word formation
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FCE (First Certificate)
FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation: Negatives
For the FCE exam, there's nearly always at least one negative in the word formation paper. There are lots of prefixes and suffixes we can use to make negatives.
1. Negative prefixes can be used with nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs. For example disapproval, disapprove, disapproving, disapprovingly.
2. Usually im + p (impatient) but not always (unpleasant).
3. Often il + l (illegal) but not always (unlikely).
4. Often ir + r (irregular) but not always (unresponsive).
5. Usually -ful changes to -less (harmful/less) but not always (endless).
6. If you can't remember, choose un - it's the most common negative prefix.
Look at the information in the table for 1 minute and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
un-
in
dis-
im-
unexpected unaware unbelievable unknown unable
inaccurate inappropriate inefficient incapable ineffective
disapprove dislike disagree disbelief dishonest
improbable impossible impolite imperfect impatient
il-
ir-
mis-
-less
illegal illiterate illogical illegible
irregular irresponsible irrational irregular
misbehave misunderstand misspell misuse
careless harmless helpless endless
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Write the correct NEGATIVE form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Be very careful: some words have different negative forms (e.g. unbelievable/disbelief, unlikely/dislike, unable/disabled).
1. The politician was accused of being
(HONEST)
2. His story was so
I thought he was crazy. (BELIEVE)
3. She looked at him in
when he told her the shocking news. (BELIEVE)
4. Many people are
of the dangers of mobile phones. (AWARE)
5. He's invited me to his party. It would be
to say no. (POLITE)
6. Too many children nowadays are growing up
. (LITERATE)
7. That's not what I said! You've
me. (UNDERSTAND)
8. My dog is completely
. I promise he won't bite. (HARM)
9. The medicine was
- he didn't recover. (EFFECT)
10. His answers were very
so he failed the Maths exam. (ACCURATE)
11. It's
that people will ever live on the moon. (LIKELY)
12. He waited
for the train. (PATIENT)
13. It's
to smoke in public places nowadays. (LEGAL)
14. I would never teach children. They always
. (BEHAVE)
15. The shirt he's wearing is completely
for a job interview. (APPROPRIATE)
16. His speech was
. I thought he'd never stop talking. (END)
FCE (First Certificate)Word Formation: Nouns with -ion
One of the most common ways to change a verb to a noun is with -ion (e.g. act to action) and -ation (e.g. observe to observation). Sometimes we also change the verb stem as well when we make the noun like this (e.g. explain to explanation). The table below shows common nouns in which the spelling of the stem also changes.
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
Noun
Verb
Adjective
application
apply
applicable
permission
permit
permissable
solution
solve
unsolved
description
describe
descriptive
intention
intend
unintended
competition
compete
competitive
decision
decide
decisive
explanation
explain
unexplained
production
produce
productive
repetition
repeat
repetitive
consumption
comsume
consumable
qualification
qualify
qualified
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Some of the answers are irregular (from the table above), but there are other regular nouns included here. Don't forget to use an -s if necessary.
Principio del formulario
1. Please send a photograph with your CV and
form. (APPLY)
2. You need to make a
today. (DECIDE)
3. Her
of the grammar was very unclear. (EXPLAIN)
4. We had a long
about our problems. (DISCUSS)
5. Students must have their parent's
to come on the trip. (PERMIT)
6. He is still in hospital, recovering from his
. (OPERATE)
7. I entered a bowling
. (COMPETE)
8. My children never show
for anything I do! (APPRECIATE)
9. I can't come up with a
to this problem. (SOLVE)
10. The
of junk food has increased over the last 20 years. (CONSUME)
11. You need a lot of
for this job. (QUALIFY)
12. When I lived abroad, I found the
from my family very difficult. (SEPARATE)
13. The
of the new flats is nearly finished. (CONSTRUCT)
14. We don't want a
of the violence at last year's football match. (REPEAT)
15. The police are conducting an
into the murder. (INVESTIGATE)
16. I gave the police a
of the thief. (DESCRIBE)
17. It wasn't my
to offend you. (INTEND)
18. We are making
for the wedding. (PREPARE)
19. I've just had a very interesting
with your sister. (CONVERSE)
20. You can try our product for free, with no
to buy it. (OBLIGE)
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
Noun (-ence)
Adjective
Verb
evidence
evident
-
existence
existing
to exist
(in)dependence
(in)dependent
to depend
difference
different
to differ
intelligence
intelligent
-
(dis)obedience
(dis)obedient
to (dis)obey
excellence
excellent
to excel
silence
silent
to silence
violence
violent
to violate
innocence
innocent
-
occurrence
-
to occur
(im)patience
(im)patient
-
Noun (-ance)
Adjective
Verb
attendanceattendant (person)
-
to attend
assistanceassistant (person)
-
to assist
(dis)appearance
apparent
to (dis)appear
distance
distant
-
(un)importance
(un)important
-
acceptance
accepting
accept
reassurance
reassured
to reassure
(ir)relevance
(ir)relevant
-
(in)significance
(in)significant
to signify
Note: I have only given the more common words here. There are other forms (for example, it is possible to use "to evidence something" as a verb) but these are less common.
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Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. The answer could be a noun or an adjective. Don't forget to use an -s or a negative prefix if necessary.
Principio del formulario
1. Unfortunately, accidents are a common
along this road. (OCCUR)
2. It's difficult to believe in the
of aliens. (EXIST)
3. The police are looking for
of the attack. (EVIDENT)
4. She thinks everyone hates her and needs
from her friends all the time. (REASSURE)
5. Scientist believe that the mysterious
of millions of bees is due to disease. (APPEAR)
6. What's the best punishment for a
teenager? (OBEY)
7. What he said was true, but it was completely
. (RELEVANCE)
8. 100%
is necessary to pass this course. (ATTEND)
9. I'm the only person who believes in his
. Even the police think he's guilty. (INNOCENT)
10. There are three shop
over there - you should ask one of them for help. (ASSIST)
11. Some people think that if you enjoy your job, the salary is
, but I love money! (IMPORTANCE)
12. I'm excited because I've just got a letter of
from Cambridge University! (ACCEPT)
13. Cats are extremely
animals. They don't really need people. (DEPEND)
14. You need a lot of
if you want to work with children. (PATIENT)
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
(dis)belief
(dis)believe
(un)believable
(un)believably
a choice
choose
chosen
-
a defense
defend
defensive
defensively
a death
die
dead/deadly
deadly
a gift
give
-
-
a loss
lose
lost
-
a marriage
marry
(un)married
-
practice
practise
practising
-
pretense
pretend
-
-
proof
(dis)prove
(un)proven
-
safety
save
(un)safe
safely
a sight
see
unseen
-
a speech
speak
(un)spoken
-
a success
succeed
(un)successful
(un)successfully
a thought
think
thoughtful/less
thoughtfully/lessly
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences.
1. The flowers are
poisonous - don't eat them! (DIE)
2. You have no
- you must do it. (CHOOSE)
3. Their
was a very happy one. (MARRY)
4. You need to do some more
of this grammar. (PRACTISE)
5. We don't have any
that he committed the crime. (PROVE)
6. She's really
about her new haircut.(DEFEND)
7. The company made a
on their new product. (LOSE)
8. I stared at him in
. (BELIEVE)
9. Your parents really care about your
. (SAVE)
10. The politician's
really made me think about the issues. (SPEAK)
11. We tried to keep up the
that everything was OK. (PRETEND)
12. I need to get a
for my parents' wedding anniverary. (GIVE)
13. I'm really sorry. You were
in your job application. (SUCCEED)
14. He lost his
in the accident (SEE)
15. He's really selfish and
. (THINK)
Most adjectives which end in -ful make the negative with -less. But, not all. Note also that we can make adverbs from these adjectives with -fully or -lessly. For example, carefully and carelessly. This is a list of key words which might appear in the FCE exam.
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
The words in this table all use -ful and -less to make the adjectives.
Noun
Verb
Adjective
care
care
careful/careless
harm
harm
harmful/harmless
help
help
(un)helpful/helpless
hope
hope
hopeful/hopeless
pain
pain
painful/painless
power
power
powerful/powerless
use
use
useful/useless
thought
think
thoughtful/thoughtless
taste
taste
tasteful/tasteless
The adjectives in this table take -ful or -less, but not both.
Noun
Verb
Adjective
count
count
countless/countable
end
end
endless
home
-
homeless
peace
-
peaceful
play
play
playful
price
price
priceless
success
succeed
(un)successful
truth
-
(un)truthful/(un)true
worth
worth
worthless
Write the correct adjective or adverb for each of these questions. You will need to use -ful/-less or -fully/-lessly. Some answers will also need un-.
Principio del formulario
1. What a lovely present! That was very
of you. (THINK)
2. He drives really
- one day he's going to have an accident. (CARE)
3. He's told me
times about how good he is at football. (COUNT)
4. Because of his bad interview, he was
in his job application. (SUCCEED)
5. "I didn't eat your chocolate," she said
, hiding the empty wrapper. (TRUE)
6. It's
. England will never win the World Cup football again. (HOPE)
7. My best friend is a rich,
lawyer. (POWER)
8. You must remember to recharge your phone. Without its batteries, it's
. (USE)
9. Cigarettes are
to your health. (HARM)
10. The sales assistant was really
and rude. (HELP)
11. A newborn baby is completely
. (HELP)
12. "Don't worry - this injection will be completely
. (PAIN)
13. Thieves broke into the museum and stole a
painting by Van Gogh. (PRICE)
14. She's really rich, but her clothes are always very
and elegant. (TASTE)
15. I bought some shares in the company 5 years ago, but unfortunately now they are
. (WORTH)
16. His speech went on
. I thought he'd never stop talking. (END)
The word formation part of the FCE use of English exam often tests adjectives such as 'short', 'wide', 'dark' and their nouns and verbs. Here is a list of some of the more common adjectives and their forms.
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
Adjective
Noun
Verb
deep
depth
deepen
high
height
heighten
-
weight
weigh
wide
width
widen
long
length
lengthen
short
shortage (= not enough)shortness (= not tall)
shorten
large
enlargement
enlarge
low
-
lower
tight
tightness
tighten
loose
looseness
loosen
strong
strength
strengthen
weak
weakness
weaken
dark
darknessdark
darken
bright
brightness
brighten
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences.
Principio del formulario
1. Normally I prefer tall men, but my husband's
isn't a problem. (SHORT)
2. The news report covered the economic crisis in
. (DEEP)
3. A healthy diet will
your life expectancy. (LONG)
4. If they
this road, there would be fewer accidents. (WIDE)
5. I think I'll
this photograph. (LARGE)
6. The airport has
security at passport control. (TIGHT)
7. I do yoga to
my back. (STRONG)
8. There is a water
nearly every summer in the south of England. (SHORT)
9. The moment I left work I
my tie and started to relax. (LOOSE)
10. When I
myself, I found out I'd lost 10kg! (WEIGHT)
11. The
of my computer screen gives me a headache. (BRIGHT)
12. I'm afraid of
so I couldn't live on the 10th floor. (HIGH)
13. The lights went out and the room was plunged into
. (DARK)
14. I'm afraid of the
so I sleep with the lights on. (DARKEN)
15. The government are going to
the legal drinking age to 18. (LOW)
16. His long illness has
him. (WEAK)
Look at the information in the table for 1 minute and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
en-
-ify
-ise
-en
enlarge enable entrust enrage ensure endanger
beautify clarify specify identify terrify purify
televise advise organise specialise prioritise criminalise apologise
widen lengthen deepen shorten tighten brighten darken weaken strengthen
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Be very careful - these are verbs. So, for example, if the word is DEEP, the verb could be deepen, deepens, deepening or deepened.
1. I find it difficult to
my work. (PRIORITY)
2. I'm studying medicine. I want to
in genetics. (SPECIAL)
3. This photograph is too small. Can you
it for me? (LARGE)
4. I didn't understand what you just said. Could you
it? (CLEAR)
5. My electronic dictionary
me to listen to the pronunciation of new words. (ABLE)
6. He loves insects. He can
over 50 different types of beetle.(IDENTITY)
7. There are a lot of accidents on this road - the council should
it. (WIDTH)
8. The time we spent apart only
my love for him. (STRONG)
9. You didn't
what flavour you wanted, so I got you chocolate. (SPECIFIC)
10. His speech was too long. He should have
it. (SHORT)
11. He always thinks he's right. He never
for his mistakes. (APOLOGY)
12. I think the government should
alcohol. (CRIMINAL)
13. Thank you for the flowers. They really
up the room. (BRIGHT)
14. The burglar
that no one was in the house before he broke in. (SURE)
15. The film "The Ring"
me. I couldn't sleep for days. (TERROR)
16. The government's plans for the hospitals will
thousands of lives. (DANGER)
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