WORD FORMATION I
PREFIXES
anti- (=against)
auto- (=by oneself)
bi(=two, twice)
dis(=opposite)
ex(=former)
ex(=out of)
in(=opposite)
inter- (=between)
im(=opposite)
il(=opposite)
ir(=opposite)
mal(=badly)
micro- (=small)
mis(=badly)
mono- (=one/single)
multi- (=many)
over(=too much)
post(=after)
pre(=before)
pro(=in favour of)
pseudo- (=false)
re(=again)
semi(=half)
sub(=under)
super(=above)
trans(=across)
un(=opposite)
under- (=not enough)
uni(=one)
anti-war, anti-social, anti-biotic
autograph, auto-pilot, autobiography
bicycle, bi-monthly, biannual, bilingual, biplane
disloyal, disobedient, disappear, disagree, dislike
exwife, exstudent, expresident, exflatmate
extract, exhale, excommunicate, express
inconvenient, inedible, invisible, intolerant, incorrect
intermediate, intersection
impatient, immortal, immature
illegal, illegible, illiterate
irreplaceable, irreversible, irrelevant
malfunction, malnutrition, maltreat
microwave, microscopic, micro-computer
misunderstand, mistranslate, misinform
monorail, monotonous, monologue, monogamous
multilingual, multi-national, multi-racial
overeat, oversleep, overtired, overdo
postwar, postgraduate, post-revolutionary
prejudge, preview, prejudice
pro-government, pro-revolutionary, pro-nuclear
pseudo-scientific, pseudo-nym, pseudo-intellectual
retype, reread, replace, rewind
semicircular, semi-final, semi-detached
subway, submarine, subdivision, sub-editor
superman, supernatural
transatlantic, transaction, transexual
uncomfortable, undo, undress, unload, unlock, untidy
underworked, underused, undercooked
unilateral, unisex, unicycle
PREFIXES which show an opposite state or process
disinim- (before “p/m”)
il- (before “l”)
ir- (before “r”)
malun-
disagree, dishonest, dislike,…
incompentent, inefficiency,…
impossible, impatient,….
illegible, illegal, illiterate,…
irresistible, irregular, irrelevant,…
malfunction, malnutrition, maltreat,…
unbelievable, undressed, unlocked,…
SUFFIXES
A. Verbs suffixes
-ise (ize):
used to make verbs from adjectives
modern --- modernise
general --- generalise
-(i)fy:
commercial --- commercialise
industrial --- industrialise
used to make verbs from adjectives or verbs
note --- notify
terror --- terrify
class --- classify
clear --- clarify
pure --- purify
specific --- specify
B. Noun suffixes
-ance/ence:
used to make nouns from verbs or adjectives
annoy --- annoyance
refer --- reference
-dom:
king --- kingdom
wise --- wisdom
act --- actor
project --- projector
mother --- motherhood
brother --- brotherhood
neighbour --- neighbourhood
people who do a particular job, professions
music --- musician
-ist:
inspect --- inspector
garden --- gardener
used for abstract nouns, especially family terms
child --- childhood
adult --- adulthood
-ian:
send --- sender
*lie --- liar (exception)
things or people who do a particular job, professions
work --- worker
play --- player
-hood:
martyr --- martyrdom
free --- freedom
person who does something (-er) or person who receives something (-ee)
employ --- employer / employee
address --- addresser / addressee
-er/-or:
obedient --- obedience
tolerant --- tolerance
used to make abstract nouns from adjectives or nouns
bore --- boredom
star --- stardom
-er/-ee:
assist --- assistance
prefer --- preference
politics --- politician
electricity --- electrician
used for people who play musical instruments
violin --- violinist
piano --- pianist
cello --- cellist
-ist/-ism:
used for people’s politics, beliefs and ideologies
anarchy --- anarchist
terror --- terrorist
-ity:
physics --- physicist
Marx --- Marxism
used to make nouns from adjectives
flexible --- flexibility
absurd --- absurdity
curious --- curiousity
-ment:
hostil --- hostility
real --- reality
pure --- purity
replace --- replacement
retire --- retirement
excite --- excitement
happy --- happiness
bitter --- bitterness
sad --- sadness
member --- membership
relation --- relationship
strong --- strength
broad --- breadth
wide --- width
warm --- warmth
used to make nouns from verbs
admit --- admission
collect --- collection
alter --- alteration
-y:
author --- authorship
fellow --- fellowship
used to make abstract nouns from adjectives
long --- length
deep --- depth
-(t)ion:
careful --- carefulness
tender --- tenderness
used for abstract nouns, especially status
friend --- friendship
partner --- partnership
-th:
argue --- argument
achieve --- achievement
pay --- payment
used to make abstract nouns from adjectives
good --- goodness
weak --- weakness
ugly – ugliness
-ship:
anonym --- anonymity
generous --- generosity
productive --- productivity
used to make nouns from verbs
enjoy --- enjoyment
invest --- investment
agree --- agreement
-ness:
comunist / comunism
socialist / socialism
combine --- combination
imagine --- imagination
produce --- production
act --- action
reduce --- reduction
complicate --- complication
used to make nouns from verbs or from adjectives
injure --- injury
honest --- honesty
perjure --- perjury
fluent --- fluency
royal --- royalty
beautiful --- beauty
C. Adjective suffixes
-able/-ible:
with verbs, it means “can be done”
drink --- drinkable
count --- countable
-al:
green --- greenish
child --- childish
destruct --- destructive
produce --- productive
attract --- attractive
progress --- progressive
use --- useless
care --- careless
harm --- harmless
cloud --- cloudless
used to make adjectives from nouns
danger --- dangerous
-y:
cheer --- cheerful
wonder --- wonderful
used to make adjectives from nouns or verbs and means “without”
hope --- hopeless
help --- helpless
-ous:
use --- useful
care --- careful
used to make adjectives from verbs
pass --- passive
act --- active
-less:
magic --- magical
refuse --- refusal
used to make adjectives from nouns and means “with the quality of”
red --- reddish
-ive:
option --- optional
arrive --- arrival
it makes adjectives from nouns or verbs and means “a great quantity of”
help --- helpful
hope --- hopeful
-ish:
read --- readable
recognize --- recognizable
used to make adjectives from nouns or verbs
practice --- practical
sphere --- spherical
-ful:
wash --- washable
eat --- edible
fury --- furious
used to make adjectives from nouns
luck --- lucky
trick --- tricky
D. Irregular forms
live --- life
see --- sight
fly --- flight
die --- death
hot --- heat
true --- truth
succeed --- success
young --- youth
angry --- anger
WORD FORMATION II
1.- Expressions of size: adjectives & nouns
broad ------ breadth
long -------- length
deep ------ depth
wide ------ width
high ------ height
2.- Adjectives & adverbs (normally formed by the addition of –ly )
slow ------ slowly
pure ------ purely
hard ------ hard
happy ------ happily
strong ------ strongly
fast ------ fast
rude ------ rudely
angry ------ angrily
3.- Adjectives ending in -y , adverbs in -ily , and nouns in -ness
happy ------ happily ------ happiness
pretty ------ prettily ------ prettiness
lazy ------ lazily -------- laziness
ordinary ---- ordinarily ---- ordinariness
fussy ------ fussily ----- fussiness (inquieto)
naughty ----- naughtily ---- naughtiness (malo)
4.- Adjectives in -ful , adverbs in -ly , and nouns in -ness
careful --- carefully --- carefulness
helpful --- helpfully --- helpfulness
cheerful --- cheerfully --- cheerfulness
dreadful --- dreadfully --- dreadfulness (temor)
5.- Verbs with adjectives -ive , adverbs in -ively , and nouns in -ion
attend -------- attentive -------- attentively ---------- attention
attract ------- attractive -------- attractively --------- attraction
destroy ------ destructive ------- destructively ------- destruction
permit ------- permissive -------- permissively -------- permission
persuade ------ persuassive ------ persuassively ------- persuassion
progress ------ progressive ------ progressively -------- progression
6.- Adjectives in -ible/-able , nouns in -ibility/ability
accessible ------- accessibility
credible -------- credibility
impossible ------- impossibility
sensible ---------- sensibility
responsible ------- responsibility
able -------------- ability
capable ------------- capability
adaptable ----------- adaptability
durable ------------ durability
respectable ---------- respectability
7.- Verbs in -fy , nouns in -ation
clarify ------ clarification
falsify ------ falsification
satisfy ------ satisfaction
classify ------ classification
notify -------- notification
specify ------- specification
8.- Verbs in -ate , nouns in -ation
agitate ------ agitation
animate ------ animation
elaborate ---- elaboration
moderate ---- moderation
alternate ------ alternation
duplicate ------- duplication
estimate ------- estimation
separate ------ separation
9.- Verbs in -ise , nouns in -isation
authorise ------- authorisation
generalise ------ generalisation
modernise ------- modernisation
colonise ------ colonisation
legalise ------- legalisation
organise ------ organisation
10.- Adjectives with adverbs in -ly and nouns in -ty
beautiful ----- beautifully ------ beauty
pure --------- purely ---------- purity
rare ------- rarely ------- rarity
real -------- really ------ reality
11.- Verbs forming nouns in -ance/ence
assist ---------- assistance
deliver --------- deliverance
perform -------- performance
resist ------------ resistance
disappear ------- disappearance
adhere -------- adherence
depend ------- dependence
refer --------- reference
persist ------- persistence
prefer -------- preference
12.- Verbs forming nouns in -ment
agree ------ agreement
pay ----------- payment
retire ------ retirement
argue ------- argument
resent ------ resentment
achieve ------ achievement
enjoy ------- enjoyment
treat ------- treatment
replace ----- replacement
13.- Nouns forming adjectives in -al
practice ------- practical
option ---------- optional
comedy ----- comical
magic ------ magical
formality ------- formal
sphere --------- spherical
14.- Verbs in -mit , nouns in -ission
emit -------- emission
omit -------- omission
permit -------- permission
remit -------- remission
submit --------- submission
transmit -------- transmission
15.- Nouns associated with people or their qualities end in -hood , -ship, -ism
boyhood
childhood
neighbourhood
authorship
fellowship
friendship
hypnotism
optimism
realism
EXERCISES
1.- Use the suffixes “-er/-or/-ee/-ist” to give the names of the following:
a. A person who plays jazz on the piano =
b. The thing that wipes rain off your car windscreen=
c. Person who plays classical violin=
d. Person who takes professional photographs=
e. Person who acts in amateur theatre=
f. Person to whom a cheque is paid=
g. Machine for washing dishes=
h. Person who donates their kidneys upon their death=
i. Person to whom a letter is addressed=
a jazz pianist
2.- Rewrite each sentence by changing the underlined words
a. Most of his crimes can be forgiven
Most of his crimes can be
b. The Club refuses to admit anyone not wearing a tie
The Club refuses
c. Her only fault is that she is lazy
Her only fault is her
d. This firm has produced a lot in recent years
This firm has been very
e. I found the book very easy and pleasant to read
I found the book very
3.- Write the abstract nouns of the following adjectives
affectionate >
original >
hopeful >
popular >
resentful >
amused >
graceful >
equal >
kind >
wise >
attentive >
excited >
happy >
stupid >
secure >
4.- Complete the following table
abstract noun
contentment
argument
emptiness
intensity
satisfaction
sentiment
strength
adjective
contented
verb
to content
adverb
contentedly
5. Write the opposite of these words using a correct prefix
___ happy
___ correct
___ legible
___ pack
____ patient
____ regular
____ friendly
____ lock
____ polite
____ visible
____ employed
____ agree
___ legal
___ possible
___ like
___ honest
6. Replace the underlined words by others with the same meaning
a.
b.
c.
d.
He doesn´t have a job, does he? No, he is
It´s against the law, isn´t it? Yes, it is
He took off his clothes! Yes, he
This handwriting is impossible to read Yes, it is
e. She can never wait for five minutes, can she? No, she is so
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
The BBC tries to avoid pronouncing foreign words incorrectly
He’s in favour of the American approach
Most people say they work too hard but are paid too little
He dated his cheque with a date that was later than the real date
She’s still on good terms with the man who used to be her husband
He made so many mistakes in the letter that he had to write it again
7. Write down the name of the person who does these things
act
murder
direct
employ
phychology
dance
football
translate
manage
farm
economics
sing
8. Complete the table
verb
educate
improve
govern
hesitate
arrange
elect
noun
adjective
stupid
dark
weak
similar
punctual
popular
noun
9. Complete the verbs in these sentences
10. Combine the suffixes on the right with the verbs or adjectives on the left and
then complete the text
11. Write down an adjective formed from these nouns or verbs
12. Fill the gaps with suitable adjectives from exercise 11
13. ZERO AFFIXATION
Rewrite these sentences using the underlined nouns as verbs
14. Now rewrite these sentences using the underlined verbs as nouns