Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Disclaimer! I don’t normally recommend learning lists of vocabulary.

I believe the best way to learn vocabulary is IN CONTEXT, from your Reading and Listening etc.

The aim of these lists is to help you revise words that you already know and to recognise these words
more easily when you see/hear them.

The practice sentences are designed to help you USE these words accurately.

Memorising the words from the lists will also help your SPELLING, which is tested in the IELTS exam.

Word formation is important in IELTS because:

● It helps you express yourself more clearly and precisely in SPEAKING and WRITING
● It allows you to use more sophisticated/academic expressions in WRITING
● In the LISTENING TEST, you are specifically tested on your spelling of different forms, especially
irregular ones
● An understanding of different forms will help you READ faster and guess meaning from context

All of the sentences I've used in the practice sections are particularly USEFUL for using in your Writing
Task 2.

Group 1: Irregular verb forms of some adjectives/ nouns. 2

Group 2: Some irregular adjectives to nouns 4

Group 3: MORE tricky adjectives to nouns! 6

Group 4 Verbs which end in ‘ify’ 7

Group 5: MORE verbs which end in ‘ify’ 9

Group 6: ‘ence’ nouns 11

Group 7: -cy nouns 13

MORE NOUN LISTS - to practice pronunciAtion and spelling 14

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 1: Irregular verb forms of some adjectives/ nouns.

All the verbs in this group work the same i.e.
‘to lengthen’ = to make something long/longer
‘to strengthen’ = to make something strong/stronger

Adjective Noun Verb

long length lengthen

strong strength strengthen

deep depth deepen

wide width widen

broad breadth broaden

high height heighten

weak weakness weaken

short (shortness)* shorten

low (lowness)* lower

large (largeness)* enlarge

(*we don’t really use these. There are other nouns which have different meanings e.g. ‘shortage’ = ‘lack’)

1) Some people think the school day is too short and want to __________________it.
2) Metal bars are added to concrete in order to ______________________ it.
3) What is the ___________________________ of an Olympic diving pool?
4) In the second picture we can see that the road has been ___________________.
5) Travelling _________________________ the mind.
6) Raising the floor level meant that the roof had to be ________________________.
7) There are several ___________________________ in his argument.
8) You could _________________________ your essay and still get a good mark.
9) Do you think the government should ___________________the voting age to 16?
10) They _______________________ the kitchen by building over the garden.

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 1 Answers:
1) Some people think the school day is too short and want to lengthen it.
2) Metal bars are added to concrete in order to strengthen it.
3) What is the depth of an Olympic diving pool?
4) In the second picture we can see that the road has been widened.
5) Travelling broadens the mind.
6) Raising the floor level meant that the roof had to be heightened.
7) There are several weaknesses in his argument.
8) You could shorten your essay and still get a good mark.
9) Do you think the government should lower the voting age to 16?
10) They enlarged the kitchen by building over the garden.

Checkout this website for lots of practice: www.howtospell.co.uk

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 2: Some irregular adjectives to nouns

Adjective Noun

proud pride

guilty guilt

wealthy wealth

healthy health

true truth

young youth

poor poverty

brave bravery

hungry hunger

thirsty thirst

severe severity

Choose the correct form of the words for the gaps below:

1) Everyone should take ____________ (proud) in their work.

2) Many new mothers experience feelings of____________(guilty) when they go back to work.
3) South Africa has great mineral ________________ (wealthy).
4) The government is responsible for the _________________ (healthy) of its people.
5) Politicians are well known for being economical with the ______________(true).
6) The _____________ (young) of today do not appreciate how lucky they are.
7) _____________(poor) is one of the world's biggest problems.
8) We must never forget the ____________ (brave) of those who fought for our freedom.
9) Surely more can be done to alleviate the problem of _____________ (hungry).
10) To get ahead, you need to be ambitious and have a _____________ (thirsty) for success.
11. Prison sentences should reflect the ________________ (severe) of the crime.

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 2 Answers

1) pride
2) guilt
3) wealth
4) health
5) truth
6) youth
7) poverty
8) bravery
9) hunger
10) thirst
11) severity

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 3: MORE tricky adjectives to nouns

Adjective Noun

free freedom

wise wisdom

boring boredom

grateful gratitude

likely likelihood

angry anger

famous fame

hot heat

cruel cruelty

cowardly cowardice

Choose the correct form of the words for the gaps below:

1. ____________________ (free) of speech is a fundamental human right.

2. Many people question the _____________________ (wise) of privatising the NHS.
3. Young people tend to commit crimes out of ________________ (boring).
4. I don't know how to express my _______________________ (grateful) for your help.
5. Young people see no ___________________ (likely) of finding employment.
6. I feel a strong sense of _________________ (angry) when I see tax-payers' money
being wasted.
7. Many celebrities suffer the trappings of __________________________ (famous).
8. It is easy to over-react in the ____________ (hot) of the moment.
9. __________________ to animals should not be tolerated.
10.During World War 2, many soldiers were punished for _______________
(cowardly) and have since been pardoned.

Group 3: Answers
1.freedom 2. wisdom 3.boredom 4.gratitude 5.likelihood 6. anger 7.fame 8.heat 9.cruelty 10.cowardice

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 4 Verbs which end in ‘ify’

Look at the headline of the article below - what does it mean?

World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

Choose the correct answer:

a) Sweden has made a road which can charge electric cars.

b) Sweden has made a road which can produce electricity to charge cars.
c) Sweden has electrified a road so that it can charge cars.
d) Sweden has installed its first electrified road for charging cars.
e) The *electrification of a road in Sweden allows electric cars to recharge.

Of course all of the sentences are correct.

They all say the same thing using a different form of the root word ‘electric’.

Being able to use different forms will allow you more flexibility when you speak and write, and flexibility is a key
criteria for IELTS Writing Band 7.

So make sure that you keep a notebook for word forms and practice them regularly by making sentences like these
and doing practice sentences like the ones I’ve made for you below!

*NOUN forms make your writing sound more formal, academic and authoritative. This sentence (‘The
electrification of a road in Sweden….’) is an example of ‘nominalisation’ - see the full lesson on this.

Adjective Verb Meaning

just (right/fair) justify To prove sth is right/reasonable/true/fair

certain certify To confirm/officially recognize

significant signify To be evidence of, to be a sign of

mysterious mystify To confuse or puzzle someone

peaceful pacify To calm, bring peace

glorious glorify To make sth seem better than it is

united/unified unify To bring sth together

terrified terrify To frighten

horrified horrify To fill with horror

strong fortify To make something stronger

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Choose the best form for the gaps - change the verb form if you need to.

1. The end does not always _______________ the means.

2. Meat needs to be ________________ as fit for human consumption.
3. There was a ______________________ increase in the price of petrol.
4. Maths is a subject that completely ________________________ me.
5. We all want to live in a _________________ and harmonious society.
6. Films often _____________________ violence.
7. The government is attempting to _________________ the country.
8. Dogs used to _______________ me as a child, but now I quite like them.
9. I was __________________ to find out how much my boss earns!
10. They ___________________ the town with an impenetrable wall.

Group 4 Answers

1. justify
2. certified
3. significant
4. mystifies
5. peaceful
6. glorify
7. unify
8. terrify
9. horrified
10. fortified

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 5: MORE verbs which end in ‘ify’

Adjective Verb Meaning

intense intensify To become more intense

beautiful beautify To make something more beautiful

solid solidify To become solid

liquid liquify/liquefy To make something liquid

simple simplify To make something more simple

false falsify To make something false

correct rectify To make something right

specific specify To identify clearly and precisely

pure purify To make something clean/pure

diverse diversify To make or become more varied

Complete the sentences with the correct forms of the VERBS:

1. Fighting has _____________________ (intense) over the last few days.

2. Sculptures are one way of __________________(beautiful) town centres.
3. The liquid is left to cool in order to ____________________ (solid).
4. Water is added to the mixture and it is then __________ (liquid) in a blender.
5. The complex process of applying for a visa needs to be _________(simple).
6. ______________ (false) documents is a serious crime.
7. More funding is needed to ______________ (correct) the problem.
8. It is always best to _____________ (specific) exactly what your requirements are.
9. The water is then _______________ (pure) organically by being passed through a reed bed.
10. Small businesses need to ________________ in order to attract and maintain new
customers.

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 5 Answers

1. intensified
2. beautifying
3. solidify
4. liquified/liquefied (UK/US)
5. simplified
6. falsifying
7. rectify
8. specify
9. purified
10. diversify

Task

Find the noun forms for words ending in ‘ify’ and add them to the lists above e.g. justify -
justification, intensify - intensification, simplify - simplification.

Make your own sentences using the noun forms.

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 6: ‘ence’ nouns

Verb Adjective Noun

confide confident confidence

depend dependent (on) dependence
differ different (from) difference
exist existing/ existence
(non)existent*
obey (dis)obedient (dis)obedience
occur occurring occurrence
offend offensive offence
persist persistent persistence
recur recurrent recurrence

*e.g. Regulations about noise pollution are virtually non-existent (=they don’t exist).

More ‘ence’ nouns (from adjectives)

Adjective Noun

absent absence
(in)competent (in)competence
(in) convenient (in) convenience
evident evidence
intelligent intelligence
(im)patient (im)patience
present presence
violent violence
Practice

1. Many people lack __________________________when speaking in public.

2. Our _________________________on fossil fuels needs to be reduced.
3. People’s attitudes to immigrants ____________________according to where they live.
4. It is preferable to exploit _________________ resources than spend time and money looking
elsewhere.
5. Classroom ______________________ is an increasing problem in secondary schools these days.
6. Evidence suggests that climate-change may be a natural _____________________.
7. There needs to be a more effective filtering system for _________________ comments on social
media.
8. Successful people claim that it was their _________________ , rather than their talent, which
brought them success.
9. Hopefully there will be no ______________________ of the violence.

Extension: Can you write these sentences in a less formal way?

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Answers

1) confidence 2) dependence 3) differs 4) existing 5) disobedience 6) occurrence 7) offensive

8) persistence 9) recurrence

Extension suggestions

1) Lots of people feel scared when they talk in front of big groups.
2) We need to stop relying on coal, gas and oil.
3) Your attitude to immigrants depends on where you live.
4) It’s better to use the resources we’ve already got than to…
5) There are too many badly-behaved/naughty kids in schools these days.
6) Some studies show that climate change could happen naturally.
7) Social media companies should do more to filter out offensive posts.
8) Successful people say they were only successful because they didn’t give up, not
because they had any talent!
9) Hopefully the violence won’t happen again.

Now can you turn them back to the formal version?

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 7: -cy nouns

Adjective Noun

(in) accurate (in) accuracy

(in) adequate (in) adequacy

immediate immediacy

private privacy

infant infancy

pregnant pregnancy

vacant vacancy

(in) decent (in) decency

(in) efficient (in) efficiency

(in) frequent (in) frequency

urgent urgency

secret secrecy

(Not all of the words are used here)

1) I apologise for the ___________________________ of my spelling.

2) Funding for healthcare is ____________________________ and needs to be increased.
3) Famous people suffer from a lack of _____________________ in their personal lives.
4) There are very few ________________________ in the retail industry these days.
5) The privatisation of the rail networks has resulted in a system which is outdated and
_______________________________.
6) Trains are unpunctual and _______________________.
7) There needs to be a sense of _____________________ in order for the government to take
action.
8) The effect of delayed trains in terms of billions lost to the economy is still shrouded in
______________________.
Answers
1) inaccuracy 2) inadequate 3) privacy 4) vacancies 5) inefficient 6) infrequent. 7) urgency 8) secrecy.

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

MORE NOUN LISTS - to practise pronunciation and spelling

Group 8 - ‘al’ nouns

Verb Noun

(dis)approve (dis)approval

arrive arrival

bury burial

deny denial

dismiss dismissal

propose proposal

rehearse rehearsal

remove removal

renew renewal

survive survival

Group 9 - ‘age’ nouns

Verb Noun

break breakage

cover coverage

pack package

post postage

spill spillage

store storage

wreck wreckage

Adjective Noun

short shortage

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

Group 10 - ‘ance’ nouns

Verb Noun

annoy annoyance

(dis)appear (dis)appearance

attend attendance

disturb disturbance

endure endurance

ignore ignorance

inherit inheritance

perform performance

rely reliance

resemble resemblance

resist resistance

signify (in)significance

tolerate tolerance

Adjective Noun

arrogant arrogance

distant distance

(un)important (un)importance

(ir)relevant (ir)relevance

reluctant reluctance

Group 11: Nouns which end in -ation

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 Word Formation Lists and Practice Exercises

The word stress is always on the ‘a’ of ‘-ation’

These change their pronunciation slightly:

apply applic’ation
combine combin’ation
explain explan’ation
identify identific’ation
inflame inflamm’ation
inspire inspir’ation
prepare prepar’ation
publish public’ation
resign resign’ation
vary vari’ation

With the list below, the stress changes in the noun form:

adapt adaptation
administer administration
consider consideration
expect expectation
imagine imagination
inform information
interpret interpretation
observe observation
present presentation
(dis)qualify (dis)qualification
realise realization

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