Tips for Word Formation Tasks in English Exams

Here are some of my top tips to help you do word formation tasks:

• learn common prefixes and suffixes e.g. un, dis, ful, ment
• learn irregular spelling changes eg. appear(v) - apparent(adj)
• learn different words that can be formed from the same root eg. appreciative (adj), appreciated (adj)
• learn less common affixes e.g. enable

The best way to learn the different parts of speech for the Part 3 Word Formation task is to highlight new words you come across when reading. This will raise your awareness of the affixes and the more you come across these words, the more familiar you’ll become with them.

However, you are probably under pressure if you’re preparing for an exam, so self-testing using websites such as Quizlet to create flashcards will help you memorise the words. On one side of the card you can out the root word eg. ‘inform’ and the other side the nouns eg. ‘information’ or the adjectives eg.’informative’.

Also writing the words in sentences or mini-stories will help you to memorise them.

Here are some example of suffixes:

al eg. survival

less eg. careless

ly eg. carelessly

ive eg. supportive

ee eg. interviewee

ular eg. rectangular

Here is a mini-story I have written. Use these suffixes to make words to put in the gaps:

Emily greeted the guests on their (1)______ (arrive). She appeared calm and collected, able to (2)_______ (effort) inform them of the event’s itinerary. As the night went on, everyone was (3)________ (appreciate) of her attention to detail and friendly demeanour. Before leaving, all the (4)_________(attend) congratulated her on a successful evening and were grateful she had put in so much effort organising such a (5)________(spectacle) event.

Answers:

1. arrival

2. effortlessly

3. appreciative

4. attendees

5. spectacular

Here is another one:

Edward had always been an adventurous (1)________(mountain). His dream was to reach the summit of the (2)_______(breath) mountain which he had climbed as a child. He had planned his (3) ______(ascend) carefully, aware of the (4)______(risk) terrain and the (5)________(survive) skills needed. However, his friend and fellow climber, Sam, was more interested in taking (6)__________(spectacle) selfies than being (7)_______(support) towards Edward.

Answers:

1. mountaineer

2. breathtaking

3. ascent

4. risky

5. survival

6. spectacular

7. supportive

Compound Words

Compound words will sometimes appear in this exam task. These are words that are made up of two or more words.

Examples:

breathtaking

mouthpiece

network

wrongdoing

overcome

takeover ……………………………………………. to name but a few!