English Grammar Exercises for B1 B2 – Word formation 1: verbs and adjectives (affixes)

A. Match the pairs.

a   Just put it in the microwave.

b   Throw it away!

a   Don’t touch it!

b   Don’t worry.

a   She is moving her eyes.

b   She can’t hear you.

a   She is looking for another job.

b   She has a bigger salary than me.

a   He forgot what time the play started.

b   I think he is brilliant.

B. Add affixes to the words.

1   Federer o u t played Nadal and won the match.

2    Switch off your computer and the _ _ start it.

3    It was a cold and wind _ day.

4    You can save money by _ _ _-booking two weeks before you go.

5    That music is too loud. It will deaf _ _ you!

6    If the pasta is _ _ _ _ _ cooked, it will be very hard, so put it back in the pan.

7    They supported the president and his _ _ _-government army.

8    It is expensive to advert _ _ _ on TV.

9    It was all done in a very business _ _ _ _ way.

10   Julia is a very like _ _ _ _ girl. She’s popular with everyone.

C. Complete the crossword with verbs and adjectives.

Across

2    Strong winds can be very ………………… .

4    Running will ………………… your legs.

5    Horror films ………………… me. I can’t watch them!

7    ………………… footballers get very high salaries.

9    Jack really ………………… his parents when he didn’t go to university.

10   If something is …………………, it is not good enough.

11   ‘To ………………… the wheel’ mean to make something that already exists.

12   English is an ………………… language.

Down

1    I ………………… it at first but then I listening again and everything was clear.

3    The opposite of ‘valuable’.

6    The piano and the guitar are examples of ………………… instruments.

8    My alarm clock was broken, so I ………………… this morning.

D. Write a word with an affix that means the same as each definition.

1    across the Atlantic

      ……transatlantic……

2    to make modern

      ………………………………

3    by chance

      ………………………………

4    to get too hot

      ………………………………

5    to do an exam again

      ………………………………

6    with no hope

      ………………………………

7    to see before

      ………………………………

8    the language spoken by the Finns

      ………………………………

E. Complete the text with the correct prefixes and / or suffixes.

English spelling is (1) fam…ous… for being (2) illogic………… . Many words are not written as they sound. G. B. Shaw liked to (3) demonstr………… how you could (4) …………nounce the (non-word) ‘ghoti’ as ‘fish’: gh is pronounced like f in laugh; o is pronounced like i in women; ti is pronounced like sh in station. He argued that our spelling system is very (5) …………effective and he wanted to (6) …………form the system. Shaw invented a different system but people used to (7) critic………… it and call his system (8) …………workable.

Since Shaw, there have been attempts to (9) reorgan………… the system of English spelling but none have really been (10) success………… . Noah Webster, a (11) …………-spelling reform dictionary writer, managed to (12) simpl………… some spellings in American English, for example the -or instead of –our suffix: color (colour), honor (honour).

Actually, it is not true that English words are (13) unpronounced………… . In fact, over 90% of words are completely (14) …………dictable in how they are read. English is not so (15) chaot…………! Maybe this is the reason why attempts to (16) revolution………… spelling have not been popular.

F. Guess the meanings of these words from their affixes.

1    co-write

      ……to write together……

2    telesales

      ………………………………………..

3    interlock

      ………………………………………..

4    blueish

      ………………………………………..

5    deplane

      ………………………………………..

6    unprintable

      ………………………………………..

G. Make up six new English verbs and adjectives using affixes (then check if they really exist!).

1    co-study – to study for a test with a friend

      (Not a real word – yet!)

2    hellish – very bag

      (Yes, it exists.)

3    …………………………………………

4    …………………………………………

5    …………………………………………

6    …………………………………………

7    …………………………………………

8    …………………………………………

H. Circle the correct option.

1    We should …………play the game if you think it was unfair.

      a out     b over     c re

2    Scrabble is use………… if you want to improve your spelling.

      a ful     b less     c able

3    Sandra …………reacted when she couldn’t make a word and started crying.

      a over     b under     c mis

4    It is very effect………… to make words with uncommon letters of the alphabet.

      a al     b ive     c y

5    It is a big disadvantage to be …………literate today.

      a im     b in     c il