Word Formation – English Grammar Exercises for B1
Sharing your journey of learning a new skill (guitar or a foreign language) after 3 months. Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
1 “Mom, Dad, you won’t believe the ______ I’ve made in playing the guitar over the last three months!”
(a) improve
(b) improving
(c) improveness
(d) improvement
2 “Being able to play a full song without any mistakes is a huge ______ for me.”
(a) achievement
(b) achieve
(c) achiever
(d) achivement
3 “My teacher said my ______ to practicing every single day has really paid off.”
(a) dedicate
(b) dedicated
(c) dedication
(d) dedicatement
4 “I am finally ready to give a small ______ for you guys after dinner tonight.”
(a) performation
(b) performance
(c) perform
(d) performing
5 “The ______ of my finger speed on the guitar frets has been incredibly fast.”
(a) develop
(b) development
(c) developer
(d) developation
6 “Also, in my Spanish class, my ______ sounds much more natural now.”
(a) pronounce
(b) pronouncement
(c) pronunciation
(d) pronounciation
7 “I can now have a basic ______ with a native speaker without freezing.”
(a) communication
(b) communicate
(c) communicator
(d) communicance
8 “Seeing my own daily progress gives me a lot of ______ to keep learning.”
(a) motivate
(b) motivation
(c) motivator
(d) motivement
9 “I really want to thank you both for your constant ______ during those first hard weeks.”
(a) encourage
(b) encouragingly
(c) encouragement
(d) encouragation
10 “Taking these classes was definitely the best ______ I’ve made this entire year.”
(a) decision
(b) decide
(c) decider
(d) decisiveness
11 “My ______ of basic Spanish grammar rules is so much clearer now.”
(a) comprehend
(b) comprehensive
(c) comprehension
(d) comprehendment
12 “The ______ of all those new vocabulary words was tough, but I managed to do it.”
(a) memorization
(b) memorize
(c) memory
(d) memorizingly
13 “If you want, I can do a quick ______ of a simple Spanish song into English for you.”
(a) translate
(b) translator
(c) translatement
(d) translation
14 “It takes a huge amount of ______ to play the chords and sing at the exact same time.”
(a) concentrate
(b) concentration
(c) concentrating
(d) concentratement
15 “My tutor praised my ______ because I never missed a single lesson.”
(a) commit
(b) committance
(c) committee
(d) commitment
16 “Whenever I didn’t understand a tricky chord, my teacher’s ______ was always very clear.”
(a) explain
(b) explanation
(c) explaination
(d) explaning
17 “Of course, I couldn’t have reached this level without the ______ of my amazing tutor.”
(a) assistance
(b) assist
(c) assistant
(d) assistment
18 “Watching famous guitarists on YouTube gave me the ______ to pick up the instrument.”
(a) inspire
(b) inspirer
(c) inspiration
(d) inspirement
19 “The practical ______ of these finger techniques makes playing so much easier.”
(a) apply
(b) appliance
(c) application
(d) applying
20 “Meeting the daily practice ______ wasn’t easy, but it was totally worth it!”
(a) require
(b) requirement
(c) requiring
(d) requisition
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (d) improvement
- Why: We need a noun after the article “the”. “Improvement” is the noun form of “improve”.
- Analysis: (a) is a verb; (b) is a gerund/participle; (c) is a non-existent word.
2 (a) achievement
- Why: Follows the adjective “huge”. “Achieve” + suffix “-ment” creates the noun.
- Analysis: (c) refers to a person; (d) is a common spelling mistake (missing ‘e’).
3 (c) dedication
- Why: Follows the possessive adjective “my”. “Dedication” means the state of being dedicated.
- Analysis: (a) is a verb; (d) uses the wrong suffix.
4 (b) performance
- Why: “Performance” is the standard noun for a musical or artistic show.
- Analysis: (a) is incorrect word formation; (c) is a verb.
5 (b) development
- Why: Noun form required. “Development” refers to the process of growing or improving.
- Analysis: (c) refers to a person (e.g., software developer).
6 (c) pronunciation
- Why: Note the spelling change: the ‘o’ from “pronounce” is dropped in “pronunciation”.
- Analysis: (d) is the most common spelling error made by learners.
7 (a) communication
- Why: Refers to the act of exchanging information.
- Analysis: (c) refers to a person or device.
8 (b) motivation
- Why: Follows “a lot of”. “Motivation” is the enthusiasm for doing something.
- Analysis: (d) is not a real word.
9 (c) encouragement
- Why: Noun form of “encourage”. It refers to the support given to someone.
- Analysis: (a) is a verb; (b) is an adverb.
10 (a) decision
- Why: Noun form of “decide”. “Making a decision” is a standard collocation.
- Analysis: (d) refers to a personality trait (decisiveness).
11 (c) comprehension
- Why: Noun form of “comprehend” (to understand).
- Analysis: (b) is an adjective meaning “all-inclusive”.
12 (a) memorization
- Why: Refers to the process/act of committing something to memory.
- Analysis: (c) refers to the faculty of the brain or a specific memory.
13 (d) translation
- Why: Follows “a quick”. “Translation” is the result of turning one language into another.
- Analysis: (b) refers to the person (translator).
14 (b) concentration
- Why: Follows “amount of”. “Concentration” is the ability to focus.
- Analysis: (d) is a non-existent word.
15 (d) commitment
- Why: Refers to the quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity.
- Analysis: (c) means a group of people (committee).
16 (b) explanation
- Why: Note the spelling change: the ‘i’ from “explain” is dropped in “explanation”.
- Analysis: (c) is a common spelling mistake.
17 (a) assistance
- Why: “Assistance” is the noun for help/support.
- Analysis: (c) is the person (assistant).
18 (c) inspiration
- Why: Noun form of “inspire”. It refers to a sudden brilliant idea or the quality of being inspired.
19 (c) application
- Why: Refers to the practical use of a technique.
- Analysis: (b) refers to household devices (e.g., fridge).
20 (b) requirement
- Why: “Requirement” is something that is needed or wanted.
- Analysis: (d) is too formal and used in official/military contexts.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Why change Verbs into Nouns?
While verbs describe actions (e.g., I improve), nouns describe results or concepts (e.g., Look at my improvement). Using nouns allows you to treat your progress as a “thing” that can be measured, seen, and shared with others. It makes your English sound more formal and advanced.
2 Where do we use Nouns?
In this test, nouns are required in the following positions:
- After Articles: a, an, the (e.g., the development).
- After Possessive Adjectives: my, your, his, her (e.g., my dedication).
- After Adjectives: huge, basic, natural (e.g., natural pronunciation).
- After Quantifiers: a lot of, amount of (e.g., amount of concentration).
3 Common Suffixes (Verb → Noun):
- -ment: improve → improvement, achieve → achievement.
- -tion / -ation: motivate → motivation, inform → information.
- -ance / -ence: perform → performance, assist → assistance.
- -sion: decide → decision, conclude → conclusion.
4 Spelling Traps:
Some words change their internal spelling when they become nouns. Be careful with:
- Pronounce → Pronunciation (No ‘o’).
- Explain → Explanation (No ‘i’).