English Advanced Grammar Exercises – Prefixes and suffixes

A. Look at the text below. Where possible, take away the prefixes and suffixes from the words in bold. Which words are left?

The San Francisco Police Department recently gave 32 police officers a new job. With murders at a 10-year high, you might expect that they have been sent to stop more senseless killings or to investigate the considerable number of unsolved murders. But you’d be wrong. These 32 officers have joined the fight against … homeless people! It is now a crime to sleep on the streets, and the unfortunate people who do so have to pay a fine or go to prison.

What’s wrong with this? For a start, it distorts the idea of a ‘justice’ system to criminalise homeless people – who, by definition, have no place to live – for living outside. This simply feels immoral. It’s also a waste of time and money. First, there’s the money to pay a monthly salary to the new officers. Then, because the fines for homelessness are inevitably unaffordable, the homeless people have to be imprisoned, another costly result. In the end, the homeless person is back on the street (but now re-labelled a ‘criminal’) and the overworked and underfunded police go back to the beginning. Nothing is achieved.

Common sense tells us that criminalising homelessness is counter-productive, making it harder for homeless people to find a solution to their problems. If the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, perhaps this unfair, wasteful and pointless new decision should be overturned.

Paragraph 1: senseless → sense     considerable → consider      unsolved → solved

Paragraph 2: ……………………………………

Paragraph 3: ……………………………………

B. Match the underlined words in 1-10 to explanations a-j.

1   The plan to criminalise homelessness will be counterproductive.

2   If we pre-book the tickets, the price will be much lower.

3   Sorry about that – it was a simple misunderstanding.

4   We overestimated the number of people that would come.

5   I thought I played chess well, but she completely outmanoeuvred me.

6   They undercharged us in the restaurant.

7   The poem was really uplifting.

8   She discouraged me from giving up college.

9   I overheard Mr Wallis talking about your test results.

10   My father is semi-retired.

a   I thought you meant 8 am, not pm.

b   It made everyone feel much better.

c   Every move I made, she made a better move.

d   They forgot to include our desserts in the bill.

e   She persuaded me it was a bad idea.

f   It will have the opposite result from the one they planned.

g   He only works a few hours a week now.

h   We were expecting hundreds, but there were only about 30.

i   We will pay less if we order them in advance.

j   He didn’t know I was listening.

C. Circle the correct option.

1   Be careful – the river is very danger……… .

      a ing     b ous     c ed     d ly

2   I didn’t understand the explanation the first time I read it. I’ll have to ………read it.

      a over     b counter-     c re-     d up

3   I feel fine when the boat isn’t moving, but I feel sick when it’s ………float

      a a     b im     c en     d en

4   Although she’s only nine, she’s already a brilliant pian……… .

      a o     b ist     c izer     d er

5   The boss was so ill we had to ………pone the meeting.

      a post     b sub     c re     d de

6   He always ………spells my name. He writes Migeul instead of Miguel.

      a un     b mis     c counter-     d dis

7   I ………slept and missed my train. My alarm clock didn’t wake me up.

      a over     b under     c out     d up

8   In my class, girls ………number boys. There are 20 girls and only 6 boys.

      a mis     b over     c out     d up

9   Her paintings are very attract……… . They look really good,

      a ful     b some     c ing     d ive

10   This soup is too salt……… – I can’t eat it.

        a y     b ed     c ised     d ened

D. Complete the dialogues, using verbs made from one of the nouns or adjectives in the box.

1   A:   The road’s too narrow.

      B:   Yes, they really should ………………… it.

2   A:   This picture on the TV’s too bright.

      B:   Just a minute – I’ll ………………… it.

3   A:   The mirror’s hanging too much to the left.

      B:   Would you like me to ………………… it?

4   A:   Did you put any sugar in this tea?

      B:   Ah no … I forgot to ………………… it.

5   A:   This pencil’s blunt.

      B:   I’ll ………………… it.

6   A:   I’m going to jump out and scare the children.

      B:   No, don’t ………………… them.

7   A:   These trousers are too long.

      B:   I’ll ………………… them.

8   A:   You should see more of the world.

      B:   Yes, I need to ………………… my horizons.

9   A:   Were you angry that she was so rude?

      B:   No, but it ………………… me.

10 A:   This bridge is too weak.

      B:   Yes, they need to ………………… it.

E. Make one sentence from each group of sentences by changing the underlined words.

1   Some people don’t have a home. This problem has been treated as a crime. The writer does not consider this to be moral.

      The writer considers the ……………………… of ……………………… to be ……………………… .

2   You solved the problem. I can’t accept the way you did it.

      I think your ……………………… is ……………………… .

3   She decided to leave. This was not popular. This made her feel very unhappy.

      The ……………………… of her ……………………… to leave caused her considerable ……………………… .

4   He didn’t relate to his brother as a friend. This made him sad.

      He was ……………………… by his ……………………… with his brother.

5   I calculated the money incorrectly. This was because when I estimated the costs, I made them too low.

      My ……………………… of the money resulted from an ……………………… of the costs.

6   One person decided not to compete and withdrew. This happened because they discovered he had not been behaving properly.

      The ……………………… of one of the ……………………… from the ……………………… followed the ……………………… of his ……………………… .

7   After he robbed the bank, the person who was defending himself in court dramatically altered the way he appeared. He claimed this was an accident.

      The ……………………… claimed that the dramatic ……………………… of his ……………………… after the bank ……………………… had been ……………………… .

8   The performance of the main woman who acted in the play was full of charm. Some people might be critical of the plot. The number who enjoyed the play was certainly higher than the number who didn’t.

      The main ……………………… gave a ……………………… performance. Although some people might ……………………… the plot, those who enjoyed the play certainly ……………………… those who didn’t.

F. Make as many new words as you can from each of these words. Use a dictionary if you wish.

1   destroy: destructive, destructible, indestructible, destroyer, destruct, destruction

2   produce: ………………………………………

3   popular: ………………………………………

4   fresh: ………………………………………

5   sense: ………………………………………

Now write five sentences about yourself, each using one word from each group.

Example: My little brother has so much energy – he’s almost indestructible!

G. Circle the correct option.

1   When I come home from a holiday, I hate ………. .

      a unpacking

      b repacking

      c outpacking

2   This steak is a bit ………. . You cooked it too long.

      a outdone

      b underdone

      c overdone

3   We can’t hear you. Is your ………. phone switched on?

      a cyber     b mini     c micro

4   The twins are almost identical, although Josie has got ………. hair, and Kim’s is a bit darker.

      a blondy 

      b blondish

      c blondness

5   At my job interview, the ………. asked me some really difficult questions.

      a interviewee

      b interviewing

      c interviewer