Topic 1:
Word formation
01
LANGUAGE
Prefixes are syllables which we add before certain words to form new words. The meaning of the new
word depends on the prefix that has been used
anti- = against (anti-war) over- = (done) to a great extent (oversleep)
bi- = two (bilingual) post- = after (postgraduate)
co- = with (co-pilot) pre- = before (pre-school)
counter- = in the opposite direction pro- = in favour of (pro-war)
(counterattack) re- = again (rewrite)
ex- = previous, former (ex-husband) semi- = half (semi-detached)
inter- = between (intercontinental) sub- = under, less (subway)
mis- = done wrongly or badly (misunderstand) super- = big, more (superhero)
mono- = one (monolingual) trans- = (travel) from one side, group etc to
multi- = many (multimillionaire) another (transatlantic)
non- = not (non-members) tri- = three (triangle)
out- = more, better (outdo) under- = not enough (underpaid)
uni- = one (uniform)
The prefixes used to express opposite meanings.
de- defrost, decompose Some prefixes are added to words to form verbs.
dis- dissatisfied, disobey en- encourage
in- inaccurate, insecure em- (before “b, m, p”) empower
il- (before “l’) illegal
im- (before “b, m, p”) immature, impossible
ir- (before “r”) irrelevant
BUT unreliable, unreasonable
non- non-existent, non-stop
un- uncomfortable, unlucky
Suffixes are syllables which we add to the end of certain words to form
new words.
Nouns referring to people
● verb + -er/-or/-ar: train - trainer, inspect - inspector, beg - beggar
● noun/verb/adj + -ist: piano - pianist, type - typist, educational - educationalist
● verb + -ant/-ent: descend - descendant, study - student
● noun + -an/-ian: republic - republican, magic - magician
● verb + -ee (passive meaning): examine - examinee
Nouns formed from verbs Nouns formed from adjectives
-age pass - passage
-al propose - proposal -ance important - importance
-ance insure - insurance -cy private - privacy
-ation investigate - investigation -ence innocent - innocence
-ence depend - dependence -ion perfect - perfection
-ion select - selection -iness lazy - laziness
-ment improve - improvement -ness dark - darkness
-sion expand - expansion (verbs -ity popular - popularity
ending in -d/-t) -ty safe - safety
-sis emphasise - emphasis -y modest - modesty
-tion compete - competition
-ure fail - failure
-y discover - discovery
Adjectives formed from nouns Adjectives formed from verbs
-ous poison - poisonous -able accept - acceptable
-al function - functional -ible respond - responsible (verbs
-ic drama - dramatic ending in -d/-t)
-ical alphabet - alphabetical -ive attract - attractive
-ish fool - foolish -ate consider - considerate
-ive expense - expensive -ent differ - different
-ful (with) harm - harmful
-less (without) harm - harmless
-ant brilliance - brilliant Verbs formed from adjectives
-able reason - reasonable -en tight - tighten
-y salt - salty -ise legal - legalise
-ly week - weekly
Verbs formed from nouns
-en strength - strengthen
