WORD BUILDING

In word building items you are asked to change the given word into the correct part of speech depending on the context.

Example: When the weather is bad, travelling by air is so...................RELY.

The word 'rely' is a verb. In this context, we need an adjective from this word, like 'reliable'. However, the context tells us
that the adjective must have a negative sense, so we use 'unreliable'. In order to do such exercises successfully, you have to

• know the main prefixes and suffixes used in English;

• decide which part of speech you have to use: noun, adjective, adverb, etc
• decide from the context whether the word you are asked to form will be used in a positive or negative sense.

Study the following suffixes and prefixes. Translate the words into Lithuanian. Say what parts of speech the words
are formed from.
COMMON SUFFIXES
nouns adjectives
-er: writer, teacher, bottle-opener, grater; -able/-ible: countable, respectable, flexible
-or: actor, sailor, projector, inventor; -ive: active, productive, inventive
-(t)ion: complication, pollution, reduction; -al: legal, brutal, personal, historical
-ist: terrorist, pianist, receptionist; -ous: famous, delicious, furious, nervous,
-ism: journalism, organism, terrorism; industrious, mountainous, infectious
-ness: happiness, weakness, forgetfulness; -ful: hopeful, useful, forgetful, respectful
-ment: excitement, enjoyment, treatment, achieve -y: sunny, foggy, windy, dirty, lucky, sleepy
ment, settlement, advertisement; -less: cloudless, useless, harmless
-ship: friendship, membership, ownership; -ish: greenish, yellowish, Polish
-th: warmth, length, strength, width;
verbs .
-al: approval, arrival, refusal;
-(i)ty: safety, productivity, community, possibility, -ise (-ize): modernise, industrialise
curiosity, ability, difficulty; -ify: purify, terrify, magnify
-hood: childhood, motherhood, neighbourhood, -en: shorten, weaken, widen, deepen
brotherhood, likelihood Adverbs
-ance: appearance, performance
-ence: existence, intelligence -ly: exceptionally, usefully, accidentally,
uselessly, patiently, densely, recently
-ancy: pregnancy
-ency: efficiency -ward/-wards: backward, forward
-ant: assistant, immigrant -wise: clockwise, edgew
-ent: student
-ee: employee, trainee
-ian: (historian, comedian, politician
-ology: biology, psychology
-ship: friendship, membership
over-: overwork, overtime; overcooked; overdo, overcharge, oversleep, overcome
re-: rebuild, redo, remake, rename, retell, review, rewrite, remarry, renew
en-: enclose, encourage, enjoy, enlarge, enlighten, enrich, entitle,enable, enlist
mis-: misbehave, mislead, mispronounce, misunderstand, misuse, misfortune, misprint
un-: undo, unlock, unwrap; unfashionable, unhappy, unusual, unnecessary, unemployed
dis-: disagreement, dissatisfaction; dislike, disapprove; dishonest, disabled, disappear
in-: inconvenient, incurable, inexperienced, intolerant, informal; independence
Note:n- becomes im- before a root beginning with m or p, e.g. immature, impatient, impolite,
impossible ,impersonal, immortal, immoral, immigrant in- becomes ir- before a word beginning with r e.g.
irreplaceable, irrelevant, irregular in- becomes .il- before a word beginning with 1, e.g. illegal, illiterate,
illogical, illegible