FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation: Negatives 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. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. un- in inaccurate unexpected inappropriate unaware inefficient unbelievable incapable unknown unable ineffective ilirirregular illegal illiterate irresponsible illogical irrational illegible irregular disdisapprove dislike disagree disbelief dishonest mismisbehave misunderstand misspell misuse imimprobable impossible impolite imperfect impatient -less careless harmless helpless endless Click here to show/hide this information 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 2. His story was so 3. She looked at him in (HONEST) I thought he was crazy. (BELIEVE) 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 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 11. It's . (LITERATE) so he failed the Maths exam. (ACCURATE) that people will ever live on the moon. (LIKELY) 12. He waited 13. It's for the train. (PATIENT) to smoke in public places nowadays. (LEGAL) 14. I would never teach children. They always . (BEHAVE) 15. The shirt he's wearing is completely (APPROPRIATE) 16. His speech was for a job interview. . I thought he'd never stop talking. (END) FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation: Nouns with -ion 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. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. Noun application permission solution description intention competition decision explanation production Verb apply permit solve describe intend compete decide explain produce Adjective applicable permissable unsolved descriptive unintended competitive decisive unexplained productive repetition consumption qualification repeat comsume qualify repetitive consumable qualified Click here to show/hide this information 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 2. You need to make a 3. Her today. (DECIDE) 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 7. I entered a bowling for anything I do! (APPRECIATE) 9. I can't come up with a to this problem. (SOLVE) 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 (SEPARATE) 13. The . (OPERATE) . (COMPETE) 8. My children never show 10. The form. (APPLY) from my family very difficult. of the new flats is nearly finished. (CONSTRUCT) 14. We don't want a (REPEAT) of the violence at last year's football match. 15. The police are conducting an 16. I gave the police a 17. It wasn't my 18. We are making into the murder. (INVESTIGATE) of the thief. (DESCRIBE) to offend you. (INTEND) for the wedding. (PREPARE) 19. I've just had a very interesting 20. You can try our product for free, with no with your sister. (CONVERSE) to buy it. (OBLIGE) Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. Noun (-ence) evidence existence (in)dependence difference intelligence (dis)obedience excellence silence violence innocence occurrence (im)patience Noun (-ance) attendance attendant (person) assistance assistant (person) (dis)appearance distance (un)importance acceptance reassurance (ir)relevance (in)significance Adjective evident existing (in)dependent different intelligent (dis)obedient excellent silent violent innocent (im)patient Verb to exist to depend to differ to (dis)obey to excel to silence to violate to occur - Adjective Verb - to attend - to assist apparent distant (un)important accepting reassured (ir)relevant (in)significant to (dis)appear accept to reassure to signify Note: I have only given the more common words here. There are other forms (for example, it is possible to use "to evidence something" as a verb) but these are less common. Click here to show/hide this information Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. The answer could be a noun or an adjective. Don't forget to use an -s or a negative prefix if necessary. 1. Unfortunately, accidents are a common 2. It's difficult to believe in the along this road. (OCCUR) of aliens. (EXIST) 3. The police are looking for of the attack. (EVIDENT) 4. She thinks everyone hates her and needs time. (REASSURE) 5. Scientist believe that the mysterious disease. (APPEAR) 6. What's the best punishment for a of millions of bees is due to teenager? (OBEY) 7. What he said was true, but it was completely 8. 100% from her friends all the . (RELEVANCE) is necessary to pass this course. (ATTEND) 9. I'm the only person who believes in his guilty. (INNOCENT) 10. There are three shop help. (ASSIST) . Even the police think he's over there - you should ask one of them for 11. Some people think that if you enjoy your job, the salary is love money! (IMPORTANCE) 12. I'm excited because I've just got a letter of University! (ACCEPT) 13. Cats are extremely (DEPEND) 14. You need a lot of , but I from Cambridge animals. They don't really need people. if you want to work with children. (PATIENT) Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. Noun (dis)belief a choice a defense a death a gift a loss a marriage practice pretense proof safety Verb (dis)believe choose defend die give lose marry practise pretend (dis)prove save Adjective (un)believable chosen defensive dead/deadly lost (un)married practising (un)proven (un)safe Adverb (un)believably defensively deadly safely a sight a speech a success a thought see speak succeed think unseen (un)spoken (un)successful thoughtful/less (un)successfully thoughtfully/lessly Click here to show/hide this information Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. 1. The flowers are poisonous - don't eat them! (DIE) 2. You have no 3. Their - you must do it. (CHOOSE) was a very happy one. (MARRY) 4. You need to do some more 5. We don't have any of this grammar. (PRACTISE) that he committed the crime. (PROVE) 6. She's really about her new haircut.(DEFEND) 7. The company made a on their new product. (LOSE) 8. I stared at him in . (BELIEVE) 9. Your parents really care about your 10. The politician's really made me think about the issues. (SPEAK) 11. We tried to keep up the 12. I need to get a that everything was OK. (PRETEND) for my parents' wedding anniverary. (GIVE) 13. I'm really sorry. You were 14. He lost his . (SAVE) in your job application. (SUCCEED) in the accident (SEE) 15. He's really selfish and . (THINK) Most adjectives which end in -ful make the negative with -less. But, not all. Note also that we can make adverbs from these adjectives with -fully or -lessly. For example, carefully and carelessly. This is a list of key words which might appear in the FCE exam. Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. The words in this table all use -ful and -less to make the adjectives. Noun care harm help hope pain power use thought taste Verb care harm help hope pain power use think taste Adjective careful/careless harmful/harmless (un)helpful/helpless hopeful/hopeless painful/painless powerful/powerless useful/useless thoughtful/thoughtless tasteful/tasteless The adjectives in this table take -ful or -less, but not both. Noun count end home peace play price success truth worth Verb count end play price succeed worth Adjective countless/countable endless homeless peaceful playful priceless (un)successful (un)truthful/(un)true worthless Click here to show/hide this information Write the correct adjective or adverb for each of these questions. You will need to use ful/-less or -fully/-lessly. Some answers will also need un-. 1. What a lovely present! That was very 2. He drives really 3. He's told me of you. (THINK) - one day he's going to have an accident. (CARE) times about how good he is at football. (COUNT) 4. Because of his bad interview, he was (SUCCEED) in his job application. 5. "I didn't eat your chocolate," she said (TRUE) 6. It's , hiding the empty wrapper. . England will never win the World Cup football again. (HOPE) 7. My best friend is a rich, lawyer. (POWER) 8. You must remember to recharge your phone. Without its batteries, it's . (USE) 9. Cigarettes are to your health. (HARM) 10. The sales assistant was really and rude. (HELP) 11. A newborn baby is completely . (HELP) 12. "Don't worry - this injection will be completely 13. Thieves broke into the museum and stole a (PRICE) . (PAIN) painting by Van Gogh. 14. She's really rich, but her clothes are always very and elegant. (TASTE) 15. I bought some shares in the company 5 years ago, but unfortunately now they are . (WORTH) 16. His speech went on . I thought he'd never stop talking. (END) The word formation part of the FCE use of English exam often tests adjectives such as 'short', 'wide', 'dark' and their nouns and verbs. Here is a list of some of the more common adjectives and their forms. Look at the information in the table for 1-2 minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. Adjective deep high wide long short large low tight loose strong Noun depth height weight width length shortage (= not enough) shortness (= not tall) enlargement tightness looseness strength Verb deepen heighten weigh widen lengthen shorten enlarge lower tighten loosen strengthen weak weakness darkness dark brightness dark bright weaken darken brighten Click here to show/hide this information Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. 1. Normally I prefer tall men, but my husband's (SHORT) isn't a problem. 2. The news report covered the economic crisis in 3. A healthy diet will 4. If they . (DEEP) your life expectancy. (LONG) this road, there would be fewer accidents. (WIDE) 5. I think I'll this photograph. (LARGE) 6. The airport has security at passport control. (TIGHT) 7. I do yoga to my back. (STRONG) 8. There is a water (SHORT) nearly every summer in the south of England. 9. The moment I left work I 10. When I my tie and started to relax. (LOOSE) myself, I found out I'd lost 10kg! (WEIGHT) 11. The of my computer screen gives me a headache. (BRIGHT) 12. I'm afraid of so I couldn't live on the 10th floor. (HIGH) 13. The lights went out and the room was plunged into 14. I'm afraid of the so I sleep with the lights on. (DARKEN) 15. The government are going to 16. His long illness has . (DARK) the legal drinking age to 18. (LOW) him. (WEAK) Look at the information in the table for 1 minute and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom. enenlarge enable -ify beautify clarify -ise televise advise -en widen lengthen entrust enrage ensure endanger specify identify terrify purify organise specialise prioritise criminalise apologise deepen shorten tighten brighten darken weaken strengthen Click here to show/hide this information Write the correct form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Be very careful - these are verbs. So, for example, if the word is DEEP, the verb could be deepen, deepens, deepening or deepened. 1. I find it difficult to my work. (PRIORITY) 2. I'm studying medicine. I want to in genetics. (SPECIAL) 3. This photograph is too small. Can you it for me? (LARGE) 4. I didn't understand what you just said. Could you it? (CLEAR) 5. My electronic dictionary words. (ABLE) me to listen to the pronunciation of new 6. He loves insects. He can beetle.(IDENTITY) over 50 different types of 7. There are a lot of accidents on this road - the council should (WIDTH) 8. The time we spent apart only 9. You didn't (SPECIFIC) my love for him. (STRONG) what flavour you wanted, so I got you chocolate. 10. His speech was too long. He should have it. (SHORT) 11. He always thinks he's right. He never 12. I think the government should for his mistakes. (APOLOGY) alcohol. (CRIMINAL) 13. Thank you for the flowers. They really 14. The burglar 15. The film "The Ring" it. up the room. (BRIGHT) that no one was in the house before he broke in. (SURE) me. I couldn't sleep for days. (TERROR) 16. The government's plans for the hospitals will (DANGER) thousands of lives.