Word Formation – English Grammar Exercises for B1
Read the story below. Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
1 “I was so tired after work that I was sitting ______ on the bus, staring out the window.”
(A) quietly
(B) loudly
(C) quiet
(D) quietness
2 “______, the bus driver announced my stop, so I had to jump up in a panic.”
(A) Sudden
(B) Gradually
(C) Suddenly
(D) Suddenness
3 “I grabbed my heavy backpack ______ and rushed out of the door before it closed.”
(A) quickness
(B) slowly
(C) quick
(D) quickly
4 “I walked for five minutes before I ______ realized my pocket felt completely empty.”
(A) immediately
(B) gladly
(C) immediateness
(D) immediate
5 “I had acted ______ and left my expensive new phone on the bus seat!”
(A) careless
(B) carelessness
(C) carefully
(D) carelessly
6 “I searched through my bag ______, hoping it was just hiding at the bottom.”
(A) confidently
(B) desperately
(C) desperation
(D) desperate
7 “______, there was a small coffee shop nearby where I could ask for some help.”
(A) Sadly
(B) Luckily
(C) Lucky
(D) Luck
8 “I borrowed a phone from the barista and ______ dialed my own number.”
(A) nervousness
(B) calmly
(C) nervous
(D) nervously
9 “I waited for a few seconds, and ______, a stranger answered the call!”
(A) unexpected
(B) unexpectation
(C) unexpectedly
(D) predictably
10 “He spoke very ______ and told me that he had found my device.”
(A) gently
(B) angrily
(C) gentleness
(D) gentle
11 “______, he was still waiting at the bus stop for his friend to arrive.”
(A) Fortune
(B) Fortunately
(C) Fortunate
(D) Unfortunately
12 “He told me exactly where he was, so I ran back there ______.”
(A) hurried
(B) lazily
(C) hurriedly
(D) hurry
13 “When I saw him holding my phone, I sighed ______.”
(A) miserably
(B) happy
(C) happily
(D) happiness
14 “He handed the phone back to me ______, refusing to accept any money as a reward.”
(A) politeness
(B) rudely
(C) polite
(D) politely
15 “I checked the screen to see if it was broken, but it was ______ fine.”
(A) completely
(B) complete
(C) barely
(D) completion
16 “______, the thick screen protector had prevented any scratches.”
(A) Thankful
(B) Thankfully
(C) Regretfully
(D) Thankfulness
17 “I shook his hand and thanked him ______ for his extreme kindness.”
(A) falsely
(B) sincerity
(C) sincere
(D) sincerely
18 “It is rare to meet someone who behaves so ______ in this modern world.”
(A) honestly
(B) suspiciously
(C) honest
(D) honesty
19 “After that incident, I promised myself to check my seats more ______.”
(A) care
(B) carefully
(C) randomly
(D) careful
20 “I walked the rest of the way home ______, keeping my phone safely inside my zipped pocket.”
(A) safely
(B) dangerously
(C) safe
(D) safety
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A) quietly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb is needed to modify the verb “was sitting”. (Quiet + ly = quietly).
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (B) Adverb meaning “loudly”, which contradicts the tired context (Meaning Trap).
2 (C) Suddenly
- Why it is correct (The Key): A Sentence Adverb placed at the beginning of the sentence, separated by a comma, to describe an unexpected event.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (B) The adverb “Gradually” contradicts the context of panicking and jumping up (Meaning Trap).
3 (D) quickly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “grabbed”.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (A) Noun (Structural Error); (B) The adverb “slowly” contradicts the context of rushing (Meaning Trap).
4 (A) immediately
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the verb “realized”.
- Distractor Analysis: (D) Adjective (Common Mistake); (C) Noun (Structural Error); (B) The adverb “gladly” is inappropriate when discovering you’ve lost something (Meaning Trap).
5 (D) carelessly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “acted” (meaning without care).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Adjective (Common Mistake); (B) Noun (Structural Error); (C) The adverb “carefully” means the opposite of what caused the loss (Meaning Trap).
6 (B) desperately
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb describing the frantic action of searching.
- Distractor Analysis: (D) Adjective (Common Mistake); (C) Noun (Structural Error); (A) The adverb “confidently” does not fit the panicked context (Meaning Trap).
7 (B) Luckily
- Why it is correct (The Key): A Sentence Adverb modifying the entire following clause to emphasize good fortune.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (A) The adverb “Sadly” contradicts the helpful situation (Meaning Trap).
8 (D) nervously
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “dialed” while in a state of panic.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (A) Noun (Structural Error); (B) The adverb “calmly” does not fit the stressful situation (Meaning Trap).
9 (C) unexpectedly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb describing the surprising event of someone picking up the lost phone.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Adjective (Common Mistake); (B) Noun (Structural Error); (D) The adverb “predictably” contradicts the surprise element (Meaning Trap).
10 (A) gently
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb describing how the kind stranger spoke.
- Distractor Analysis: (D) Adjective (Common Mistake); (C) Noun (Structural Error); (B) The adverb “angrily” contradicts the stranger’s helpful nature (Meaning Trap).
11 (B) Fortunately
- Why it is correct (The Key): A Sentence Adverb meaning “By good luck”.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (A) Noun (Structural Error); (D) “Unfortunately” means the opposite, which does not fit this good news (Meaning Trap).
12 (C) hurriedly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb describing the action of running back in a rush.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Adjective/Past verb (Common Mistake); (D) Noun/Base verb (Structural Error); (B) “Lazily” contradicts the urgent context (Meaning Trap).
13 (C) happily
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “sighed” with relief and joy.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (A) “Miserably” contradicts the relief of finding the phone (Meaning Trap).
14 (D) politely
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb describing the courteous manner of returning the phone.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (A) Noun (Structural Error); (B) “Rudely” contradicts the stranger’s kind actions (Meaning Trap).
15 (A) completely
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb of degree modifying the adjective “fine”.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (C) “Barely” (almost not) would mean the phone is mostly broken, contradicting the context (Meaning Trap).
16 (B) Thankfully
- Why it is correct (The Key): A Sentence Adverb expressing gratitude or relief.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (C) “Regretfully” contradicts the positive outcome (Meaning Trap).
17 (D) sincerely
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “thanked” (in a genuine way).
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (B) Noun (Structural Error); (A) “Falsely” means faking gratitude, which is incorrect here (Meaning Trap).
18 (A) honestly
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the verb “behaves”.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (B) “Suspiciously” contradicts the context of praising a good person (Meaning Trap).
19 (B) carefully
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action of checking the seats.
- Distractor Analysis: (D) Adjective (Common Mistake); (A) Noun/Verb (Structural Error); (C) “Randomly” contradicts the lesson learned about being cautious (Meaning Trap).
20 (A) safely
- Why it is correct (The Key): An adverb modifying the action “walked”.
- Distractor Analysis: (C) Adjective (Common Mistake); (D) Noun (Structural Error); (B) “Dangerously” contradicts the context of securing the phone (Meaning Trap).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Forming Adverbs from Adjectives (Word Formation: Adj → Adv)
Most adverbs of manner or sentence/comment adverbs are formed using this rule:
👉 Adjective + -ly = Adverb
- fortunate → fortunately
- sudden → suddenly
Important Spelling Rules:
- For adjectives ending in a consonant + “y” → Change “y” to “i” and add “-ly” (lucky → luckily, happy → happily).
2 Syntactic Position and Function of Adverbs
- Sentence Adverbs (Comment Adverbs): Usually placed at the beginning of a sentence and separated by a comma (,). Their function is to express the speaker’s attitude, emotion, or evaluation of the entire event that follows.
- Example: Fortunately, he was still waiting at the bus stop.
- Adverbs of Manner: Placed directly after the main verb or after the object to answer the question “How?”. They directly modify the action.
- Example: I grabbed my backpack quickly.
3 Common Pitfall (The Adjective Trap):
B1 level learners frequently forget to add the “-ly” suffix and mistakenly use Adjectives to modify Verbs (e.g., saying I ran quick instead of I ran quickly, or Lucky, I found it instead of Luckily, I found it). Always remember the golden rule: Verbs go with Adverbs; Nouns go with Adjectives!