New Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate Module 2
Do exams cause too much anxiety? Should there be fewer of them in schools?
Is friendship more important than family these days?
Do you think that computer games provide children with intellectual stimulation? If not, what can be done about it?
What can be done about bad behaviour by school kids?
What effect does criticism by school teachers have?
What is the biggest problem in modern society? What can be done about it?
Should companies encourage physical fitness in their office workers?
Is passion or companionship more important in a long term romantic relationship?
Do you think the government should do more to control credit agencies who lend to penniless people?
Do you think some kids become discouraged very early in their school careers? What can be done to prevent that?
Are you optimistic about the economic future of your country?
What are people in your country most anxious about?
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Without looking back at the previous page yet, answer the language questions below.
What are the nouns (or other nouns) of these words?
Anxious
Friendly
Stimulate
Behave
Criticise
Social
Fit
Companion
What are the adjectives of these words?
Penny
Discourage
Optimism
What are the prefixes and suffixes above?
What other prefixes and suffixes can you think of that are used with adjectives?
What are the adjectives of these words?
Benefit
Wealth
Power
Unhappiness
Insecurity
Value
Tire
Depress
Check your answers on page 22, then discuss what the missing word is and how inspiring the text is.
Fill in the adjectives in the next exercise and discuss which of the sayings you like best.
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PDF for easy saving and printing: Word formation discussion questions
Related pages
Word formation page
Discussion questions page
Cutting Edge Upper page
In word formation, a word is given in question and we have to choose that word from the given options, which can or cannot be formed from the letters of the given word.
Sometimes, a set of English letters is given in a jumbled order and the candidates are asked to arrange them in a meaningful order.
In some situations, we are asked to choose particular letters from a word and arrange them to form a meaningful word.
Types of Questions
There are three types of questions based on the word formation which are generally asked in various competitive examinations.
Type #1:
Word Formation Using Letters from a Given Word
In this type of questions, a word has been given, followed by four other words. The candidate has to identify the word which can or cannot be formed by using the letters of main word.
Directions (Example Nos. 1-2) In the following questions, select the word from the given alternative which cannot be formed using the letters of the given word.
Example: 1 CHARACTER
(a) TRACER (b) CHARTER
(c) HEARTY (d) CRATE
Solutions (c) By using the letters of the given word, HEARTY can’t be formed because in the given word, letter Y is absent.
Example: 2 ADMINISTRATION
(a) RATION (b) MINISTER
(c) MIND (d) STATION
Solutions (b) By using the letters of the given word, MINISTER can’t be formed because in the given word, letter E is absent.
Directions (Example Nos. 3-4) In each of the following question, a word has been given, followed by four other words, one of which can be formed by using the letters of the given word. Find that word.
Example: 3 DEMOCRACY
(a) SECRECY (b) MICRO
(c) MARCY (d) DEMON
Solutions (c) MARCY — All the letters of this word are present in the main word.
Hence, ‘MARCY’ can be formed from the letters of the given word ‘DEMOCRACY’.
Example: 4 COMPENSATION
(a) TINY (b) COPY
(c) MENTION (d) MOTIVE
Solutions (c) MENTION — All the letters of the word are present in the main word. Hence, ‘MENTION’ can be formed from the letters of the given word ‘COMPENSATION’.
Type #2:
Forming Word with Selected Letters of Given Word
In this type of questions, a word has been given and the candidate is required to make new meaningful words using letters at different positions like 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th etc of the given word.
Example: 5 If it is possible to make only one meaningful word from the 3rd, the 6th, the 9th and the 10th letters of the word ‘PARENTHESIS’ using each letter only once, last letter of the word is your answer. If no such word can be formed, your answer is ‘X’ and if more than one such word can be formed, your answer Y.
(a) R (b) T
(c) X (d) Y
Solutions (a)
Since, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 10th letters are R, T, S and I respectively. Hence, only one meaningful word STIR can be formed. last letter of this word is R, so correct option is (a).
Example: 6 If it is possible to make a meaningful word ‘INTERPRETATION’, then which of the following will be the third letter of that word? If more than one such word can be made, then give ‘M’ as the answer and if no such word can be formed, then give ‘X’ as the answer.
(a) T (b) R
(c) M (d) X
Solutions (c)
Since, 1st, 4th, 7th and 11th letters are I, E, R and T respectively. Hence, three meaningful words RITE, TIRE and TIER can be formed. Since, more than one words are formed from the given letters, so answer is M.
Type #3:
Forming Meaningful Words Using Given Letters
In this type of questions, a word has been given and the candidates are required to form as many meaningful English words as possible from the given word, using each letter only once in each word.
Example: 7 How many meaningful English words can be formed by using letters of the word ‘ALEP’?
(a) One (b) Two
(c) Three (d) More than three
Solutions (c) Such meaningful words are ‘PEAL’, ‘LEAP’ and ‘PALE’.
Example: 8 How many meaningful English words can be made with the letters IFEL, using each letter only once in each word?.
(a) None (b) One
(c) Two (d) Three
Solutions (c) Such meaningful words are ‘FILE’ and ‘LIFE’.
Type #4:
Word Formation by Unscrambling Letters
In this type of questions, a set of English letters is given in a jumbled order. The candidate is required ton arrange these letters to form a meaningful word.
MIND IT !
Always try to place the letters according to the numbers provided in options rather than doing it on the basis of your vocabulary knowledge
Example: 9 Select the combination of numbers that forms a meaningful word.
(a) 2, 7, 8, 6, 4, 3, 1, 5 (b) 4, 7, 5, 2, 6, 8, 1, 3
(c) 7, 1, 8, 5, 6, 2, 4, 3 (d) 5, 3, 7, 1, 6, 4, 8, 2
Solutions (d)
Clearly, the given letters, when arranged in the order of ‘5, 3, 7, 1, 6, 4, 8, 2,’ from the word ‘COMPLAIN’.
Example: 10 Rearrange the letters A, R, T, Y and D to form a meaningful word and select from the given alternatives, the word which is almost opposite in meaning to the word so formed.
(a) Dirty (b) Quiet
(c) Quick (d) Queek
Solutions (c) The word that can be formed by rearranging the given letters is ‘Tardy’ which means ‘Sluggish’ and opposite of this word is ‘Quick’.
Type #5:
Formation of Meaningful word by adding letters/words in the given word(s)
In this type of questions, some words are given and the candidate has to either suffix or prefix same letter in each of the given words to make new meaningful words.
It also includes questions based on forming two meaningful words by inserting a word in between the given word.
Example: 11 Given below are some group of letters. Which of the options can be joined at the end of these letters to make them meaningful words?
LEN, SAN, WOR, SEE
(a) A (b) D
(c) B (d) K
Solutions (b) Letter D is suffixed to the given words
LEN + D = LEND
SAN + D = SAND
WOR + D = WORD
SEE + D = SEED
Example: 12 Which single letter can be prefixed to the following words to form entirely new words?
(a) H (b) S
(c) B (d) C
Solutions (B) Letter S is prefixed to the given words
S + TILL = STILL
S + TABLE = STABLE
S + PILE = SPILE
S + TAB = STAB
S + PRING = SPRING
Example: 13 Choose the middle words.
(a) ORED (b) AGE
(c) ICK (d) OR
Solutions (d) MIRR (OR) ANCE.
The two words formed are MIRROR and ORANGE.
LearnFrenzy provides you lots of fully solved «Word Formation» Questions and Answers with explanation.
Following quiz provides Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) related to Word Formation. You will have to read all the given answers and click over the correct answer. If you are not sure about the answer then you can check the answer using Show Answer button. You can use Next Quiz button to check new set of questions in the quiz.
Q 1 — A chained structure of letters are numbered as 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. In the options, four possible arrangements of these numbers are given. Choose the option so that it forms a meaningful word.
E X P C T E
1 2 3 4 5 6
A — 1,2,3,6,4,5
B — 1,6,5,2,4,3
C — 1,2,3,5,6,4
D — 1,2,3,4,5,6
Answer : A
Explanation
The word is EXPECT.
Q 2 — The letters of the word RROTCA are in disorder. If they are kept in appropriate order, it suggests the name of a vegetable. What is the last letter of the word so formed?
A — T
B — C
C — A
D — O
Answer : A
Explanation
The word is CARROT.
Q 3 — If it is possible to make a meaningful word with the second, fourth, sixth and eighth letters of the following word, last letter of the given word will be? If there is no possibility, X is your answer. If more than one possibilities are there, give M as answer.
CONTRADICT
A — O
B — T
C — A
D — X
E — M
Answer : D
Explanation
The letters are O T A I. there are no words from these letters.
Q 4 — If there is a possibility of any other meaningful word first, third and fifth letters of the following word, which of the following will be the middle letter? For no other possibilities X is the answer. If more than one word can be made, give M as answer.
SHIFT
A — S
B — I
C — T
D — X
E — M
Answer : B
Explanation
The letters are S I T and the word is SIT. The middle letter is I.
Q 5 — If there is a possibility of any meaningful word with the second, fourth and sixth letters of the following word, which of the following will be the middle letter? X is the answer for no other possibilities. If more than one such word can be made, give M as answer.
BEAUTY
A — E
B — U
C — Y
D — X
E — M
Answer : D
Explanation
The letters are E U Y from which no words can be made.
Q 6 — Mark the following series of letters “NPKIMUP”. A proper arrangement of these letters can give a meaningful word. Try to find the 2nd letter from the left.
A — U
B — P
C — K
D — I
Answer : A
Explanation
The right answer is PUMPKIN.
Q 7 — Consider the following arrangement of letters ”TEKCCIR”. If the rearrangement of these letter can form a name of sport, then what will be the last letter of that word?
A — C
B — R
C — E
D — T
Answer : D
Explanation
The right word is CRICKET.
Q 8 — Arrange the following series ”NNOOI” in such a manner that, it will indicate a name of a vegetable. What will be the position of letter ”I” from the left?
A — 1
B — 2
C — 3
D — 4
Answer : C
Explanation
The word is ONION.
Q 9 — Consider the following arrangement :
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Consider the 1st and middle letter of the 1st row starting from the left and similarly consider the middle and 2nd letter of the 2nd row starting from the left. Form a word such that it will indicate the name of an animal and hence, tell the 2nd letter of that word, starting from its right.
A — A
B — E
C — G
D — U
Answer : A
Explanation
The word is “GOAT”.
Q 10 — Arrange the following chained structure of letters ”BBAACGE” in such a manner that it will form a name of vegetable and then tell the 1st letter of that word.
A — A
B — B
C — C
D — E
Answer : C
Explanation
The right word is CABBAGE.
reasoning_word_formation.htm
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Описание презентации по отдельным слайдам:
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1 слайд
Word Formation
Why study word-formation processes? -
2 слайд
Questions
1)What do you know about segmentation of words into morphemes? What is the principle of the analysis into immediate constituents suggested by L. Bloomfield?
2)What are the principles of classification of suffixes? -
3 слайд
QUESTIONS
3) What is the difference between frequency and productivity of affixes?)
4) What is the most productive way of word formation in English, Kazakh, Russian? Are they different? -
4 слайд
The structure of English words and its specific features
Word formation: affixation, conversion, composition, abbreviation and other types of word- formation.
Major types of word building in English: affixation, conversion, composition, abbreviation. Various types of abbreviated words. Other types of word-building: sound imitation, reduplication, back-formation. -
5 слайд
Word-formation processes
Constituent morphemes.
Various devices which are used in English to build up new words from existing ones. -
6 слайд
Affixation
Adding affixes to an existing word is a common way of creating new words. The agentive suffix -er (nouns upper and downer, which were invented in connection with drugs but have extended their meaning to anything that lifts or dampens one’s spirits). More commonly, -er is suffixed to verbs (V): runner, campaigner, and designer.
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7 слайд
COMPUTE + …
Computerite, and computernik, along with compiterize, computerizable, computerization, are all derived by affixation from computer and its derivatives.
Computer is derived by affixing the agentive suffix -er to the verb compute. -
8 слайд
Prefixes
Prefixes like un-, pre-, and dis- serve to change the meaning of words, though not usually their part of speech.
un- added to an adjective (opposite meaning), unpopular, unsuccessful, untrue, and unfavorable.
dis- added to a verb derives a verb with the opposite meaning: disobey, disappear, dishonor, and displace. -
9 слайд
Prefixes
Pre- serves as a prefix to several classes of words. It can be prefixed to verbs, as in preaffirm, preplan, prewash. It can also be prefixed to adjectives (precollegeate, precultural, presurgical) and to nouns (preantiquity, preaffirmation, preplacement). -
10 слайд
suffixes
Suffixes in English usually operate differently from prefixes. They often change the part of speech of a word. (-ment, displacement, arrangement, agreement).
-ation : resignation, implementation, observation, and reformation.
Suffixes are widely exploited in the other languages of the world as well as in English. The Indonesian suffix -kan changes a noun to a verb(‘to cause to become X): budakkan ‘to enslave’ from budak ‘slave’+ -kan, or rajakan ‘to crown’
penjarakan ‘imprison’ from penjara ‘prison’ + -kan). -
11 слайд
CONVERSION
Conversion is also called affixless derivation or zero-suffixation. The term conversion — Henry Sweet New English Grammar in 1891. Prof. A.I. Smirnitsky treats conversion as a morphological way of forming words when one part of speech is formed from another part of speech by changing its paradigm: to dial from the noun dial; to jump – a jump
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12 слайд
Morphological-syntactical word-building
A. Marchand. The Categories and Types of Present-day. (not only the change of the paradigm, but also the change of the syntactic function) e.g. I need some good paper for my room. (an object in the sentence). I paper my room every year. (paper is the predicate in the sentence). -
13 слайд
COMPOSITION.
COMPOUND WORDSComposition is the way of word building when a word is formed by joining two or more stems to form one word. The structural unity of a compound word depends upon:
a) the unity of stress
b) solid or hyphenated spelling,
c) semantic unity,
d) unity of morphological and syntactical functioning -
14 слайд
Stress
As a rule, English compounds have one uniting stress (usually on the first component), e.g. “hard-cover, ‘best-seller.
a double stress ‘blood-,vessel. (main, secondary)
The main stress can be on the second component, e.g., ,snow-‘white, ,sky-‘blue.
. a special type of compound words — block compounds:’air piracy, ‘cargo module, ‘coin change, ‘penguin suit (one uniting stress but are spelt with a break) -
15 слайд
According to the way components are joined together compounds are subdivided into:
a) neutral, which are formed by joining together two stems, e.g. ball-point, to windowshop (without any joining morpheme);
b) morphological, e.g. astro space. handicraft, sportsman: (a linking element)
c) syntactical, e.g. here-and-now, free-for-all, do-or-die (form-word stems). -
16 слайд
Types
A) subordinative compounds where one of the components is the semantic centre and the structural centre and the second component is subordinate; these subordinative relations can be different:
honey-sweet, eggshell-thin, goldfish (comparison); dog-cheap (emphatic relations) love-sick (cause relation); raincoat,bathrobe, textbook (functional relations ); she-dog, he-goat, Tom-cat (sex relations).
B) Coordinative compounds: where both components are semantically independent.
a) e.g. secretary-stenographer,woman-doctor (2 functions) Oxbridge, Anglo-Saxon (additive). -
17 слайд
Shortening of words
Minor types of word-formation -
18 слайд
Shortening of words is substitution of a part for a whole.
Shortening of various sorts is a popular means of increasing the word stock of a language. Shortening of a word is also called clipping.
Result: a new lexical unit where either the lexical meaning (fancy and fantasy, fence and defence) or the style (lab, exam) is different from the full form of the word. -
19 слайд
The general accepted classification of clipped words is based on the position of the clipped part,
it may be initial clipping (apheresis from Gr. aphaeresis “taking away”): story (history), copter (helicopter), chute (parachute)
Final clipping – cutting off (apocope Gr. “apokopto “cut off): disco, intro, prof.
A combination: cutting off the beginning and final parts of a word retaining the middle part of it: flu (influenza), van (avanguard), tec (detective). -
20 слайд
Sometimes the middle of the word is clipped, e.g. mart (market),
maths (mathematics); ma’am (madam), fancy (fantasy). Such abbreviations are called syncope (“syncope” Gr. a cutting up).
Sometimes shortening influences the spelling of the word, e.g. “c” can be substituted by “k” before “e” to preserve pronunciation, e.g. mike (microphone), coke (coca-cola) -
21 слайд
Abbreviation
Besides regular shortenings there are graphical abbreviations or they may be called acronyms or alphabetism.
Alphabetism – a word formed from the initial letters of successive words and pronounced as sequences of letters.
Acronyms – alphabetisms pronounced as words.
Abbreviations are formed by shortening and compounding; UNESCO, NATO. Abbreviation is achieved by omission of letters from one or more parts of the whole: bldg (building), abbr (abbreviation), B.A. Bachelor of Arts, ll (lines), pp ( shows plural form),. -
22 слайд
A specific type of abbr. a.m. (Lat. Aute meridieum – in the morning; cf. (Lat. conferre) – compare; e.g. (Lat example gratia; ib (id) (Lat. Ibidem) – in the same place; i.e. ( Lat. Id est) – that is, loc.cit (Lat. Locus citato) – in the passage cited; ob ( Lat. Obit) – he (she) died, q.v. (Lat. Quod vide) – which see; p.m ( Lat. Post meridium); viz (Lat. Vide licet) – namely.
Types of abbreviations
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23 слайд
Types of abbreviations
Specifically English word pattern – with initial abbreviations in which the first element is a letter and the second is a complete word. A- bomb, H-test (hydrogen bomb), T-shirt. All kinds of shortening are very productive in Modern English.
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24 слайд
There are also acronyms in which the initials of a phrase are joined together and pronounced as a word: radar ( from radio detecting and ranging); yuppy (young urban professional t-y,) laser stands for light amplification by stimulated omission radiation.
Besides shortening there are other ways of making new words such as: blending, sound interchange,(stress interchange), sound imitation (onomatopoeia or echoism), back-formation, reduplication. -
25 слайд
Blending
Combination of two clipped words is another way of word-bulding.
Blending – creating new words by combining parts of existing words. Among the better-known blends are smog(smoke + fog), modem (modulator and demodulator), glasphalt(glass + asphalt), motel (motor and hotel). -
26 слайд
Sound interchange – words or word forms are differentiated due to an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root: foot – feet, strong – strength.
Sound imitation – reproduction of a sound associated with it: bubble, flush, splash, gurgle, cock-a-doodle-doo.
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27 слайд
Back-formation
Back-formation – derivation of new words by subtracting a real or supposed affix from existing words through misinterpretation of their structure (Arnold): computer – compute (a new verb meaning to use a computer), typewrite (typewriter), baby-sit – babysitter, beg – (beggar). -
28 слайд
Reduplication in the morphological process by which a morpheme is repeated, thereby creating a word with a different meaning or a different word class. There are two types of reduplication: partial reduplication, which reduplicates only part of the morpheme, and full reduplication, in which the entire morpheme is reduplicated ping-pong, bye-bye, walkie-talkie, riff-raff (низкие слои общества).
Reduplication
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How are words formed? Are there any rules by which words are formed? Let’s find out. This article will walk you through what word formation is, the various types of word formation and the rules to be adhered to when forming words. The number of examples given will make your learning process more effective and easier. Check it out.
Table of Contents
- What Is Word Formation?
- Types of Word Formation with Examples
- Rules to be Followed When Forming Words
- Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
- Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English
The English language is known for its wonderful quality of the way in which words and sentences are formed and used. Formation of new words from an existing root word by adding a syllable or another word is the general process; however, there are multiple ways in which it can be done.
Types of Word Formation with Examples
The formation of words is classified into four types based on how the process of formation is carried out. They are:
- By adding prefixes
- By adding suffixes
- Converting from one word class to another
- Forming compound words
Let us look at each type of word formation in detail.
Adding Prefixes
The term ‘prefix’ refers to one or more alphabets added to the stem of a word, mostly to make it negative. The most commonly used prefixes include ‘in-’, ‘un-’, ‘dis-’, ‘im-’, ‘ir-’, etc. Look at the examples given below for a clearer understanding of how prefixes are used to form new words.
Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Prefixes
- Discipline – indiscipline
- Just – unjust
- Tidy – untidy
- Respect – disrespect
- Understand – misunderstand
- Comfortable – uncomfortable
- Comfort – discomfort
- Responsible – irresponsible
- Honest – dishonest
- Happy – unhappy
- Polite – impolite
- Experience – inexperience
- Practical – impractical
- Important – unimportant
- Legal – illegal
- Ethical – unethical
- Potent – impotent
Adding Suffixes
A suffix is a short syllable added at the end of a base word. The addition of suffixes usually changes the word class of the particular word. The most common suffixes include ‘-ment’, ‘-ness’, ‘-ity’, ‘-ous’, ‘-tion’, ‘-sion’, ‘-al’, ‘-able’, ‘-ible’, ‘-ive’, ‘-ly’, ‘-ate’, ‘-er’, ‘-or’, etc. Check out the following examples to see how suffixes are added.
Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Suffixes
- Comprehend (verb) – comprehension (noun) – comprehensible (adjective)
- Inform (verb) – information (noun) – informative (adjective)
- Invest (verb) – Investment (noun) – Investor (noun)
- Write (verb) – writer (noun)
- Authorise (verb) – authorisation (noun)
- Move (verb) – movement (noun)
- Add (verb) – addition (noun)
- Happy (adjective) – happiness (noun)
- Conserve (verb) – conservation (noun)
- Wide (Adjective) – widen (verb)
- Manage (verb) – manageable (adjective) – manager (noun)
- Courage (noun) – courageous (adjective)
- Brave (adjective) – bravery (noun)
- Profit (noun) – profitable (adjective)
- Quick (adjective) – quickly (adverb)
- Happy (adjective) – happily (adverb)
- Sad (adjective) – sadness (noun)
Conversion
The process of conversion focuses solely on changing the word class of the particular word. If you have noticed, you would have seen how some nouns are used to perform the role of a verb or an adjective acting like a noun just by the addition of another word or slightly altering the spelling of the actual word.
Examples of Word Formation by Conversion
- The rich should help the poor.
Adjectives such as ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ are used as nouns by using them with the article ‘the’.
- Everyone is talented.
‘Talented’ – a past participle is used as an adjective in the above sentence. The word is formed by adding the suffix ‘ed’ to the end of the noun ‘talent’.
- There will definitely be a lot of ups and downs in life.
Prepositions ‘up’ and ‘down’ are used as nouns by adding ‘s’ to the end of it.
- He texted me about the meeting only at the last minute.
The noun ‘text’ used to refer to a text message sent on a phone is used as a verb in the sentence by adding an ‘ed’ to the end of the word.
- The financial aid had to be approved before we could make a decision.
The noun ‘finance’ is used as an adjective by adding ‘ial’ to the end of it and the verb ‘decide’ is used as a noun by removing ‘de’ and adding ‘sion’ to the word.
Forming Compound Words
Compound words are formed by combining one part of speech with another to form a specific word class. There are many ways in which compound words are formed. Verbs are combined with adjectives to form compound verbs, a present participle is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, two nouns are combined to form a compound noun, an adjective and a noun are combined to form a compound noun, an adverb is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, an adjective is combined with a past participle to form a compound adjective and so on. Take a look at the following examples and go through the articles on compound nouns, compound words and compound adjectives to understand how they work.
Examples of Word Formation by Compounding
- Over (adverb) + load (noun) – Overload
- White (adjective) + wash (verb) – Whitewash
- Black (adjective) + board (noun ) – Blackboard
- Cup (noun) + board (noun) – Cupboard
- Short (adjective) + hand (noun) – Shorthand
- Swimming (present participle) + pool (noun) – Swimming pool
- Three (adjective) + legged (past participle) – Three-legged
- Break (verb) + Down (preposition) – Breakdown
- Up (preposition) + town (noun) – Uptown
- Copy (verb) + writer (noun) – Copywriter
- Sun (noun) + rise (verb) – Sunrise
- Count (verb) + down (preposition) – Countdown
- Flash (verb) + mob (noun) – Flash mob
- Master (noun) + piece (noun) – Masterpiece
- Round (adjective) + table (noun) – Round-table
Rules to be Followed When Forming Words
Formation of words can be a very interesting exercise, but you have to be really careful when you are adding inflections or affixes. There are a few things you will need to bear in mind when you are forming words. Take a look at the following points to learn what they are.
- Before making any change to the stem of the word, try to analyse what is the kind of meaning you want the word to convey and what role the word will have to play in the sentence.
- In most cases, the beginning of the base word remains the same. Only when prefixes are added the word has a syllable added to the beginning of it. Notice that even in this case, the word is retained as such.
- When suffixes are added, there are many instances where you will have to remove the last one or more alphabets of the word and add the suffix. However, there are words like ‘movement’ where the suffix is just added without any change in the spelling of the base word.
- Here is one way to easily know which suffix has to be added to form a particular word class – most often, nouns end in ‘er’, ‘or’, ‘ist’, ‘ian’, ‘ion’, ‘ment’, ‘ness’, and ‘ity’; verbs end in ‘ise’, ‘ate’ and ‘en’; adjectives end in ‘able’, ‘ible’, ‘ive’, ‘ic’, ‘ed’, ‘ing’ and ‘al’; and adverbs normally end in ‘ly’.
- When words are formed by conversion, be very careful. Make sure you know that you are converting them accurately and using them in the sentence properly.
- When forming compound words, see to it that you hyphenate them if necessary, use the right combination of words and do not just mix and match any word.
- Changing from one tense to another also can also be considered a type of word formation, as the word is inflected to indicate the twelve different tenses in the English language.
- Forming degrees of comparison can also be put under word formation. In this case, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding ‘er’ and ‘est’ to the end of the adjective. The comparative and superlative degrees of polysyllabic words are formed by using ‘more’ and ‘most’, respectively, along with the adjective.
Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
Exercise 1 – Add Prefixes and Suffixes
Add prefixes and suffixes to the following words.
1. Passion____
2. Remember____
3. ____conscious
4. Sense____
5. ____acceptable
6. Entertain____
7. ____representation
8. Neat____
9. Invent____
10. ____interpret
Answers for Exercise 1
1. Passionate
2. Remembrance
3. Unconscious/Subconscious
4. Sensible/Senseless
5. Unacceptable
6. Entertainment
7. Misrepresentation
8. Neatly/Neatness
9. Invention
10. Misinterpret
Exercise 2 – Conversion of Words
Go through the following words and convert them as directed.
1. Money (convert into adjective)
2. Brave (convert into noun)
3. Clean (convert into noun)
4. Prayer (convert into adjective)
5. Resemblance (convert into verb)
6. Slow (convert into adverb)
7. Treat (convert into noun)
8. Confession (convert into verb)
9. Vary (convert into adjective)
10. Beauty (convert into verb)
Answers for Exercise 2
1. Monetary
2. Bravery
3. Cleanliness
4. Prayerful
5. Resemble
6. Slowly
7. Treatment
8. Confess
9. Various/variable
10. Beautify
Exercise 3 – Form Compound Words
Go through the words in the box given below and use them to form ten compound words.
up, table, spend, load, green, machine, case, make, estimate, over, self
1. _______ confident
2. Washing _______
3. Time _______
4. Under _______
5. _______sufficient
6. Up_______
7. _______set
8. Suit_______
9. _______over
10. _______thrift
Answers for Exercise 3
1. Overconfident
2. Washing machine
3. Timetable
4. Underestimate
5. Self-sufficient
6. Upload
7. Upset
8. Suitcase
9. Makeover
10. Spendthrift
Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English
Q1
What is word formation?
Word formation is the process by which new words are formed by adding an affix, another word or converting from one word class to another by removing and adding alphabets.
Q2
What are the four types of word formation?
The four types of word formation include:
- Addition of prefix
- Addition of suffix
- Conversion from one word class to another
- Forming compound words
Q3
Give some examples of word formation.
Here are some examples of the various types of word formation for your reference:
- Practical – impractical (prefix)
- Purpose – purposeful (suffix)
- Silent – silence (conversion)
- Dining + room – Dining room (compound word)
- Small – smaller – smallest (degrees of comparison)