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 -ise -en

widen
televise lengthen
enlarge beautify
advise deepen
enable clarify
organise shorten
entrust specify
specialise tighten
enrage identify
prioritise brighten
ensure terrify
criminalise darken
endanger purify
apologise 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.

un- in dis- im-

unexpected inaccurate disapprove improbable
unaware inappropriate dislike impossible
unbelievable inefficient disagree impolite
unknown incapable disbelief imperfect
unable ineffective dishonest impatient
il- ir- mis- -less
illegal irregular misbehave careless
illiterate irresponsible misunderstand harmless
illogical irrational misspell helpless
illegible irregular misuse 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 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
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) Adjective Verb

evidence evident -
existence existing to exist
(in)dependence (in)dependent to depend
difference different to differ
intelligence intelligent -
(dis)obedience (dis)obedient to (dis)obey
excellence excellent to excel
silence silent to silence
violence violent to violate
innocence innocent -
occurrence - to occur
(im)patience (im)patient -
 Noun (-ance) Adjective Verb
attendance
- to attend
attendant (person)
assistance
- to assist
assistant (person)
(dis)appearance apparent to (dis)appear
distance distant -
(un)importance (un)important -
acceptance accepting accept
reassurance reassured to reassure
(ir)relevance (ir)relevant -
(in)significance (in)significant to signify
Note: You are 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.

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 Noun Adjective Noun

achieve achievement aware awareness
amuse amusement dark darkness
argue argument forgetful forgetfulness
develop development happy happiness
encourage encouragement homeless homelessness
excite excitement lazy laziness
improve improvement lonely loneliness
involve involvement rude rudeness
judge judgement tidy tidiness
measure measurement weak weakness
 FCE (First Certificate)
Word Formation: Irregular Nouns
There are lots of standard noun suffixes (e.g -ment, -tion) or verb suffixes. But many
nouns and verbs have irregular suffixes which you'll need to know for the FCE exam.
Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
(dis)belief (dis)believe (un)believable (un)believably
a choice choose chosen -
a defense defend defensive defensively
a death die dead/deadly deadly
a gift give - -
a loss lose lost -
a marriage marry (un)married -
practice practise practising -
pretense pretend - -
proof (dis)prove (un)proven -
safety save (un)safe safely
a sight see unseen -
a speech speak (un)spoken -
a success succeed (un)successful (un)successfully
a thought think thoughtful/less thoughtfully/lessly

FCE (First Certificate)

Word Formation: Adjectives with -ful/-less
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.
The words in this table all use -ful and -less to make the adjectives.

Noun Verb Adjective

care care careful/careless
harm harm harmful/harmless
help help (un)helpful/helpless
hope hope hopeful/hopeless
pain pain painful/painless
power power powerful/powerless
use use useful/useless
thought think thoughtful/thoughtless
taste taste tasteful/tasteless
The adjectives in this table take -ful or -less, but not both.
Noun Verb Adjective
count count countless/countable
end end endless
home - homeless
peace - peaceful
play play playful
price price priceless
success succeed (un)successful
truth - (un)truthful/(un)true
worth worth worthless

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 Noun Verb

del death decepen
High High heighten
- weight weigh
wide width widen
long length lengthen
shortage (= not enough)
short shorten
shortness (= not tall)
large enlargement enlarge
low - lower
tight tightness tighten
loose looseness loosen
strong strength strengthen
weak weakness weaken
darkness
dark darken
dark
bright brightness brighten