FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation: Verbs
en- |
-ify |
-ise |
-en |
enlarge |
beautify |
televise |
widen |
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.
- I find it difficult to my work. (PRIORITY)
- I’m studying medicine. I want to in genetics. (SPECIAL)
- This photograph is too small. Can you it for me? (LARGE)
- I didn’t understand what you just said. Could you it? (CLEAR)
- My electronic dictionary me to listen to the pronunciation of new words. (ABLE)
- He loves insects. He can over 50 different types of beetle.(IDENTITY)
- There are a lot of accidents on this road — the council should it. (WIDTH)
- The time we spent apart only my love for him. (STRONG)
- You didn’t what flavour you wanted, so I got you chocolate. (SPECIFIC)
- His speech was too long. He should have it. (SHORT)
- He always thinks he’s right. He never for his mistakes. (APOLOGY)
- I think the government should alcohol. (CRIMINAL)
- Thank you for the flowers you sent last month. They really up my room. (BRIGHT)
- The burglar that no one was in the house before he broke in. (SURE)
- The film «The Ring» me. I couldn’t sleep for days. (TERROR)
- The government’s plans for the hospitals will thousands of lives. (DANGER)
Word Formation: Nouns with -ion
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.
- Please send a photograph with your CV and form. (APPLY)
- You need to make a today. (DECIDE)
- Her of the grammar was very unclear. (EXPLAIN)
- We had a long about our problems. (DISCUSS)
- Students must have their parent’s to come on the trip. (PERMIT)
- He is still in hospital, recovering from his . (OPERATE)
- I entered a bowling . (COMPETE)
- My children never show for anything I do! (APPRECIATE)
- I can’t come up with a to this problem. (SOLVE)
- The of junk food has increased over the last 20 years. (CONSUME)
- You need a lot of for this job. (QUALIFY)
- When I lived abroad, I found the from my family very difficult. (SEPARATE)
- The of the new flats is nearly finished. (CONSTRUCT)
- We don’t want a of the violence at last year’s football match. (REPEAT)
- The police are conducting an into the murder. (INVESTIGATE)
- I gave the police a of the thief. (DESCRIBE)
- It wasn’t my to offend you. (INTEND)
- We are making for the wedding. (PREPARE)
- I’ve just had a very interesting with your sister. (CONVERSE)
- You can try our product for free, with no to buy it. (OBLIGE)
Verb + ment / adjective + ness
Many verbs can form nouns with the suffix -ment. And many adjectives can form their nouns with the suffix -ness.
Verb |
Noun |
Adjective |
Noun |
achieve |
achievement |
aware |
awareness |
amuse |
amusement |
dark |
darkness |
argue |
argument |
forgetful |
forgetfulness |
develop |
development |
happy |
happiness |
encourage |
encouragement |
homeless |
homelessness |
excite |
excitement |
lazy |
laziness |
improve |
improvement |
lonely |
loneliness |
involve |
involvement |
rude |
rudeness |
judge |
judgement |
tidy |
tidiness |
measure |
measurement |
weak |
weakness |
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. There are lots more examples here than in the list above, so remember that often verbs use ‘ment’ to make nouns, and often adjectives use ‘ness’. And remember that sometimes the nouns will be plural!
- «Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make an . (ANNOUNCE)
- is a problem everywhere, not just in big cities. (HOMELESS)
- His made me very angry. (RUDE)
- What does your doctor recommend for the ‘flu? (TREAT)
- We had a big about whose turn it was to wash up. (ARGUE)
- I woke up at 2am. The house was in complete . (DARK)
- We need some special if we want to go mountain climbing. (EQUIP)
- If you drink too much alcohol, it will impair your . (JUDGE)
- The interviewer asked me about my strengths and . (WEAK)
- My friends gave me a lot of when I was worried about my driving test. (ENCOURAGE)
- To my , I was offered £10,000 for my old car! (AMAZE)
- The company has made lots of to their internet services. (IMPROVE)
- I used to find his funny, but now it really annoys me. (FORGETFUL)
- Winning the race was an amazing for my daughter. (ACHIEVE)
- This book is very unrealistic, but that didn’t spoil my of it. (ENJOY)
- We are still making for the wedding next month. (ARRANGE)
- Drivers should stop to rest during long car journeys, because can cause accidents. (TIRED)
- People can experience at many times during their lives, and for many reasons. (LONELY)
Word Formation: Nouns with -ence and -ance
Two common noun endings are -ance and -ence. Usually, their adjectives are made with -ant and -ent. Here are some common examples which might help you in the FCE exam.
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 |
attendance |
— |
to attend |
assistance |
— |
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 |
- Unfortunately, accidents are a common along this road. (OCCUR)
- It’s difficult to believe in the of aliens. (EXIST)
- The police are looking for of the attack. (EVIDENT)
- She thinks everyone hates her and needs from her friends all the time. (REASSURE)
- Scientist believe that the mysterious of millions of bees is due to disease. (APPEAR)
- What’s the best punishment for a teenager? (OBEY)
- What he said was true, but it was completely . (RELEVANCE)
- 100% is necessary to pass this course. (ATTEND)
- I’m the only person who believes in his . Even the police think he’s guilty. (INNOCENT)
- There are three shop over there — you should ask one of them for help. (ASSIST)
- Some people think that if you enjoy your job, the salary is , but I love money! (IMPORTANCE)
- I’m excited because I’ve just got a letter of from Cambridge University! (ACCEPT)
- Cats are extremely animals. They don’t really need people. (DEPEND)
- You need a lot of if you want to work with children. (PATIENT)
Word Formation: Adjectives with -ful/-less
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.
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 |
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-.
What a lovely present! That was very of you. (THINK)- He drives really — one day he’s going to have an accident. (CARE)
- He’s told me times about how good he is at football. (COUNT)
- Because of his bad interview, he was in his job application. (SUCCEED)
- «I didn’t eat your chocolate,» she said , hiding the empty wrapper. (TRUE)
- It’s . England will never win the World Cup football again. (HOPE)
- My best friend is a rich, lawyer. (POWER)
- You must remember to recharge your phone. Without its batteries, it’s . (USE)
- Cigarettes are to your health. (HARM)
- The sales assistant was really and rude. (HELP)
- A newborn baby is completely . (HELP)
- «Don’t worry — this injection will be completely . (PAIN)
- Thieves broke into the museum and stole a painting by Van Gogh. (PRICE)
- She’s really rich, but her clothes are always very and elegant. (TASTE)
- I bought some shares in the company 5 years ago, but unfortunately now they are . (WORTH)
- His speech went on . I thought he’d never stop talking. (END)
Word Formation: Negatives
- Negative prefixes can be used with nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs. For example disapproval, disapprove, disapproving, disapprovingly.
- Usually im + p (impatient) but not always (unpleasant).
- Often il + l (illegal) but not always (unlikely).
- Often ir + r (irregular) but not always (unresponsive).
- Usually -ful changes to -less (harmful/less) but not always (endless).
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 |
- The politician was accused of being (HONEST)
- His story was so I thought he was crazy. (BELIEVE)
- She looked at him in when he told her the shocking news. (BELIEVE)
- Many people are of the dangers of mobile phones. (AWARE)
- He’s invited me to his party. It would be to say no. (POLITE)
- Too many children nowadays are growing up . (LITERATE)
- That’s not what I said! You’ve me. (UNDERSTAND)
- My dog is completely . I promise he won’t bite. (HARM)
- The medicine was — he didn’t recover. (EFFECT)
- His answers were very so he failed the Maths exam. (ACCURATE)
- It’s that people will ever live on the moon. (LIKELY)
- He waited for the train. (PATIENT)
- It’s to smoke in public places nowadays. (LEGAL)
- I would never teach children. They always . (BEHAVE)
- The shirt he’s wearing is completely for a job interview. (APPROPRIATE)
- His speech was . I thought he’d never stop talking. (END)
Word Formation: Irregular Nouns
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 |
The flowers are poisonous — don’t eat them! (DIE)- You have no — you must do it. (CHOOSE)
- Their was a very happy one. (MARRY)
- You need to do some more of this grammar. (PRACTISE)
- We don’t have any that he committed the crime. (PROVE)
- She’s really about her new haircut.(DEFEND)
- The company made a on their new product. (LOSE)
- I stared at him in . (BELIEVE)
- Your parents really care about your . (SAVE)
- The politician’s really made me think about the issues. (SPEAK)
- We tried to keep up the that everything was OK. (PRETEND)
- I need to get a for my parents’ wedding anniverary. (GIVE)
- I’m really sorry. You were in your job application. (SUCCEED)
- He lost his in the accident (SEE)
- He’s really selfish and . (THINK)
Word Formation: height, width …
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.
Adjective |
Noun |
Verb |
deep |
depth |
deepen |
high |
height |
heighten |
— |
weight |
weigh |
wide |
width |
widen |
long |
length |
lengthen |
short |
shortage (= not enough) |
shorten |
large |
enlargement |
enlarge |
low |
— |
lower |
tight |
tightness |
tighten |
loose |
looseness |
loosen |
strong |
strength |
strengthen |
weak |
weakness |
weaken |
dark |
darkness |
darken |
bright |
brightness |
brighten |
Normally I prefer tall men, but my husband’s isn’t a problem. (SHORT)- The news report covered the economic crisis in . (DEEP)
- A healthy diet will your life expectancy. (LONG)
- If they this road, there would be fewer accidents. (WIDE)
- I think I’ll this photograph. (LARGE)
- The airport has security at passport control. (TIGHT)
- I do yoga to my back. (STRONG)
- There is a water nearly every summer in the south of England. (SHORT)
- The moment I left work I my tie and started to relax. (LOOSE)
- When I myself, I found out I’d lost 10kg! (WEIGHT)
- The of my computer screen gives me a headache. (BRIGHT)
- I’m afraid of so I couldn’t live on the 10th floor. (HIGH)
- The lights went out and the room was plunged into . (DARK)
- I’m afraid of the so I sleep with the lights on. (DARKEN)
- The government are going to the legal drinking age to 18. (LOW)
- His long illness has him. (WEAK)
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.
·
People nouns often end: -er, -or, -ist, -ian.
·
Adjectives often end: -able, -ible, -ive, -al, -ic, -ed, -ing.
·
Some verbs end: -ise, -ate, -en.
·
Adverbs often end: -ly.
·
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 many word beginnings (prefixes) and word
endings (suffixes) that can be added to a word to change its meaning or its
word class. The most common ones are shown here, followed by examples of how
they are used in the process of word formation. More can be found in the
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
Verb Formation
The endings ize and ify can be added to nouns and
adjectives to form verbs.
Noun + ize = Verb
American + ize = Americanize Legal + ize = legalize
This will make the factory more modern. This will
modernize the factory. Adjective + ize = Verb
False + ify = Falsify Humid + ify = humidify
These tablets make the water pure. They purify the
water.
Adverb Formation
The ending ly can be added to most adjectives to form
adverbs.
Adjective + ly = Adverb
Easy + ly = easily His behaviour was stupid. He
behaved stupidly
Noun Formation
The endings er, ment, and ation can be added to many
verbs to form nouns.
Verb + er = Noun Fasten + er = faster Open
+ er = opener
John drives a bus. He is a bus driver.
Amaze + ment = amazement Retire + ment = retirement
Children develop very quickly. Their development is
very quick.
Admire + ation = admiration Organize + ation =
organization
The doctor examined me. The doctor gave me an
examination.
The endings ity/ty and ness can be added to many
adjectives to form nouns.
Stupid + ity = stupidity Don’t be so cruel. I hate
cruelty
Adjective Formation
The endings y, ic, ical, ful, and less can be added to
many nouns to form adjectives. The ending able can be added to many verbs to
form adjectives.
Noun + y = Adjective Dirt + y = dirty
That was an awful smell. It was very smelly.
Atom + ic = atomic That was a book of poetry. It was a
poetic book.
Hope + ful = hopeful His broken leg caused pain. It
was very painful.
Care + less = careless The operation didn’t cause
pain. It was painless.
Verb + able = Adjective Love + able = lovable You can
wash this coat.
It’s washable Opposites Prefixes added to the front of
many words can produce an opposite meaning. un + fortunate = unfortunate I’m
not very happy. In fact I’m very unhappy.
Put the correct
form of the word in brackets into the blank .
1. The results were very strange! In fact,
they were ___________________ ! (BELIEVE)
2. He has an unfortunate
___________________ to understand people’s feelings (ABLE)
3. Due to the clerk’s
______________________ we missed the train (STUBBORN)
4. What we saw was beyond all
______________________ (EXPECT)
5. She is a student of the
______________________ (HUMAN)
6. The book contains some great
______________________ (ILLUSTRATE)
7. Please give us details of your present
______________________ (OCCUPY)
8. What is the ______________________ of
the Danube River (LONG)
9. The ______________________ of our
agriculture is important if we want to produce more food (MECHANIC)
10. Drug ______________________ is a
problem causing great concern (ADDICT)
11. The ______________________ of the
awards is scheduled for next Friday (PRESENT)
12. I have been sworn to
______________________ so I can’t say a word (SECRET)
13. After losing her job she was
______________________ for a month (EMPLOY)
14. Pushing into a queue is considered to
be extremely ______________________ (POLITE)
15. The audience gave the violinist a
round of ______________________ (APPLAUD)
16. He isn’t happy with his job because he
feels he is ______________________ (PAY)
17. We have just been shown another
example of ______________________ killing (SENSE)
18. My sister’s ______________________
makes hers social life difficult (SHY)
19. I’m not sure at all I really can’t say
with ______________________ (CERTAIN)
20. My ______________________ is the
history of Elizabethan England (SPECIAL)
21. The police were told by their
______________________ where to find the criminal (INFORM)
22. He received many medals for his acts
of ______________________ during the war (HERO)
23. The ______________________ of the
company is said to be dangerous to small firms (EXPAND)
24. For all of us, Marilyn Monroe was the
______________________ of beauty (PERSON)
25. I can guarantee the ______________________
of our new product (RELY)
26. The government is encouraging heavy
______________________ (INVEST)
27. People who suffer from
______________________ should buy themselves a pet (LONELY)
28. George and I have been friends since
______________________ (CHILD)
29. Everybody is worried about the
______________________ of the rain forest (DESTROY)
30. Some MPs are calling for
______________________ without trial (DETAIN)
31. My grandfather was given a medal for ______________________
(BRAVE)
32. My father takes great
______________________ in his work (PROUD)
33. This bag contains all my photographic
______________________ (EQUIP)
34. ______________________ is probably the
most useful form of energy (ELECTRIC)
35. John turned up on the wrong day
because of a ______________________ (UNDERSTAND)
36. Jake had another
______________________ with his boss (AGREE)
37. The bank robbers were sentenced to
twelve years of ______________________ (PRISON)
38. Mary suddenly felt sick, so we needed
a ______________________ for her part in the play (REPLACE)
39. Failure to apply in time may result in
a ______________________ of benefits (LOSE)
40.
Pat was accused of stealing some ______________________ documents (CONFIDENT)
Put the correct
form of the word in brackets into the blank.
1. In the future the public will have a
wider __________________ of television programs. (CHOOSE)
2. Looking after the health of 700
children is heavy ______________________ . (RESPONSIBLE)
3. The town spent more money on
__________________ and health than ever before (HOUSE)
4. Do you have any particular
__________________ where we sit? (PREFER)
5. There’s a __________________ contrast
between what he does and what he says. (STRIKE)
6. The party turned out to be a huge
______________________ (DISAPPOINT)
7. He was fined and __________________ for
reckless driving (QUALIFY).
8. Is it possible to remove the smell from
the books that have been in _______________ for such a long time? (STORE)
9. Many people are interested in job
__________________ more than in earning large amount of money (SATISFY).
10. I hadn’t made a __________________ ,
so I just got on the first flight available. (RESERVE)
11. The anti-doping association believes
that all sports must be free of drug __________________ (USE).
12. The country is facing a population
__________________ . (EXPLODE)
13. It is __________________ to fasten
your seat-belts before take-off (ADVISE)
14. She claimed __________________ benefit
for over six months. (EMPLOY)
15. Tax __________________ is one of the
biggest problems that face the new country. (EVADE)
16. You can basically wear what you want
but there is an _____________ law that says you must not wear jeans. (WRITE)
17. The __________________ course is being
paid for by the company. (MANAGE)
18. It’s a __________________ shame that
she didn’t have a better chance in life. (CRY)
19. The farm house we stayed in was
completely off the __________________ track. (BEAT)
20. The police searched the house
_______________________ . (SYSTEM)
21. He is a __________________ -paid
senior executive. (HIGH)
22. A full-scale ____________________ of
our company is urgently needed (ORGANIZE)
23. Are we going to be saved
__________________ by our oil supplies? (ECONOMY)
24. Experts have tried to find a
__________________ to the personnel problems. (SOLVE)
25. She’s a specialist in psychology and
human __________________ . (BEHAVE)
26. The __________________ of the most
important port of the country eliminated all trade. (BLOCK)
27. The __________________ system of some
countries used to be based on gold. (MONEY)
28. He recovered from his injuries in the
__________________ hospital (NAVY)
29. He has loved her __________________
ever since they first met. (PASSION)
30. The importance of this
__________________ has been extremely overrated. (INVENT)
31. He is a convinced __________________
of Chinese communism (FOLLOW)
32. Jane’s party was more of an
__________________ test than anything else. (ENDURE)
33. The government has committed itself to
developing __________________ sources of energy. (NEW)
34. He took a job as a sales
__________________ in a big department store. (ASSIST)
35. The potential benefits of this
treatment __________________ the risks. (WEIGH)
36. Make sure the hairdryer is
__________________ before you fix the switch. (CONNECT)
37. They say that travel
__________________ the mind. (BROAD)
38. Without his teacher’s __________________
he would have given up long ago. (ENCOURAGE)
39. Dickens’s last novel was
__________________ The Mystery of Edwin Drood. (TITLE)
40.
She has known me for two years now but she still __________________ my name. (PRONOUNCE)
The same word can exist in several different forms. For example, the word ‘encourage’ is a verb, but ‘encouragement’ is a noun. A good knowledge of the different forms of words is absolutely necessary to express your ideas. Test your knowledge of word forms with this grammar exercise.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
1. The verb form of ‘note’ is
notify
notification
noticeable
2. The adjective form of ‘black’ is
3. The adjective form of ‘courage’ is
courageous
courageously
courageousness
4. The adjective form of ‘ease’ is
5. The verb form of ‘tireless’ is
6. The adjective form of ‘heaven’ is
7. The adjective form of ‘talk’ is
8. The noun form of ‘stormy’ is
stormed
storminess
stormful
9. The adjective form of ‘wealth’ is
wealthiness
wealthy
unwealthy
10. The noun form of ‘compete’ is
competition
competed
competitive
Answers
1. notify
2. blackish
3. courageous
4. easy
5. tire
6. heavenly
7. talkative
8. storminess
9. wealthy
10. competition
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- English ESL Worksheets
- Grammar Practice
- General grammar practice
- Word formation
Worksheet details
worksheet summary
This worksheet deals with word formation exercises. It consists of three texts. Students have to complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets. The answer key is given.
Language goals
Grammar practice
Vocabulary practice
Grammar topic
Other pedagogical goals
Level
The above lesson is a great teaching resource for:Intermediate (B1), Upper-intermediate (B2)
Student type
Adults
High schoolers
Business/professional students
Solutions
Solutions included
Quality check
Quality not yet verified by the community.
Sensitivity
This resource does not contain any images, words or ideas that would upset a reasonable person in any culture.
Copyright license
This resource is licensed by tantana under the iSLCollective Copyright License.
Published 07/03/2018
Tantana is from/lives in Russia and has been a member of iSLCollective since 2012-11-28. Tantana last logged in on 2023-04-12, and has shared 305 resources on iSLCollective so far.