1. WORD BUILDING/ FORMATION
Rīga Secondary School No.33
WORD BUILDING/ FORMATION
English Language Teacher
Jūlija Oblakova
Rīga 2014

2. A word may be: Simple (work, sun, good, short, etc.)
Compound (workroom, sunflower, good-looking, etc.)
Derived (worker, sunny, homeless, goodness, etc.)

3. Derived words are formed by:
Suffixes (e.g. –er, -or, -ism, etc.)
Prefixes (e.g. un-, im-, mis-, etc.)

4. Noun-forming suffixes
-er, -or (worker, sailor)
-ism (realism, naturalism)
-ist (realist, naturalist)
-ing (building, beginning, singing)
-ion, -ation (dictation, profession)
-ness (kindness, darkness, illness)
-ment (development, movement)
-ship (friendship, partnership)
-hood (childhood, brotherhood)
-ty, -ity (liberty, activity, cruelty)
-y, -ie (daddy, birdie, auntie)
-th (strenght, growth, lenght)

5. Adjective-forming Suffixes
-ful
-less
-ous -y
-ish
-able
-ly
-en
-ive
-ic
-al
-an, -ian
(peaceful, beautiful)
(hopeless, careless)
(continuous, numerous)
(sunny, rainy, windy)
(childish, foolish, English)
(comfortable, admirable)
(friendly, daily, weekly)
(golden, wooden, woollen)
(negative, active, passive)
(heroic, dramatic, comic)
(cultural, political)
(African, Roman, Latvian)

6. Verb-forming Suffixes
-en
-ize, -ise
-ate
-fy
(shorten, darken, widen)
(advertise, recognize)
(educate, separate)
(electrify, qualify, simplify)

7. Adverb-forming Suffixes
-ly
-ward(s)
(quickly, easily, coldly)
(backward(s), upward(s))

8. Prefixes Un- Im- In- Mis- Dis- Re- Ex- Umemployment
Impossible, improve
Indirect, inhuman
Misunderstand, mistrust
Dishonest, disappear
Return, reform, rewrite
Express, exclaim, extract