Word formation ielts exercises

Word Formation

Word Forms

Put each of the following words into its correct place in the sentences.

E.g. decide

(a) We must come to a  ……….   very soon.

(b) We beat them  ……….   We won 7:0.

(c) He can never make up his mind. He’s very  ……….

Answers:

(a) decision   (b) decisively   (c) indecisive

1. beauty

(a) She is very   ……….

(b) She’s training to be a  ……….

(c) They’re going to   ……….   the town with more trees and parks.

2. pay

(a) To buy this car I made a monthly   ……….    of £280 for two years.

(b) Please make your cheque   ……….   to John Watson.

(c) The person a cheque is made out to is called the   ……….

3. receive

(a) She works as a   ……….   at a hotel in Scotland.

(b) Ask for a   ……….    when you buy something, in case you need to return it.

(c) I made several suggestions to improve production, but the management was not very   ……….    to my ideas.

4. hero

(a) He received a medal for his  ……….

(b) They fought  ……….   in the war.

(c) She was described as a   ……….

5. produce

(a)  ……….   of the new sports car has been halted by a strike.

(b) China is one of the world’s leading  ……….   of rice.

(c) I’m afraid the talks were totally   ……….   We didn’t reach agreement on anything.

6. explain

(a) An  ……….   leaflet is given to all purchasers of the machine.

(b) His disappearance is very strange, in fact quite  ……….

(c) I think you owe me an  ……….   for your behaviour.

7. compare

(a) This is   ……….   better than that. In fact, there is really no   ……….

(b) Scientists have made  ……….   tests on the new drugs.

8. advise

(a) Until the situation has settled down, it is   ……….   to travel to that country.

(b) The government set up an   ……….   body on the use of drugs in sport.

(c) I doubt the   ……….   of drinking alcohol while undergoing that medical treatment

9. admire

(a) She was a pleasant, attractive girl, always surrounded by   ……….

(b) I am full of   ……….   for what she has achieved.

(c) I approve of him wholeheartedly. He is an   ……….   man.

10. stable

(a) To  ……….   the boat in rough sea, we redistributed the weight.

(b) Between 1860 and 1900 the country had a number of revolutions and uprisings. It was a time of great  ……….

(c) The exchange rate is going up and down dramatically. It’s very   ……….    at the moment.

11. economy

(a) We’re spending too much. We must  ……….

(b) This car uses a lot of petrol. It’s terribly   ……….

(c) The Chancellor (Minister of Finance) is responsible for  ……….    affairs.

12. reside

(a) This is the President’s official   ……….

(b) There’s no industry or entertainment here. It’s a   ……….   district.

(c) All  ……….   of the neighbouring houses were warned of the gas leak.

13. comfort

(a) In that tense situation I found the good news very  ……….

(b) I felt rather   ……….   , so I put a soft cushion behind me.

(c) She sat in terrible  ……….    on the hard chair for over an hour

14. dead

(a) The increasing number of   ……….   in traffic accidents is alarming.

(b) Be careful! That’s a   ……….   poison!

(c) The doctor gave him an injection to   ……….   the pain.

15. demonstrate

(a) The   ……….   marched through the streets chanting slogans.

(b) Grandfather rarely showed the affection he felt for his family. He was a very   ……….   , person.

(c) What you say is   ……….   false. Let me show you the facts.

16. imitate

(a) The bag is made of  ……….   leather.

(b) Small children ,ne very   ……….    in their behaviour. They just copy what they see.

(c) His acting style is  ……….   No one can copy him.

17. argue

(a) She had an   ……….   . with her husband last night.

(b) He’s a very bad-tempered,  ……….    chap. He’s always quarrelling.

(c) She is   ………. the finest pianist in the world.

18. repeat

(a) He lost his temper and used disgusting,  ……….   language.

(b) In this essay you’ve said the same thing several times. It’s very  ……….

(c) I hope there will be no   ……….   of this shocking behaviour.

19. fail

(a) She is very efficient, and   ……….   polite to the customers.

(b) He considered himself a   ……….   He had succeeded in nothing.

(c) It was difficult to see much in the  ……….   light.

20. courage

(a) His friends tried to   ……….    him from attempting the dangerous climb.

(b) She   ……….   stood in the way of the escaping robbers.

(c) His parents gave him a lot of  ……….   in his studies.

21. real

(a) I chunk it’s a bit   ……….    to hope that world peace can be gained so easily.

(b) He spends all his time in romantic daydreams. He’s lost touch with   ……….

(c) Ladies and gentlemen, I am a   ……….   and I think we must face facts.

22. false

(a) She was accused of  ……….   the financial accounts.

(b) It is a   ……….   to say he did it when you know he didn’t.

(c) The   ……….   of his argument was obvious to everyone.

23. prophesy

(a) i am not a  ……….   and I would not like to make a   ……….    on whether the world can survive this age of nuclear weapons.

(b) What he wrote in 1930 was   ……….   Much of what he described has come true.

24. describe

(a) The damage caused by the earthquake cannot be imagined. It was  ……….

(b) The teacher asked them to write a   ……….   passage about their home towns.

(c) The witness was able to give a full  ……….   of the wanted man.

25. friend

(a) The   ……….   between the two soon developed into love.

(b) In London she was   ……….   by a rich woman who looked after her and helped her.

(c) The desert is a dangerous  ……….   place.

26. sense

(a) He felt a strange, painful   ……….   in his back.

(b) Even the most  ……….  person ought to appreciate the beauty of this music.

(c) What an idiotic,  ……….   thing to do!

27. famous

(a) The  ……….   of the Beatles soon spread outside Britain.

(b) The day of the massacre will go down in history as a terrible,  ……….   day It was a day of  ……….

28. defend

(a) I just want to ask you a few ordinary questions, so why don’t you relax? Why are you so  ……….   ?

(b) The government’s policy on arms is shocking. It is quite  ……….

(c) We must do all we can for the  ……….   of this nation against possible attack.

29. agree

(a) What an unpleasant,  ……….   old woman she is!

(b) We finally reached  ……….   on the matter at midnight.

(c) I liked the place. I found the people, the weather and the food very  ……….

30. possess

(a) In his will he left all his money and  ……….   to his wife.

(b) She was a very  ……….   mother. She gave her son very little freedom.

(c) The actor playing the main part should be the   ……….   of a very good voice, good looks and a very strong physique.

31. different

(a) I’m afraid I have to   ……….   I don’t agree with you at all.

(b) Politeness is one thing. Real kindness is another. You must learn to   ……….   between the two.

(c) We get along pretty well, although of course we have our   ……….   from time to time.

32. active

(a)  The strike was organised by a group of political   ……….

(b) The fire-prevention system is   ……….    by any small increase in temperature

(c) It is quite safe to go near the volcano. It has been  ………. for years.

33. form

(a) It is especially important for children to have love and affection in their  ……….   years.

(b) The slight  ……….    in his left hand was corrected by surgery.

(c) The police are considering the   ……….   of a new anti-drugs unit.

34. compel

(a) Military service is no longer  ……….   in South Africa.

(b) Membership of the Students’ Club is entirely voluntary. There is no  ……….   whatsoever.

(c) All staff should attend the meeting. Only the most  ……….   reasons for absence will be accepted.

35. create

(a) Ian Fleming, the   ……….   of James Bond, died in 1964.

(b) Although she is very able technically, she isn’t  ……….   enough for this kind of work.

(c) The  ……….   of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation took place in 1949.

36. enthusiasm

(a) They threw themselves  ……….   into the new project.

(b) He’s a real golf   ……….   He loves the game.

(c) They didn’t really   ……….   over my idea. In fact there was some opposition.

37. necessary

(a) We regret that the present economic difficulties will  ……….  a reduction in our work force

(b) I sympathise with his point of view, but I don’t always   ……….   agree with him

(C)  He lives very simply, with just the basic  ……….   of life

38. destroy

(a) The control centre is deep underground and completely  ……….   except by a direct hit from a nuclear missile

(b) War plans include the immediate  ……….   of all enemy military bases

(c) His criticism of my work was entirely  ……….   There was nothing useful or constructive m it at all

39. manage

(a) Talks between workers and  ……….   have broken down and a strike now seems unavoidable

(b) The boy was very violent and his parents found him  ……….

(c) To improve his qualifications he’s taking a course in  ……….   skills

40. believe

(a) It was an incredible story, quite  ……….

(b) She is a person of very strong religious  ……….

(c) His explanation was obviously false and the judge made no attempt to hide his   ……….

PORTMANTEAU WORDS

New expressions are often created by combining parts of two words. ‘Smog’ is a combination of ‘smoke’ and ‘fog’ A film about someone’s life is sometimes called a ‘biopic’ (biographical picture). A ‘bedsit’ is a room which serves as both a bedroom and sitting room These combinations are called ‘portmanteau’ words. Can you explain the following?

Swatch

hazchem

Chunnel

vegeburger

fantabulous

brunch

Oxbridge

camcorder

shopaholic

ginormous

motel

Interpol

guesstimate

ScotRail

Amex

Oxfam

Eurovision

fanzine

ecotastrophe

docudrama

Answers :

1 a) beautiful b) beautician c) beautify

2 a) payment b) payable c) payee

3 a) receptionist

b) receipt c) receptive

4 a) heroism b) heroically c) heroine

5 a) production b) producers  c) unproductive

6 a) explanatory b) inexplicable c) explanation

7 a) incomparably, comparison  b) comparative

8 a) inadvisable b) advisory c) advisability

9 a) admirers b) admiration c) admirable

10 a) stabilise b) instability c) unstable

11 a) economise b) uneconomical  c) economic

12 a) residence b) residential c) residents

13 a) comforting b) uncomfortable c) discomfort

14 a) deaths b) deadly c) deaden

15 a) demonstrators b) undemonstrative c) demonstrably

16 a) imitation b) imitative c) inimitable

17 a) argument b) argumentative c) arguably

18 a) unrepeatable b) repetitive c) repetition

19 a) unfailingly b) failure c) failing

20 a) discourage b) courageously c) encouragement

21 a) unrealistic b) reality c) realist

22 a) falsifying b) falsehood c) falsity

23 a) prophet, prophecy b) prophetic

24 a) indescribable b) descriptive c) description

25 a) friendship b) befriended c) unfriendly

26 a) sensation  b) insensitive c) senseless

27 a) fame b) infamous, infamy

28 a) defensive b) indefensible  c) defence

29 a) disagreeable b) agreement c) agreeable

30 a) possessions b) possessive c) possessor

31 a) differ b) differentiate c) differences

32 a) activists b) activated   c) Inactive

33 a) formative b) deformity c) formation

34 a) compulsory b) compulsion c) compelling

35 a) creator b) creative c) creation

36 a) enthusiastically b) enthusiast c) enthuse

37 a) necessitate b) necessarily c) necessities

38 a) indestructible b) destruction c) destructive

39 a) management b) unmanageable c) managerial / management

40 a) unbelievable b) beliefs c) disbelief

Task Type: Word formation.
Focus: Vocabulary.
Format: A text containing 8 gaps. Each gap represents a word. At the end of the line is a ‘prompt’ word which you have to change in some way to complete the sentence correctly.
Number of questions: 8.
How many marks are there: One mark for each correct answer.

What is testing:

• conversions from noun to adjective
• conversions from verb to noun
• conversions from adjective to adverb
• conversions from verb to adjective
• conversions from a positive to negative form
•  

General Advice:

• Never leave the base word unchanged.
• Look at each sentence and decide what kind of word is required.
• Check the spelling carefully.
• The words you need might have to change into a negative or a plural.

cambridge english: ADVANCED (cea) 
WORD FORMATION

practice tests

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• Word Formation 1
• Word Formation 2
• Word Formation 3
• Word Formation 4
• Word Formation 5
• Word Formation 6
• Word Formation 7
• Word Formation 8
• Word Formation 9
• Word Formation 10
• Word Formation 11
• Word Formation 12
• Word Formation 13
• Word Formation 14
• Word Formation 15
• Word Formation 16
• Word Formation 17
• Word Formation 18
• Word Formation 19
• Word Formation 20
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