Word Formation

What is it?

In a sentence or text you have to change the form of a word, e.g. from a noun to an adjective, or from a verb to a noun. For example:

The _____ was very nervous. (sing)

You have to complete the sentence with the person noun (singer). You change the verb (sing) into the person noun (singer).

• Look at the word you have to change. Which words do you know that are in the same word family?
• The beginning of the word is often the same and the end of the word changes.
• What form is the new word? A verb? A noun? An adjective? An adverb?
• Nouns often end: -ment, -ion, -ness, -ity.
• People nouns often end: -er, -or, -ist, -ian.
• Adjectives often end: -able, -ible, -ive, -al, -ic, -ed, -ing.
• Some verbs end: -ise, -ate, -en.
• Adverbs often end: -ly.
• Is the new word negative? If so, you may need a prefix, e.g. un- (unhappy), im- (impolite), in- (inexperienced), dis- (dishonest), etc.
• If you don’t know the new word, guess. You may be right!
• Check your answers carefully when you finish.

 From
The British Council

Click here, scroll down and do the two exercises

Further exercises:

Exercise 1
Exercise 2