FCE (First Certificate)

Word Formation: Verbs

There are four main prefixes/suffixes used when making verbs, which you should
revise for the FCE exam.

en-

-ify

enlarge
enable
entrust
enrage
ensure
endanger

beautify
clarify
specify
identify
terrify
purify

-ise
televise
advise
organise
specialise
prioritise
criminalise
apologise

-en
widen
lengthen
deepen
shorten
tighten
brighten
darken
weaken
strengthen

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

ununexpected
unaware
unbelievable
unknown
unable
ilillegal
illiterate
illogical
illegible

in
inaccurate
inappropriate
inefficient
incapable
ineffective

disdisapprove
dislike
disagree
disbelief
dishonest

ir-

mis-

irregular
irresponsible
irrational
irregular

misbehave
misunderstan
d misspell
misuse

imimprobable
impossible
impolite
imperfect
impatient
-less
careless
harmless
helpless
endless

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.

Noun
application
permission
solution
description
intention
competition
decision
explanation
production
repetition
consumption
qualification

Verb
apply
permit
solve
describe
intend
compete
decide
explain
produce
repeat
comsume
qualify

Adjective
applicable
permissable
unsolved
descriptive
unintended
competitive
decisive
unexplained
productive
repetitive
consumable
qualified

FCE (First Certificate)

Word Formation: Nouns with -ence and -ance

Two common noun endings are -ance and -ence. Usually, their adjectives are made
with -ant and -ent. Here are some common examples which might help you in the
FCE exam.

Noun (-ence)
evidence
existence
(in)dependence
difference
intelligence
(dis)obedience
excellence
silence
violence
innocence
occurrence

Adjective
evident
existing
(in)dependent
different
intelligent
(dis)obedient
excellent
silent
violent
innocent
-

Verb
to exist
to depend
to differ
to (dis)obey
to excel
to silence
to violate
to occur

(im)patience
Noun (-ance)
attendance
attendant (person)
assistance
assistant (person)
(dis)appearance
distance
(un)importance
acceptance
reassurance
(ir)relevance
(in)significance

(im)patient
Adjective

Verb

to attend

to assist

apparent
distant
(un)important
accepting
reassured
(ir)relevant
(in)significant

to (dis)appear
accept
to reassure
to signify

FCE (First Certificate) Word Formation

Verb + ment / adjective + ness
Many verbs can form nouns with the suffix -ment. And many adjectives can form their
nouns with the suffix -ness.

Verb
achieve
amuse
argue
develop
encourage
excite
improve
involve
judge
measure
Adjective
aware
dark
forgetful
happy
homeless
lazy

Noun
achievement
amusement
argument
development
encouragement
excitement
improvement
involvement
judgement
measurement
Noun
awareness
darkness
forgetfulness
happiness
homelessness
laziness

lonely
rude
tidy
weak

loneliness
rudeness
tidiness
weakness

FCE (First Certificate)

Word Formation: Irregular Nouns
There are lots of standard noun suffixes (e.g -ment, -tion) or verb suffixes (see
myverb word formation pages). But many nouns and verbs have irregular suffixes
which you'll need to know for the FCE exam.

Noun
(dis)belief
a choice
a defense
a death
a gift
a loss
a marriage
practice
pretense
proof
safety
a sight
a speech
a success
a thought

Verb
(dis)believe
choose
defend
die
give
lose
marry
practise
pretend
(dis)prove
save
see
speak
succeed
think

Adjective
(un)believable
chosen
defensive
dead/deadly
lost
(un)married
practising
(un)proven
(un)safe
unseen
(un)spoken
(un)successful
thoughtful/less

Adverb
(un)believably
defensively
deadly
safely
(un)successfully
thoughtfully/lessly

FCE (First Certificate)

Word Formation: height, width ...

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.
.

Adjective
deep
high
wide
long
short
large
low
tight
loose
strong
weak
dark
bright

Noun
depth
height
weight
width
length
shortage (= not enough)
shortness (= not tall)
enlargement
tightness
looseness
strength
weakness
darkness
dark
brightness

Verb
deepen
heighten
weigh
widen
lengthen
shorten
enlarge
lower
tighten
loosen
strengthen
weaken
darken
brighten