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DashboardExercises
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Urban beekeeping and its environmental impact
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Word Formation: The Science of Freediving
Freediving and the body's underwater dive reflex
Technology and Society: A Word Formation Exercise
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Yellowstone - western- Cowboy - cowgirl valued series
The Secret Intelligence of Octopuses
The surprising intelligence and behaviour of octopuses
Urban Beekeeping and City Ecosystems
Urban beekeeping and its impact on city ecosystems
Reading Between the Lines: Forensic Linguistics
Forensic linguistics – analysing language to solve legal mysteries
About Word Formation
Word formation asks you to change a word given in capitals into the form the sentence needs. A noun becomes an adjective, a verb becomes a noun, an adjective becomes an adverb — and often the opposite is needed too (possible → impossible).
What it tests
Each exercise has a text with eight gaps. Next to every gap the base word is printed in capitals, and you must transform it — prefix, suffix, or both — to fit the sentence.
How it appears on the exam paper
This is the most rule-based task on the paper, and strong candidates aim for full marks. The base word is always given, so the skill is knowing how English words are built, not guessing vocabulary.
Exam-style tips
- Decide the part of speech the gap needs by reading the surrounding words.
- Remember prefixes that reverse meaning: un-, in-, im-, ir-, dis-.
- Beware of 'double' changes: hard → hardly, effect → effective, economy → economically.
- Check spelling — a perfectly transformed word with a typo still loses the mark.
A ready-to-print Word formation — free worksheet with the answer key and explanations at the back. Download the PDF worksheet.
Frequently asked questions
Do I always change the word given in capitals?
Yes — the base word must always be transformed in some way, at least by adding an affix.
Can two answers be accepted?
Usually only one form is correct; alternatives rarely fit the grammar of the sentence.
What is the most common transformation?
Noun ↔ adjective and adjective → adverb, often with a negative prefix.
Independent study material for English learners. Not supported by, endorsed by, or in any way associated with any examination or examination board. See the Terms of Service.