What is Word Formation in English?

Word formation is how we build new words from existing ones. It often involves adding small parts to the beginning or end of a word.

• These small parts are called affixes.
• Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word (e.g., un- + happy = unhappy).
• Suffixes are added to the end of a word (e.g., happy + -ness = happiness).

By using affixes, we can change a word’s meaning or its grammatical category (part of speech).

Why is Word Formation Important for B2 First (FCE)?

Word formation is a key skill tested in the B2 First (FCE) exam, specifically in Part 3 of the Reading and Use of English paper.

• In this part, you read a text with eight gaps.
• At the end of each line with a gap, you will see a base word in capital letters.
• You must change this base word into the correct form to fit the meaning and grammar of the sentence.
• For example, if the base word is COMPETE, you might need competition (noun), competitive (adjective), or competitor (noun).

Mastering word formation helps you understand and produce a wider range of vocabulary, which is essential for all parts of the exam.

How Do Prefixes and Suffixes Work?

Prefixes and suffixes are powerful tools for expanding your vocabulary.

• Prefixes: These change the meaning of a word, often making it negative or indicating repetition or time. They usually do not change the word's part of speech.
• Suffixes: These often change the word's part of speech (e.g., verb to noun, noun to adjective) and can also affect its meaning.

Let's look at some common examples.

Common Suffixes to Form Nouns

Many suffixes can turn a verb or an adjective into a noun.

• -tion / -sion: inform → information, decide → decision
• -ment: develop → development, agree → agreement
• -ness: kind → kindness, happy → happiness
• -er / -or: (for people/things that do an action) teach → teacher, invent → inventor
• -ity: active → activity, possible → possibility
• -ence / -ance: depend → dependence, import → importance

Common Suffixes to Form Adjectives

These suffixes can change nouns or verbs into adjectives.

• -able / -ible: comfort → comfortable, sense → sensible
• -ful: beauty → beautiful, care → careful
• -less: care → careless, hope → hopeless
• -ive: create → creative, attract → attractive
• -al: nature → natural, culture → cultural
• -ous: danger → dangerous, fame → famous

Common Suffixes to Form Verbs

Fewer suffixes form verbs, but they are still important.

• -ify: simple → simplify, beauty → beautify
• -en: dark → darken, wide → widen
• -ise / -ize: modern → modernise (UK) / modernize (US), special → specialise / specialize

Common Suffixes to Form Adverbs

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective.

• -ly: quick → quickly, careful → carefully, easy → easily

Be careful: some words ending in -ly are adjectives, like friendly ou lovely. For these, you might need a phrase like in a friendly way to make an adverbial meaning.

Common Prefixes to Change Meaning

Prefixes usually change the meaning of a word, often making it negative or indicating a different action, but typically keep the same part of speech.

• un-: happy → unhappy, lock → unlock
• dis-: agree → disagree, honest → dishonest
• re-: write → rewrite, build → rebuild
• pre-: view → preview, paid → prepaid
• mis-: understand → misunderstand, lead → mislead
• in- / im- / il- / ir-: (negative prefixes) complete → incomplete, possible → impossible, legal → illegal, regular → irregular

Words That Change Class Without Affixes

Sometimes, a word can belong to different grammatical classes without adding any prefixes or suffixes. You need to understand the context to know its function.

• Light: Can be a noun (turn on the light), an adjective (a light jacket), or a verb (light a candle).
• Run: Can be a verb (I run every day) or a noun (I went for a run).
• Experiment: Can be a noun (a scientific experiment) or a verb (we will experiment with new ideas).

Paying attention to the sentence structure helps you identify the correct part of speech.

Exemples

• The development of new technology is very fast.
• She made a decision to study abroad.
• His unhappiness was clear to everyone.
• The weather was unpredictable during our trip.
• Please simplify the instructions for me.
• They reacted angrily to the news.
• It's impossible to finish this work today.
• We need to reorganize the office.

Entraînement

Erreurs courantes chez les hispanophones

Spanish speakers often make mistakes in word formation due to direct translation or not recognizing English patterns.

• Using the wrong word class: Forgetting to change the word form. For example, saying I need a develop in my career instead of I need development in my career.
• Incorrect suffix/prefix: Choosing the wrong affix. For instance, using informment instead of information, ou dispossible instead of impossible.
• Spelling errors: Some suffixes require changes to the base word's spelling (e.g., happy → happiness, et non happyness; decide → decision, et non decidion).
• Overlooking negative forms: Forgetting to add a negative prefix when the context requires it. For example, writing It was a fair decision when the meaning should be It was an unfair decision.

Questions fréquemment posées

What is the main purpose of word formation?

The main purpose of word formation is to create new words or to change the grammatical class of an existing word. This allows for more precise and varied expression in English, expanding your vocabulary from a smaller set of base words.

How can I improve my word formation skills for the B2 First exam?

To improve, practice regularly with B2 First Part 3 tasks. Pay attention to common prefixes and suffixes, and learn how they change meaning and word class. Keep a vocabulary notebook to record word families (e.g., agree, agreement, disagree, agreeable, disagreeable).

Do prefixes always make a word negative?

No, not always. While many prefixes like un-, dis-, in- create negative meanings (e.g., unhappy), other prefixes indicate repetition (re- dans rewrite), time (pre- dans preview), or other relationships.

Can a word be both a noun and a verb without changing its form?

Yes, absolutely! Many English words can function as different parts of speech without any changes to their spelling. For example, light can be a noun, adjective, or verb, and run can be a verb or a noun, depending on the sentence context.

Leçons associées

• Word formation