Word Formation – English Grammar Exercises for B1
You are writing a social media post to recommend a new science documentary to your friends. Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
1 “I highly recommend the new space documentary on Netflix! It is incredibly ______ and taught me so much.”
(A) inform
(B) informative
(C) information
(D) informatively
2 “The drone footage showing the birth of stars was absolutely ______.”
(A) impress
(B) impression
(C) impressively
(D) impressive
3 “The director found a very ______ way to explain quantum physics using simple 3D animations.”
(A) create
(B) creation
(C) creative
(D) creatively
4 “Unlike traditional lectures, this show is highly ______; you can click on the screen to answer quizzes.”
(A) interactive
(B) interact
(C) interaction
(D) interactively
5 “The lead scientist’s argument about saving our oceans was extremely ______.”
(A) persuade
(B) persuasive
(C) persuasion
(D) persuasively
6 “I loved the episode about bees. It showed how ______ these tiny insects are for our ecosystem.”
(A) produce
(B) product
(C) productive
(D) productively
7 “However, the narrator used the exact same phrases too often, making episode 3 a bit ______.”
(A) repeat
(B) repetition
(C) repetitively
(D) repetitive
8 “The solutions they suggested for climate change seem very practical and ______.”
(A) effect
(B) effective
(C) effectiveness
(D) effectively
9 “The film gives a ______ overview of the entire history of space travel.”
(A) comprehensive
(B) comprehend
(C) comprehension
(D) comprehensively
10 “Some of the statistics about global plastic pollution were quite shocking and ______.”
(A) disrupt
(B) disruption
(C) disruptive
(D) disruptively
11 “The host’s voice is very calm and ______, keeping you fully focused on the topic.”
(A) attract
(B) attraction
(C) attractively
(D) attractive
12 “They presented several ______ new methods to clean up garbage from the rivers.”
(A) innovate
(B) innovative
(C) innovation
(D) innovatively
13 “The documentary clearly warns us about the ______ power of extreme weather.”
(A) destroy
(B) destruction
(C) destructive
(D) destructively
14 “We need to take ______ measures right now to save endangered animal species.”
(A) preventive
(B) prevent
(C) prevention
(D) preventively
15 “It is so inspiring to see young people being ______ in environmental campaigns.”
(A) act
(B) action
(C) active
(D) actively
16 “The interviews with the local farmers who lost their lands were deeply ______.”
(A) express
(B) expressive
(C) expression
(D) expressively
17 “The final message of the movie is a call for a ______ change in our daily habits.”
(A) decide
(B) decision
(C) decisively
(D) decisive
18 “After watching this, I feel much more ______ of our beautiful natural habitats.”
(A) protective
(B) protect
(C) protection
(D) protectively
19 “If you are a student, this documentary will be highly ______ for your science project.”
(A) support
(B) supporter
(C) supportive
(D) supportively
20 “You absolutely must watch it! It is a ______ experience that will change how you see the world.”
(A) transform
(B) transformative
(C) transformation
(D) transformatively
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) informative
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective is required after the linking verb “is” and the degree adverb “incredibly”. Inform (Verb) + -ative = Informative (providing useful information).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Base verb. (C) Noun (Structural error). (D) Adverb (Common mistake made by learners who think they need to modify the adverb “incredibly”).
2 (D) impressive
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective is needed to describe the subject “footage”. Impress → Impressive (evoking admiration).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (C) Adverb.
3 (C) creative
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective is needed to modify the noun “way”. Create → Creative (imaginative/innovative).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (D) Adverb.
4 (A) interactive
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective is needed after “is highly”. Interact → Interactive (allowing two-way communication).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
5 (B) persuasive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective describing the “argument”. Persuade → Persuasive (good at convincing someone). Note the spelling rule: drop ‘de’ and add ‘sive’.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
6 (C) productive
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective is needed after “how” in an exclamatory/noun clause structure. Produce → Productive (achieving a significant amount or result).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (D) Adverb.
7 (D) repetitive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Follows the “make + object + adjective” structure. Repeat → Repetitive (repeating the same thing over and over).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (C) Adverb.
8 (B) effective
- Why it is correct (The Key): Needs to be an adjective to stay parallel with “practical,” connected by “and”. Effect → Effective (successful in producing a desired result).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb/Noun. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
9 (A) comprehensive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Placed before the noun “overview” to describe it. Comprehend → Comprehensive (complete; including all elements).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
10 (C) disruptive
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adjective describing the “statistics”. Disrupt → Disruptive (causing trouble or interrupting a process).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (D) Adverb.
11 (D) attractive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective parallel to “calm”. Attract → Attractive (appealing or pleasing).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (C) Adverb.
12 (B) innovative
- Why it is correct (The Key): Positioned before the noun phrase “new methods”. Innovate → Innovative (featuring new methods; advanced and original).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
13 (C) destructive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Modifies the noun “power”. Destroy → Destructive (causing great and irreparable harm/damage). Note the spelling change.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (D) Adverb.
14 (A) preventive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Placed before the noun “measures”. Prevent → Preventive (designed to keep something undesirable from happening).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
15 (C) active
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective placed after “being” (the V-ing form of a linking verb). Act → Active (engaging in physical or energetic pursuits).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (D) Adverb.
16 (B) expressive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective describing the “interviews” following a linking verb. Express → Expressive (effectively conveying thought or feeling).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
17 (D) decisive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Modifies the noun “change”. Decide → Decisive (settling an issue; producing a definite result).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun. (C) Adverb.
18 (A) protective
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective following the linking verb “feel”. Protect → Protective (having or showing a strong wish to keep someone or something safe).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
19 (C) supportive
- Why it is correct (The Key): Adjective following the verb “will be”. Support → Supportive (providing encouragement or emotional help).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (B) Noun (refers to a person). (D) Adverb.
20 (B) transformative
- Why it is correct (The Key): Modifies the noun “experience”. Transform → Transformative (causing a marked change in someone or something).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Verb. (C) Noun. (D) Adverb.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 The Purpose of the “-ive” Suffix (Verb → Adjective)
When writing reviews (for movies, books, or products), transforming verbs into adjectives using the -ive suffix is a powerful tool. This suffix generally means “having the nature of” or “tending to”.
- Verb: The film informs us.
- Adjective: The film is informative.
This transformation shifts your tone from merely recounting what a subject does to actively evaluating what it is like, which is exactly what a good review requires.
2 Syntactic Position (Where to place these adjectives)
In this test, adjectives ending in -ive are primarily used in two crucial positions:
- After Linking Verbs (be, feel, seem, become):
- Example: The visual effects were impressive.
- Before a Noun (to act as a modifier):
- Example: A creative way, a comprehensive overview, preventive measures.
3 Spelling Rules for Adding “-ive”
- Direct addition: Add -ive directly to the base verb (e.g., act → active, attract → attractive).
- Drop the final “e”: If the verb ends in “e”, drop it before adding -ive (e.g., create → creative, innovate → innovative).
- Special change (“-de” to “-sive”): * persuade → persuasive
- decide → decisive
- comprehend → comprehensive
- Other irregular changes: destroy → destructive, produce → productive.