Worksheet

Word Formation (Adjectives)

____ / ____ / ____

Word Formation
A good way to increase vocabulary is to see if you can find other forms of a word you already know. You need to think of
grammatically different words and both positive and negative words. If you look in a dictionary, you can often find these other
forms in or near the original word.
If you consider the word imagine, for example, you should also learn: imaginable, imaginary, imaginative(ly), imagination.
Do any of these words have a negative form?
You can check this by looking up the prefixes dis-, il-, im-, non-, and un-.
By doing this you should find the words unimaginable and unimaginative.

Consider the following type of exercise, which you might come across in an examination.

1. 1 It rained _________ all day. HEAVY

2. 2 One of the ___________ was rescued by helicopter.....................................SURVIVE
3. 3 The man was so __________ to her that she started crying..................................PLEASE

In the first sentence the missing word describes how it rained, so you need the adverb heavily.
In the second sentence you need the plural noun survivors.
In the third sentence the missing word describes the man, so you need an adjective. However, from the sentence it is clear that
you need the negative adjective unpleasant.
It is therefore very important to think very carefully about what kind of word you have to put in the sentence and to try to learn
all the forms of a word.
If you make sentences using the different forms of a word, this will help you to understand and remember them more easily.

Adjectives

Adjective suffixes and prefixes

 The suffix -y is generally added to uncountable nouns indicating materials, to mean: having the quality of or
appearance of that material:
 sand - sandy
 grease – greasy
 salt - salty

 The suffix -iy is added to certain categories of persons, with the meaning of having the quality or appearance of that
person:
 father – fatherly
 scoundrel - scoundrelly
also to certain periods of time:
 month - monthly (= which occurs or appears every month)

 The suffix -ish

The common suffix -ish is added to nouns and other adjectives.

1. Added to the names of animals or persons it generally means having the bad qualities of:
 girl – girlish
 maid - maidish

2. Added to people of different nationality it forms the adjective of nationality.

 Swede - Swedish
3. Added to other short adjectives (adjectives of colour especially) it often means rather, more or less, about:
 Old: oldish (= rather old)
 eightish (about eight)

1
  slowish (rather slow)
 green: greenish (= having a slightly green quality / more or less green)

Note: this use of -ish is colloquial, so it is not often used in written English.

 The suffixes -like, -some and -worthy

Here are three more adjective suffixes. These are slightly less common than those mentioned before.

1. -like is added to countable nouns, generally meaning people or animals (but sometimes objects) with the sense of
resembling or in the manner of these things:
 box – boxlike
 cat – catlike
 god - godlike

2. -some is added to verbs or nouns with a causative sense:

 to tire - tiresome (= which makes one tired)

3. Worthy is added to nouns with the meaning of worthy or suitable for:

 praise - praiseworthy

 The suffix -able (-ible)

The suffix -able is extremely active (an active suffix is one which we can still use in modern English to form new words) and
can be added to a very large number of verbs and nouns to mean able to be:
 eat - eatable (= which can be eaten)
 (also - edible)

The form -ible is the one, which is found already attached to words accepted into English directly from Latin. This ending can
usually not be separated to leave a verb with any meaning:
 poss (ible)
 ed (ible)
 indestruct (ible)

 The suffixes -ful and -less

The suffix -ful (only one l makes adjectives from nouns (and sometimes verbs) with the meaning of filled with or having:
 faithful (= having faith in)

Some of these same nouns (never verbs) form adjectives of exactly opposite meaning by adding -less:
 faithless (= having no faith)

Quite a large number of words may add one or the other of these two suffixes but not both:
 • frightful, but not "frightless"
 • noiseless, but not "noiseful"

Note that the ending -less is still active:

 sugarless tea
 waterless desert
 leafless tree
The suffix -ful is not active in this way.

 The suffix -proof

- proof means safe against, able to resist - e.g. a fireproof door.

 The prefixes in- and un-

The negative prefix in- is more often used with words of Latin origin whilst un- is more frequently found with words of
English origin:
 Inaccessible
 unbelievable

The prefixes ii-, ir-, non- are also negative prefixes:

 relevant - irrelevant
 literate - illiterate
2
  alcoholic - non-alcoholic

 The prefixes mis- and dis-

The prefix mis- can be added to verbs or their past participles and generally means that the action has been incorrectly or
inadequately performed:
 misdirected (= wrongly directed)
 misused (= incorrectly used)

The prefix dis-, on the other hand, makes the meaning of the word the exact opposite:
 contented - discontented

 The prefixes over- and under-

The prefixes over- and under- can be added to adjectives and past participles with the meaning of to an excessive degree or
to an inadequate degree:
 An overworked young man (= a young man who has been given too much work)
 An underprepared examination (= which has been insufficiently prepared)

Comparatives and superlatives

The following classes of adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives by adding -er and -est:

1. All adjectives of one syllable:

 longer
 shorter
 younger
 older
Adjectives with one vowel followed by one consonant double the final consonant:
 fat - fatter - fattest

2. Adjectives of two syllables ending in y:

 happy - happier - happiest
 lovely - lovelier - loveliest

3. With a few two-syllable adjectives, both kinds of comparative and superlative (either -er, -est or more, most) are possible.
These are: common, handsome, polite, quiet, wicked, pleasant, cruel, stupid, tired, and words ending in -ow, -er, and -le:
 common – commoner/more common - most common/commonest
 hollow – hollower/more hollow - most hollow/hollowest

With nearly all of these words, the forms with more and most are most common. So a simple rule for two-syllable adjectives
is: use more and most except for the ones ending in -y.

Long adjectives, with three or more syllables form the comparative and superlative with more and most:
 Beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful
Words like unhappy (negative forms of two-syllable adjectives ending in -y) are an exception: it is possible to say unhappier
and unhappiest instead of more unhappy and most unhappy.

Compound adjectives made with past participles

Compound adjectives are often made with past participles (or adjectives ending in -ed) joined to another word by a hyphen:
 hand-made (= which has been made by hand)
 red-haired (= who has red hair)
 well-watered (= which has a good supply of water)

Compound adjectives with present participles

Compound adjectives made with present participles are less common than the previous type. They have an active meaning
where the earlier examples have a passive meaning:
 A man-eating tiger (= which eats men)
3
Compound adjectives of measurement with numerals
A very useful sort of compound adjective is that which shows the dimension of something:
 a four-foot ruler
 a ten-minute interval
 a three-hour walk
The measuring word (foot, minute) is always singular because it is the unit of measurement.
Another sort of compound adjective, which is very similar to this, is made with ordinal numbers:
 a second-floor flat
 a third-rate actor

Exercises
Word Formation – Adjectives

1. over / under

Put one of the above prefixes in each of the spaces in the sentences below.
a) He needs a good holiday. He's suffering from ___________ work.
b) She didn't hear the alarm clock and _______ slept.
c) You've _________charged me. The price is £8, not £1 0.
d) There aren't enough people in the country. It's _________ populated.
e) Rich nations should give more aid to _________ developed countries. We ________ estimated the cost of the holiday and
ran out of money.

2. Un- / dis- / non-

Put one of the above prefixes in each space in the phrases below to make the word which follows it opposite in meaning.

a) A (n) ________ comfortable chair.

b) A (n) ________ honest shopkeeper.

c) A (n) __________ lucky accident.

d) A (n) ________respectful pupil.

e) A (n) _________ alcoholic drink.

3. lr- / ii- / in- / im-

Put one of the above negative prefixes in each space in the phrases below.
a) An ______ resistible temptation.
b) An ______ possible plan.
c) An ______ mature young man.
d) An ______ legal business deal.
e) An ______convenient arrangement.
f) An ______ legible handwriting.

4. y /-ly

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

salty / weekly / rainy / grassy

a) We found a nice ______ place by the river for our picnic.

b) The water of the lake was rather ________.like sea-water.

c) "Time" is an American ________ news magazine.

d) It's been dry for two weeks but I think next weekend will be ___________.

5. Change the phrases and clauses in italics into a compound adjective.

4
eg: A girl with red hair = a red-haired girl.

a) A hat with abroad brim.

b) Ground, which is covered with snow.
c) A dinner table lit by candies.
d) A spoon, which has been plated with silver

6. Reduce these adjective clauses and phrases to a compound adjective.

eg: An occupation which consumes a lot of time = a time-consuming occupation

a) A vehicle, which is moving fast.

b) Machinery for cutting grass.

7. Change the following phrases and clauses into a compound adjective.

eg: A walk which takes three hours = a three-hour walk.

a) A journey of three hundred miles.

b) A book with two hundred pages.
c) A drum, which holds four gallons.

Turn the following nouns into adjectives by adding the sufixes -ful -less. Then insert the formed adjectives in the spaces
below.
water / success / harm / thought

a) The Sahara Desert is a vast __________ area, which runs from East to West across Africa.
b) Smoking is ________ to our health.
c) It was very ___________ of you to play the radio so loud so late at night.
d) I hope you are _____________ in your exams.

TMBC

5
 Worksheet
Word Formation (Nouns)

____ / ____ / ____

Noun suffixes and prefixes

 The suffixes -hood, -ship and –dom are used to make abstract nouns from the names of people. These words usually have the meaning
of the state of being a...
 child - childhood
 apprentice - apprenticeship
 earl - earldom

Note:
a) The names for members of a family have the suffix -hood:
 mother - motherhood
b) Words ending in -er and -or usually have -ship:
 dictator - dictatorship
 reader - readership
c) Words ending in -man also have -ship, in this case the ending -manship means the art or skill of a...
 workman - workmanship (= the skill of the workman)

 The suffix -ness is so active in making new abstract words from adjectives of English and Latin origin that words are often invented
which are not necessary, because another abstract word already exists made from the same root:
 great – greatness
 humble - humbleness (this word exists but a better word is humility)

 A small but very important group of words of English origin form (abstract) nouns by adding the ending -th or -t. They frequently
change the vowel in the process:
 deep – depth
 high - height

 The endings -er, -or and -ar are the commonest suffixes meaning the person who does or who is connected with.
In spite of the different spelling, all have the same pronunciation.
 wear – wearer
 beg – beggar
 sail – sailor

 The endings -ist, -an and -ian are also used for the person associated with certain things and places:
 violin - violinist
 rome - roman
 magic - magician

 Here are two more endings used for people:

1. er usually has an active meaning:
 examiner (a person who sets an examination)
2. ee usually has a passive meaning:
 examinee (a person who takes an examination)
Other examples are:

 employer/lemployee
 interviewer/interviewee
 trainerltrainee

 Feminine forms
Feminine forms are usually made by adding the suffix -ess. There are some words we cannot add -ess to, and in these cases, if we really
want to show that the person is female, we put the word woman - or lady - before the noun:
 author – authoress
but:
 writer - woman-writer
 The noun suffix -fur
The suffix -ful can be added freely to many names of things which can contain or hold something:
 mouth - mouthful (= the quantity held by the mouth)

6
  spoon - spoonful - a spoonful of salt

 The suffixes -al and -age

These suffixes are used to make nouns from verbs with the meaning of the act of... or the results of the act of:
 remove – removal
 post – postage
 arrive – arrival
 marry - marriage

 ment, -action, -ance, -ence: these endings are all added to verbs to form nouns having the meaning of the action of or the results of the
action of:
 develop – development
 inform - information
 perform - performance

 Some verbs of one syllable have a noun made from them (also of one syllable) by changing a vowel or a consonant or both:
 shoot - a shot
 breathe - a breath
 live - life

 Compound nouns
Nouns combine freely together in English to form compound nouns: • teapot (= a pot of tea)
 walking-stick (= a stick for walking with)
The first part of a compound noun shows which class the second part belongs to. Compound nouns usually answer the question: what sort
of?
 What sort of pot? - a teapot
 What sort of stick? - a walking-stick

 Compound words with -man

The word man combines freely with a large number of other words to form compound nouns:
 police – policeman
 clergy – clergyman
 fire - fireman

 Gerunds in compound nouns

Gerunds are often used to make compound nouns:
 The writing of letters = letter-writing
 The taking of drugs = drug-taking

Exercises
Word Formation - Nouns

Make nouns from the following adjectives by adding -ness or -ity to the end, and put them in their correct places in the sentences below.
punctual / dark / kind / popular
a) She could see nothing in the _________________________
b) Thank you for your ______________ to my mother when she was ill.
c) The international _____________ of the Beatles was amazing.
d) The teacher insisted on _______________

Make nouns ending in -tion, -age, -al, -ment from the following verbs (you might have to make changes in spelling).
repeat / entertain / propose / marry
a) The factory manager wants to use different machines but the workers don't like his ___________________
b) This is the city's ______________ district, full of cinemas and theatres
c) There must be no ________________ of the incident. It must not happen between again.
d) The ________________ between John and Jane will take place on 7th October

Worksheet
Word Formation (Verbs and Adverbs)

____ / ____ / ____

7
Verb prefixes and suffixes
 The prefixes under- and over- are used to show that an action is excessive or insufficient:
• to overwork • to underestimate
• to oversleep • to undercharge

 The suffixes -en and -fy

1. en: this suffix makes verbs from adjectives and sometimes nouns with the meaning of to make...
• hard - harden • soft - soften • length - lengthen
2. fy or -ify: a suffix of Latin origin, which has the same meaning as -en. Sometimes it is used in a humorous or familiar way:
• pure - purif • french - frenchify (humorous)

The suffixes -ate and -ize

These two suffixes have the same meaning: to make...
1. -ize is very active and is added to adjectives and nouns:
• tranquillize (= to make calm)
2. -ate is usually found attached to words of Latin origin which were taken into the language already combined and now inseparable:
• innocul(ate) • specul(ate)

 The prefix re-

1. The prefix re- is very active and can be added to almost any verb to mean a repeated performance of the action:
• read - re- read (to read gain)
• tell - re- tell (to tell again)
2. The same prefix is also found in a large number of words which were taken into the language from French with the prefix re- already
attached:
• reduce • release • respond • recover
In these cases the original meaning of the prefix has been changed or lost.
3. The active prefix re- is usually, but not always, joined to the verb by a hyphen. The hyphen must be used if there is any danger of
misunderstanding:
 recover (= to get back, to get well again)
 re-cover (= to cover something again)

 The prefix out-

The prefix out- is very active in forming verbs from other verbs and nouns with the meaning of to surpass someone in any activity:
 He out- talked all his fellow members. (= He talked longer than all his fellows)

 The prefixes be- and en- (em-)

These two prefixes have the same meaning: to make... or to put into the state of…
 bitter - embitter (= to make bitter)
 numb - benumb (= to make numb)
 rich - enrich (= to make rich)
 danger- endanger (= to put into danger)

Prefixes on verb roots of Latin Origin

These are the principal prefixes of Latin origin which are found in English attached to verb roots also of Latin origin: pro-, pre-, *can-,dis-,
de-, ab-, *ad, In- *sub-, re-, *ex-, *ob-.

Those marked with asterisks may change a little when added to verb roots beginning with certain consonants:
 ob + fend = offend • ad + cord = accord

Modern derivatives with Latin Prefixes

A number of Latin prefixes are still active in the formation of new words.
The principal prefixes are these:

co- (=together with) counter-(= in opposite direction)

anti- (against) post-(= after)
pro-(= in favour of) bi-(= double)
pre- (before) non-(= not)
ex-(= former) semi-(= half)
sub-(= beneath) de-(= to undo the action of the verb it is attached to)
inter-(= between)

8
Note: The most common spelling of these modern derivatives is to join the prefix to the word with a hyphen:
 non-conformist • anti-Prussian • post-modern.
Many of these new words are international and are found in many other languages. Most of them are used in politics, science or commerce.

Adverbs
Use of adverbs:

Adverbs are used to modify (add to the meaning of):

- verbs They walked slowly down the road.

- adjectives She felt extremely tired.
- adverbs He's eating terribly slowly.
- phrases We met him entirely by accident.
- sentences Fortunately, we had enough milk left for breakfast.

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective:

 careful - carefully; extreme – extremely

But notice: • full - fully • true - truly

There are a few spelling problems. Adverbs ending in:

1. -le • comfortable – comfortably
 possible - possibly

2. –y • easy - easily • happy – happily

But notice: • shy - shyly

3. -ic • dramatic – dramatically

• systematic - systematically
But notice: • public - publicly

Note:

 Well is the adverb corresponding to the adjective good.

 Some words that end in -ly are adjectives, not adverbs. For example: friendly, lovely, ugly, deadly, silly...
 Some adjectives and adverbs have the same form. For example: fast (a fast car goes fast)."
 In other cases, the adverb has two forms (late/lately - I hate arriving latel / haven't been to the theatre much lately) (For further
examples check Swan, Michael, "Pratical English Usage").

Adverb particles are often found with nouns or adjectives made from verbs. Sometimes they come before the noun or adjective and
sometimes after it:
- An outbreak of measles (-- Measles broke out in the school)
- - The plane crashed immediately after take-off.

Here are some exercises!

Word Formation - Verbs

In each space below put a verb made from the noun in brackets after the sentence.

a) The teachers _________________ the pupils to study (courage).

b) Fireworkers _______________dogs and cats (fright).
c) More floods could ________________ (danger).
d) The police are trying to ________________ the body (identity).
e) The smoke was so dense that we could hardly ___________________ (breath).
f) How dare she ________________us when she sits around doing nothing all day (critic).

Word Formation - Modern derivatives with Latin prefixes

Put one of the following prefixes in each of the spaces in the sentences below. Where necessary, hyphens have been placed in the sentences

ex-, co- , non-, anti- , bi-, sub-

a) That road is very dangerous. We use the ______________ way to get across.
b) It was a ____________lateral agreement, signed by India and Pakistan.
c) Some flights go from London to the Middle East _______________ stop.
d) I’m not ______________ marriage. I think it's a very good custom.
e) Both boys and girls go to that school. It's ________________ educational.
f) She's divorced but she's still on good terms with her _____________-husba
9
Word Formation – Adverbs

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

a) She spoke ___________ fast (incredible).

b) It rained __________ all night (heavy).
c) Sales have increased ____________ since we started advertising our products on television (dramatic).
d) I haven't been feeling very ___________ recently (good)

10