………………………………… all night. HEAVY
3. Could you …………………………………………… help me to move these indoors? POSSIBLE
4. Sales have increased …………………………………………… since we started
advertising our products on television. DRAMA
5. She answered him …………………………………………… in her quite little voice, never
once looking up at him. SHY
6. Must you eat so …………………………………………… ? We’re trying to have a conversation. NOISY
7. I’m afraid she’s been ……………………………………………detained. AVOID
8. ……………………………………………, I gave her all the help I could. NATURE
9. He really upset me by speaking so ……………………………………………about my idea. SARCASM
10. Write ……………………………………………so that the examiner can read it. LEGIBLE
11. ……………………………………………, I have no idea where she is, so I can’t help you. FORTUNE
12. Flooding is ……………………………………………rare in this part of the world. COMPARE
13. ……………………………………………, I agree with the plan. It’s just some of the details that
I’m not so sure about. BASE
14. I’ve been ……………………………………………informed that the government intend to
raise the tax on petrol. RELY
15. He was ……………………………………………dressed in an old brown overcoat and
shoes with holes in them. SHABBY

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Homework: random exercise (www.english-grammar.at): GOING GREEN

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KEY: 1. Incredibly 2. Heavily 3. Possibly 4. Dramatically 5. Shyly 6. Noisily 7. Unavoidably 8. Naturally
9. Sarcastically 10. Legibly 11. Unfortunately 12. Comparatively 13. Basically 14. Reliably 15. Shabbily

pg. 9
LESSON 3 – PREFIXES

Put one of the following prefixes DIS, EN, MIS or UN in front of each of the words in the list below for to form
verbs. Next, use the verbs you have formed to complete the sentences. Use each verb once only in its correct
form.

…………..appear …………..inform …………..lock …………..sure …………..approve …………..large

…………..judge …………..understand …………..behave …………..load …………..obey …………..wrap

1. I’m afraid you’ve been ……………………………………… . We never give discounts.

2. By……………………………….. the photo we were able to read the words on the note.
3. The porter ………………………………………the door and let me in.
4. If those children …………………………………. once more, they’ll go straight to bed!
5. Unfortunately, my father …………………………………….of my new girlfriend.
6. The money can’t just have…………………………………! Somebody has stolen it!
7. After they’ve ……………………………………the furniture from the lorry, I’ll make them a nice cup of tea.
8. I spoke very slowly and clearly so that nobody would …………………………………..what I was saying.
9. The soldier was put in prison for a week for …………………………………………orders.
10. We all gathered round to watch as she ……………………………………………the parcel.
11. I …………………………………………the width of the stream and fell into the water.
12. You must always ……………………………………….that the car’s brakes are on properly before you start
working onit.

DIS-, MIS-, EN- OR UN- ?

Put the words of the exercise in the columns below. Then add the words given here – some verbs can have
more than one prefix:

DIS- MIS- EN- UN- OTHER PREFIXES

disappear misinform ensure unlock overreact
understand
outgrow
overbook
interact
revisit
foresee
…

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Homework: random exercise (www.english-grammar.at)

pg. 10
pg. 11
KEY: disappear, disapprove, misbehave, misinform, enlarge, unload, unlock, misjudge, ensure, misunderstand, unwrap –
1. misinformed 2. enlarging 3. unlocked 4. misbehave 5. disapproves/ed 6. disappeared 7. unloaded

8. misunderstand 9. disobeying 10. unwrapped 11. misjudged 12. ensure

Disable-disconnect-discourage – discredit-disqualify-distrust-misinterpret – mislead – mistrust – enable – encourage – entrust – unpack, unscrew – other
examples: disarm, disorganise/ize, displease, disprove, miscalculate, mismanage, misread, misplace, mislay – endanger, enrage, unbutton, uncover,
undress, unplug, unwind

pg. 12
LESSON 4 – WORD FAMILIES part 1

TIP: HOW TO FORM VERBS

It is often necessary to change either an adjective or a noun into a verb, and this is done with a suffix.
The most common suffixes for this work are as follows:
ATE - complicate, dominate, irritate
EN - harden, soften, shorten, lengthen
IFY - beautify, clarify, identify
ISE(BrE)- IZE (AmE) - economise, realise, industrialise

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word given at the end. Sometimes you will need a
negative form. Think about what you need: a verb? Noun? Adjective?

1. There was …………………………………….all over the floor after he cut himself shaving. BLEED
2. She became more and more …………………………………….as the time went by. ANXIETY
3. She looked at him in …………………………………….when he told her the terrible news. BELIEVE
4. We have still received no …………………………………….of our booking. CONFIRM
5. He seemed very reluctant to take my …………………………………….. ADVISE
6. We can only catch criminals if we have the full …………………………………….of the public. COOPERATE
7. She gave me a very …………………………………….look when she saw that I wasn’t
wearing the correct uniform. APPROVE
8. In ……………………………………., I would like to thank everybody who has helped to make
the show such a success. COCLUDE
9. She has made an invaluable …………………………………….to our efforts. CONTRIBUTE
10. The shop …………………………………….seemed to spend most of the time talking… ASSIST

pg. 13
 11. They keep making …………………………………….statements so we don’t really know
what they are going to do. CONTRADICT
12. He’s normally very …………………………………….so you’ll be lucky if you get any information
out of him COMMUNICATE
13. He left me with no …………………………………….but to disqualify him. CHOOSE
14. With her ……………………………………. mind she was able to work out the best way to get
everybody to the meeting on time ANALYSE

Complete the table with word families for these words:

VERB ADJECTIVE NOUN

1 (in)advisable/advisory advice (UNCOUNTABLE NOUN)
2 analyse
3 ---------------- anxious
4 (dis)approve
5 assist -------------------------- - assistance
-
6 (dis)believe (un) - (dis)
- non-believer
7 bleed
8 choosy
9 communicate - (un)
- communicable
10 conclude (in)
11 confirm
12 contradict
13 contribute
14 cooperate (un) -
- cooperative
15 criticize/ise
16 - deaf deafness
- ……………………….ing
17 demonstrate (un)demonstrable
18 deny
19 depth
20 destruction
21 fail
22 fly - flier/flyer
-
23 growing - grower
-
24 high height(s)
25 inclusion
26 insist
27 integrate integral
28 instruct

pg. 14
Can you think of any other word family? Write them here:

act action active actively apologize apology apologetic apologetically

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KEY

1st exercise : 1. blood 2. anxious 3. disbelief 4. confirmation 5. advice 6. cooperation 7. disapproving

8. conclusion 9. contribution 10. assistant 11. contradictory 12. uncommunicative 13. choice 14. analytical
2nd exercise (table):
1. to advise 2. Analytical, analyst, analysis 3. Anxiety 4. (dis)approving, (dis)approval 5. Assistant 6. (un)believable, (dis)belief
7. Bloody, blood 8. Choose, choice 9. (un)communicative, communication 10. (in)conclusive, conclusion 11. (un)confirmed, confirmation
12. Contradictory, contradiction 13. Contributory, contributor, contribution 14. (un)cooperative, cooperation 15. (un)critical, criticism
16. Deafen, deafening 17. (un)demonstrative, demonstrator, demonstration 18. (un)deniable, denial 19. Deepen, deep 20. Destroy,
destructive 21. Failing, failure 22. Fly, flying, flight 23. Grow, growth 24. Heighten 25. Include, inclusive 26. Insistent,
insistence 27. Integrated, integration 28. instructive, instructor, instruction

pg. 15
LESSON 5 – WORD FAMILIES part 2

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word given at the end. Sometimes you will need a
negative form. Think about what you need: a verb? Noun? Adjective?

1. It was an extremely ………………………………… experience, which I never want to go through again. PLEASE
2. The table is two metres in ………………………………………… . LONG
3. The weather is so ……………………………………… that I don’t know if I should take an umbrella or sun-tan lotion.
PREDICT
4. What a …………………………………… it is to be able to put your feet up! RELIEVE
5. The telephone service was very ……………………………………………and we spent hours trying to make a single call.
RELY
6. The sea defences need to be ……………………………………………..before the winter to reduce the risk of flooding.
STRONG
7. There’s a ………………………………………..of highly-skilled engineers so we might have difficulty getting the work done.
SHORT
8. She’s not really ……………………………………..for this job as she hasn’t had the right sort of training. SUIT
9. As her only ………………………………………relative, he expects to inherit all her money. SURVIVE
10. If they …………………………………………..the road, that will mean more traffic and maybe more pedestrians being
knocked over. WIDE
11. His ……………………………………………….to sponsor the event came as a great shock. REFUSE
12. I wish I shared his ………………………………………… , but I really don’t think this will work. OPTIMIST
13. I could only get tickets for the afternoon …………………………………… PERFORM
14. They’re very ……………………………………………..about our chances of success. PESSIMISM

Complete the table with word families for these words:

VERB ADJECTIVE NOUN

1 - lengthy length
- …………….
2 -------------------------- optimist
3 performing - performer
- ………………
4 -------------------------- - pessimism
- ………
5 (dis)please (un) (dis)
6 predict (un) - (un)predictability
-
7 refuse --------------------------
8 (un)relieved
9 (un) - (un)reliability
- reliance
10 short - short……
- shortness
11 strength
12 (un) (un)suitability
13 survive - survival
-
14 wide
pg. 16
 Homework: random exercise (www.intercambioidiomasonline.com )

Fill in the gaps of the text on HEALTH with the correct version of the word given.

KEY
1st exercise:
1. Unpleasant 2. Length 3. Unpredictable 4. Relief 5. Unreliable 6. Strengthened 7. Shortage 8. Suitable
9. Surviving 10. Widen 11. Refusal 12. Optimism 13. Performance 14. Pessimistic
2nd exercise (TABLE):
1. lengthen, long 2. optimistic, optimism 3. perform, performance 4 pessimistic, pessimist 5. (un)pleasant, (dis)pleasure
6. (un)predictable, prediction 7. refusal 8. relieve, relief 9. rely, (un)reliable 10. Shorten, shortage 11. strengthen, strong
12. suit, (un)suitable 13. surviving, survivor 14. widen, width

Random exercise

1. healthy 2. Antibiotics 3. Conditions 4. Exhaustion 5. Illnesses 6. Injury 7. Recovery 8. Advice 9. Treatment

10. Prescription 11. Prevention 12. Weight13. Swelling 14. energyless 15. incurable

pg. 17
LESSON 6 – PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT – PART 1

pg. 18
KEY

1st exercise: 1. Definitions 2. Indefinite 3. Economis/ze 4. Economists 5. Identical 6. Identification 7. Illustration

8. Imaginative 9. Impressed 10. Impressionable 11. Live 12. Living 13. Proposed 14. Reality 15. Various 16. varied
2nd exercise : 1. Feelings 2. Friendship 3. Personality 4. Annoyed 5. Held 6. Boredom 7. Frustrated
8. Sensitive 9. strength 10. outgoing 11. relationships 12. personality 13. reasonable 14. freedom
15. importance

pg. 19
LESSON 7 – PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT – THE GAME

Warm up with quizziz: https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/64cd06c8e7e6fa0007a47cec?source=quiz_share

Then, make teams of 2 people (or play individually) and try to get to the end of the table. Throw the dice (you
will find one on the net) and if you make a mistake, you go back one case.

You will find the answers at the end of the booklet.

pg. 20
LESSON 8 – PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT – PART 2

pg. 21
pg. 22
pg. 23
ANSWERS FOR THE GAME ON WORD FORMATION (lesson 7)

Contents adapted from:

• https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/grammar-vocabulary-exams/word-formation
• First Certificate Organiser, OUP
• And links given with the exercises

pg. 24