FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation
For the FCE exam, there's nearly always at least one negative in the word formation paper.
There are lots of prefixes and suffixes we can use to make negatives.
1. Negative prefixes can be used with nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs. For example
disapproval, disapprove, disapproving, disapprovingly.
2. Usually im + p (impatient) but not always (unpleasant).
3. Often il + l (illegal) but not always (unlikely).
4. Often ir + r (irregular) but not always (unresponsive).
5. Usually -ful changes to -less (harmful/less) but not always (endless).
6. If you can't remember, choose un - it's the most common negative prefix.
Look at the information in the table for 1 minute and try to remember the words.
un- in dis- im-
improbable
inaccurate
unexpected impossible
inappropriate disapprove dislike
unaware impolite
inefficient disagree disbelief
unbelievable imperfect
incapable dishonest
unknown unable impatient
ineffective
il- ir- mis- -less
irregular misbehave careless
illegal illiterate
irresponsible misunderstand harmless
illogical illegible
irrational irregular misspell misuse helpless endless
Write the correct NEGATIVE form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Be
very careful: some words have different negative forms (e.g. unbelievable/disbelief,
unlikely/dislike, unable/disabled).
1. The politician was accused of being _____________ (HONEST)
2. His story was so _____________ I thought he was crazy. (BELIEVE)
3. She looked at him in _____________ when he told her the shocking news. (BELIEVE)
4. Many people are _____________ of the dangers of mobile phones. (AWARE)
5. He's invited me to his party. It would be _____________ to say no. (POLITE)
6. Too many children nowadays are growing up _____________. (LITERATE)
7. That's not what I said! You've _____________ me. (UNDERSTAND)
8. My dog is completely _____________. I promise he won't bite. (HARM)
9. The medicine was _____________ - he didn't recover. (EFFECT)
10. His answers were very _____________ so he failed the Maths exam. (ACCURATE)
11. It's _____________ that people will ever live on the moon. (LIKELY)
12. He waited _____________ for the train. (PATIENT)
13. It's _____________ to smoke in public places nowadays. (LEGAL)
14. I would never teach children. They always _____________. (BEHAVE)
15. The shirt he's wearing is completely _____________ for a job interview. (APPROPRIATE)
16. His speech was _____________. I thought he'd never stop talking. (END)
One of the most common ways to change a verb to a noun is with -ion (e.g. act to action) and
-ation (e.g. observe to observation). Sometimes we also change the verb stem as well when
we make the noun like this (e.g. explain to explanation). The table below shows common
nouns in which the spelling of the stem also changes.
Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words.
Noun Verb Adjective
application apply applicable
permission permit permissable
solution solve unsolved
description describe descriptive
intention intend unintended
competition compete competitive
decision decide decisive
explanation explain unexplained
production produce productive
repetition repeat repetitive
consumption comsume consumable
qualification qualify qualified
Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Some of the
answers are irregular (from the table above), but there are other regular nouns included here.
Don't forget to use an -s if necessary.
1. Please send a photograph with your CV and _____________ form. (APPLY)
2. You need to make a _____________ today. (DECIDE)
3. Her _____________ of the grammar was very unclear. (EXPLAIN)
4. We had a long _____________ about our problems. (DISCUSS)
5. Students must have their parent's _____________ to come on the trip. (PERMIT)
6. He is still in hospital, recovering from his _____________. (OPERATE)
7. I entered a bowling _____________. (COMPETE)
8. My children never show _____________ for anything I do! (APPRECIATE)
9. I can't come up with a _____________ to this problem. (SOLVE)
10. The _____________ of junk food has increased over the last 20 years. (CONSUME)
11. You need a lot of _____________ for this job. (QUALIFY)
12. When I lived abroad, I found the _______ from my family very difficult. (SEPARATE)
13. The _____________ of the new flats is nearly finished. (CONSTRUCT)
14. We don't want a _____________ of the violence at last year's football match.
(REPEAT)
15. The police are conducting an _____________ into the murder. (INVESTIGATE)
16. I gave the police a _____________ of the thief. (DESCRIBE)
17. It wasn't my _____________ to offend you. (INTEND)
18. We are making _____________ for the wedding. (PREPARE)
19. I've just had a very interesting _____________ with your sister. (CONVERSE)
20. You can try our product for free, with no _____________ to buy it. (OBLIGE)
