- A way of building new words and make new meaning come to life - Word Formation - A way of building new words and make new meaning come to life -
As you could see, you can form new words with different meanings by adding a prefix or a sufix. Negative Prefixes Prefixes don’t change the word class! un- il- unfair; uncommon; untrue... illegal; illegitimate; illogical... im- impossible; immature; imperfect... dis- disadvantage; dislike; dishonest... in- Mis- incorrect; informal; inconvenient... ir- misunderstanding; mistrust; misbehave... Non- irrational; irrelevant; irresponsible... non-smoker; non-violent; non-profit...
If you have any doubts, go to the dictionary! To memorize! RULES When you want to change a word that starts with P or M, you add the prefix “im”: improper; immodest; impartial; impersonal; impolite; impractical, immigrant… Adjectives starting with L, you add the prefix “il”: illiterate; illegible; illicit; illegality; illegal; illogical… Adjectives beginning with R , you add the prefix “ir”: irrational; irresistible; irregular; irreverent; irresponsible… If you have any doubts, go to the dictionary! He’s your friend!
Suffixes usually change the word class of the base word! Noun formation -ment -ation -al combine - combination; accuse - accusation; image - imagination... employ - employment; move - movement; arrange – arrangement... survive - survival; arrive - arrival; try - trial... -ance/ -ence -age -er perform - performance; insure - insurance; entry – entrance; differ – difference; prefer - preference... carry - carriage; use - usage; pack - package... work - worker; sing - singer; win - winner...
Noun formation -dom -hood -ity -ship - ess -ness -ist -th/ -t king - kingdom; free - freedom; wise - wisdom... neighbour - neighbourhood; man - manhood; parent - parenthood... national - nationality; feminine - femininity; curious - curiosity... -ship - ess -ness relation - relationship; friend - friendship; champion - championship... actor – actress; prince - princess; waiter - waitress... dark - darkness; fit - fitness; weak - weakness... -ist -th/ -t -ant/ ent novel – novelist; art - artist; piano - pianist... true - truth; grow- growth; weigh – weight... study - student; serve - servant; assist - assistant...
Adjective formation -ful -y -ish -less -ous -able/ ible -al -ive care - careful; beauty - beautiful; delight - delightful... sleep - sleepy; rain - rainy; fun - funny... tall - tallish; dark - darkish; green - greenish... -less -ous use - useless; shame - shameless; hair - hairless... fame – famous; fury - furious; poison - poisonous... -able/ ible accept - acceptable; agree - agreeable; access - accessible... -al -ive electric – electrical; nation - national; emotion - emotional... create – creative; attract - attractive; act - active...
Verb formation -en -ify -ise/ -ize -ate identity - identify; deep - deepen; wide - widen; short - shorten... identity - identify; solid - solidify; example - exemplify... -ise/ -ize -ate apology - apologise; tranquil - tranquilise; sympathy - sympathise... regular - regulate; circular - circulate; domestic - domesticate...