Word formation in english advanced

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
•  

Concept noun Personal noun Adjective Verb baking — Baking is a fine thing to do. baker — The baker made some bread. baked — The baked potatoes were very good. bake — Tom baked a cake last night. banking — Banking is responsible for many problems these days. banker — The bankers were corrupt. bankrupt — The man went bankrupt. bank — I need to go to the bank today. belief — He has a firm belief in his innocence. believer — She’s a true believer. believable — I’m afraid your story isn’t believable. believe — Do you believe me? benevolence — His benevolence helped many people. benefactor — Have you ever had a benefactor? beneficial — Studying is beneficial for many things. benefit — You’ll benefit from the settlement. bidding — She did his bidding at their home. bidder — The highest bidder took home the painting. bidden — The bidden document was stolen. bid — I made a bid on the painting. blackmail — Blackmail is a crime. blackmailer — The blackmailer asked for $1 million. blackmailed — The blackmailed man went to the police. blackmail — I’m afraid it’s blackmail. blasphemy — Some people say blasphemy will land you in hell. blasphemer — The blasphemer was banned from the church. blasphemous — His words were considered blasphemous. blaspheme — Don’t accuse me of blaspheme! bombardment — The bombardment destroyed the city. bomber — The bomber flew three missions. bombarded — He grew up in a bombarded city. bomb — They dropped the bomb in the meeting. brainwashing — Many people feel they are subject to brainwashing. brainwasher — The brainwasher took his time with the children. brainwashed — That’s crazy! You’ve been brainwashed. brainwash — The brainwash was completely effective. broadcasting — Broadcasting has become easy these days. broadcaster — The broadcaster announced the news. broadcast — The broadcast show began at seven. broadcast — The broadcast was scheduled for 8 pm. business — It’s business as usual. businessman / business woman — The business woman won the contract. businesslike — Tom is very businesslike. to do business — Let’s do some business. calculation — Calculation can get you in trouble. calculator — Use the calculator to do the math. calculated — They were calculated steps. calculate — We calculate we’ll need 100 people. censorship — Censorship is a form of propaganda. censor — The censor check the TV show. censored — That is a heavily censored TV show. censure — We need to censure that show. It’s outrageous! challenger — The challenger stepped up to the box. challenged — He was a challenged math student. challenge — He challenges you to a duel. charmer — He’s a real charmer. Be careful! charmed / charming — We had a charming evening. charm — I’ll charm him and he’ll accept our terms. cheerfulness — Cheerfulness is an admirable characteristic. cheerleader — The cheerleader go the crowd fired up. cheerful — I love his cheerful disposition. cheer — Can you cheer me up? I hate my job! childbearing — Childbearing is hard! childcare — The childcare in this country is awful. childlike — She’s very childlike. child — Can you child the project? choreography — Choreography is a beautiful artform. choreographer — The choreographer created a beautiful scene. choreographed — The choreographed scene was magical. choreograph — Tim Peters is going to choreograph the ballet.

There are words like overwhelming which spring to mind when thinking of word formation up, down, over and under. In reality, these words aren’t the most high-frequency things you’ll ever come across, but you’d better know them for the Advanced exam. There’s a decent chance these prefixes will pop up in a word formation exercise at C1 level. And even if they don’t, wouldn’t it be great to throw out some of this vocab and impress the examiner in the Speaking or Writing exam?

The materials

These materials introduce several words with our favourite prefixes through a short text about social media and advertising. Words with over and under are more common, but there are plenty of words with up and down also.

After discussing the text and extracting the words, you can brainstorm more words before checking the list for some ideas.

Finally, there’s an exam-style word formation task for you to complete, staying on the topic of social media.

To follow up, get students to write their own text with some words missing, then exchange with a partner and test each other.

TOPIC: Social media

EXAM PART: Use of English

EXAM SKILLS: Vocabulary, use of affixation in word formation

TIME: 30 minutes

PREPARATION: One copy of the worksheet per student

Download

Advanced (CAE) – up, down, over, under

Advanced (CAE) – up, down, over, under – list

The list

Here’s a pretty compete list of words using word formation up, down, over, under prefixes. We think this a pretty solid selection, but there may be more that come up. As always with word formation, it’s pretty difficult to predict what’s going to end up in the exam on exam day.

up-

ROOT	NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
bring	upbringing
date	update	update
grade	upgrade	upgrade
hold		uphold	upheld
keep	upkeep
load	upload	upload
rise	uprising
set	upset	upset	upset / upsetting
stage		upstage	upstaged

down-

ROOT	NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
fall	downfall
grade	downgrade	downgrade
load	download	download
play		downplay
pour	downpour
side	downside
size		downsize

over-

ROOT	NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
abound	overabundance		overabundant
achieve	overachiever (person)	overachieve
come		overcome
complex		overcomplicate	overcomplicated
do		overdo	overdone
dose	overdose	overdose
estimate	overestimation	overestimate	overestimated
expose	overexposure	overexpose	overexposed
flow	overflow	overflow	overflowing
load		overload	overloaded
look		overlook
popular	overpopulation		overpopulated
rate		overrate	overrated
rule		overrule
run		overrun
see	oversight	oversee
shadow		overshadow
take		overtake	overtaken
throw		overthrow	overthrown
whelm		overwhelm	overwhelming
value		overvalue	overvalue

under-

ROOT	NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
achieve	underachiever (person)	underachieve
develop			underdeveloped
estimate	underestimation	underestimate	underestimated
go		undergo
line		underline
lie		underlie	underlying
perform		underperform
rate		underrate	underrated
state		understate	understated
take		undertake
value		undervalue	undervalued

1   a   Before eating this bread, get it warm in the oven for 10 minutes.

      b   Before eating this bread, ………………… it in the oven for 10 minutes.

2   a   Wash the mushrooms, then get them dry using a paper towel.

      b   Wash the mushrooms, then ………………… using a paper towel.

3   a   Because of the economic problems, the shops were empty of customers.

      b   The economic problems ………………… of customers.

4   a   Make sure your teeth are clean after every meal.

      b   ………………… after every meal.

5   a   Since her heart attack, my mother takes tablets to make her blood thinner.

      b   Since her heart attack, my mother takes tablets ………………… .

6   a   Diplomats will meet next week to try to make the path towards peace smoother.

      b   Diplomats will meet next week to try ………………… .

7   a   Statistics suggest that the gap between rich and poor is getting narrower.

      b   Statistics suggest that the gap between rich and poor ………………… .

8   a   The lid of the pie will stick better if you make the pastry wet with a little milk.

      b   The lid of the pie will stick better if you ………………… with a little milk.

9   a   You can’t go out until you’ve made your room tidier.

      b   You can’t go out until ………………… .

10 a   The roads are always busy now but they are usually clear by 10 o’clock.

      b   The roads are always busy now but they ………………… by 10 o’clock.