Word building nouns exercises

    Forming Nouns

1. Study the list of nouns
   formed from the verbs. Say what suffixes can be used for that :

Verb accept acquaint act advise appear applaud arrive behave begin believe bore exclaim choose clean clear collect compare complain laugh move occupy perform practise invite punish think translate grow

Noun acceptance acquaintance action advice appearance applause arrival behaviour beginning belief boredom exclamation choice cleanliness clearance collection comparison complaint laughter movement occupation performance practice invitation punishment thought translation growth

Verb compose congratulate correct decide defend depend describe destroy discover enter divide explain explore fly imagine inform invent know lose obey organize please prepare introduce repeat serve publish hate

Noun composition congratulation correction decision defence dependence description destruction discovery entrance division explanation exploration flight imagination information invention knowledge loss obedience organization pleasure preparation introduction repetition service publication hatred

Exercise 1.   Verb = -ance = Noun

perform – performance	acquaint — acquaintance
enter – entrance	clear — clearance
appear – appearance	allow – allowance

Translate :

A wonderful circus performance , the entrance to the museum
, a very old acquaintance, an unusual appearance

Put the nouns formed from
the verb in brackets;

1. The ………to the theatre was crowded with people. ( to enter
   )
2. The ……….of the two teams was greeted by the fans very
   warmly. ( to appear )
3. My ……..with him has lasted long. ( to acquaint )
4. This lively musical ………..will be held on Saturday ( to
   perform )

Exercise 2. A word which consists of two smaller
words joined together is called a compound word

Translate:

peacemaker schoolmate homeland seaside postman

birthday raincoat cameraman armchair bookcase

newspaper bedtime fisherman playground motherland

Say which of these
compound words indicate the meaning below  :

Workshop, milkman, watchmaker, tablecloth, shopkeeper,
headlines, bookshelf, crossroads

1. a shop in which some kind of work is done
2. a man who sells milk
3. one who makes watches
4. one who keeps a shop
5. the place where roads cross
6. the lines at the head of a newspaper
7. a cloth which covers a table
8. a shelf on which books are kept

Exercise 3. Noun ( Verb )  +  -ist  =  Noun

The suffix  -ist  gives the meaning of one who follows a
certain profession :

Art – artist                           type –
typist                        novel – novelist                   journal –
journalist                           piano – pianist                         science
— scientist  

Use these professions in
the following :

1.      Kate
studied art in a special art school . She is now a famous ……

2.      Mary
is an excellent secretary. She types almost 250 letters a minute. She is the
best ……….in the office.

3.      Jane
wants to be a musician.  She has taken piano lessons for many years and she has
talent , so we are sure she will be a fine ………………..

4.      Our
family friend works for a newspaper. He is a …………..

Exercise  4.  Form nouns :

1. The room echoed with the ……..of children  ( laugh )
2. The ……..soon became well-known all over the world  (
   discover )
3. The work of the hospital fills us with ………. ( admire )
4. The hot ………lasted two hours  ( argue )
5. The children’s ……..at the concert was excellent    (
   behave )
6. The ……….of the two tears was greeted by loud cheering  (
   appear )

Exercise 5.  complete each
phase by using the noun  formed from the verb in brackets :

a clear …….. ( explain ) stormy ……. ( applaud ) an exact …….. ( compare ) terrible …….( bore ) necessary ……… ( practise )

a wonderful ……. ( fly ) an important ……. ( discover )  a fair  …. ( decide ) wise ……( think ) strange …… ( behave )

Exercise 6.   Form nouns
from these verbs :

perform                                            
divide                                             invite

explore                                             
prove                                             invent

act                                                   
grow                                              arrive

move                                                
hate                                               complain

Exercise 7.    here is a
list of verbs which can form nouns with the suffix  -(a)tion :

Eg.  to collect – collection

to translate —                          to invite
—                         to dictate –

to celebrate –                        to add
—                            to subtract —

to educate –                          to protect
—                       to co-operate –

to compose –                        to admire
—                        to examine —

to observe —                          to decorate
—                     to devote –

Exercise 8. Read and
remember

………ment                                           ……..sion

to move — movement                               to
impress — impression                             

to excite – excitement                             to
discuss — discussion

to develop – development                       to depress —
depression

to agree – agreement                               to
televise — television

to punish – punishment                            to divide
– division

Exercise 9. Fill in :

Membership,   authorship ,  ownership,  companionship, 
fellowship,  partnership,   friendship,   workmanship,  seamanship

Eg.   They have been friends for a
long time.  Their friendship began in childhood.

1.      I am
not sure how many people belong to this club. I think the …….must be about two
hundred.

2.      The
police found the stolen car , but they do not know who it belongs to.  They
have not yet found out …..

3.      That’s
a beautiful and well-made boat. The man who built it must take pride in his
………..

4.      The
captain of the ship always says that his sailors must perform their duties
well.  He demands good ……

5.      Both
Mr. Jones and Mr. White have been in the same business for many years . Their
…..began almost thirty years ago.

6.      Bill
has joined many organizations. He enjoys participating in the different
activities, and he also likes to be with people who have the same interests. He
enjoys their …….

Exercise 10.

Artist,  chemist,  novelist,  biologist,  economist, 
typist,   dramatist,   pianist,   scientist,   geologist,  journalist, 
specialist

1. Elizabeth makes a very good impression as she plays the
   piano . She is an excellent …….
2. Both Richard and Robert want to be writes when they finish
   their university studies. Richard wants to write dramas for the theatre ,
   and Robert wants to write fiction stories. Richard hopes to be a ……….,
   Robert wants to be a ………
3. I like all scientific studies , especially biology and
   chemistry. I know I will be a …..of some kind,  but I do not know yet
   whether I want to be a ……………..or  a …………….
4. Tom studies economics at school, he will work as an ……….
5. Many of his articles have been published in this newspaper
   . He is now a well-known ……………

Exercise 11.

……………ness                               …………(i)ty

useful – usefulness                               rare –
rarity

idle –                                                 
active —

industrious –                                       possible
—

busy –                                                cruel
—

friendly –                                           
curious —

selfish –                                             
difficult —

forgetful –                                           able —

happy –                                              humane
—

kind —                                                 safe
–

Exercise 12.  Find the root of the word

disproportionableness              incomprehensibilities

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FCE (First Certificate)     Word Formation: Verbs

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 you sent last month. They really  up my 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)

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.

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)

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!

1. «Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make an  . (ANNOUNCE)
2.  is a problem everywhere, not just in big cities. (HOMELESS)
3. His  made me very angry. (RUDE)
4. What  does your doctor recommend for the ‘flu? (TREAT)
5. We had a big  about whose turn it was to wash up. (ARGUE)
6. I woke up at 2am. The house was in complete  . (DARK)
7. We need some special  if we want to go mountain climbing. (EQUIP)
8. If you drink too much alcohol, it will impair your  . (JUDGE)
9. The interviewer asked me about my strengths and  . (WEAK)
10. My friends gave me a lot of  when I was worried about my driving test. (ENCOURAGE)
11. To my , I was offered £10,000 for my old car! (AMAZE)
12. The company has made lots of  to their internet services. (IMPROVE)
13. I used to find his  funny, but now it really annoys me. (FORGETFUL)
14. Winning the race was an amazing  for my daughter. (ACHIEVE)
15. This book is very unrealistic, but that didn’t spoil my of it. (ENJOY)
16. We are still making  for the wedding next month. (ARRANGE)
17. Drivers should stop to rest during long car journeys, because  can cause accidents. (TIRED)
18. 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 attendant (person)	—	to attend
assistance assistant (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

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)

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-.

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)

Word Formation: 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).

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

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)

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

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)

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) shortness (= not tall)	shorten
large	enlargement	enlarge
low	—	lower
tight	tightness	tighten
loose	looseness	loosen
strong	strength	strengthen
weak	weakness	weaken
dark	darkness dark	darken
bright	brightness	brighten

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)