Appendix 1. Word formation

A Introduction

Look at these examples.

Lots of people believe that God exists.

Lots of people believe in the existence of God.

Exist is a verb and existence is a noun. The word existence has two parts: exist and ence. We call ence a 'suffix'. We add it to end of the verb exist to form a noun.

We can also use suffixes to form verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

The system is being modernized. (= made modern)

I grew up in an industrial town. (= a town where there is a lot of industry)

The man was behaving strangely. (= in a strange way)

There are many different suffixes, such as ence, ize, al, ly, tion and ment. Some of them can be used to form many different words. For example, there are a lot of nouns ending in tion: action, education, explanation, information, instruction, etc. There are no exact rules about which suffix you can add to which word.

Adding a suffix can also involve other changes to the form of a word. industry —> industrial		repeat —>
repetition	science —> scientist.

Now look at these examples.

They're going to play the match on Wednesday. They're going to replay the match on Wednesday.

We can add re to the beginning of the verb play. We call re a 'prefix'. A prefix adds something to the meaning of a word. The verb replay means 'play again'. We can also add prefixes to nouns and adjectives. See G and H.

B Noun suffixes

ment	the prospects for employment			reach an agreement
ion/tion/sion	take part in a discussion		increase steel production			ask for permission
ation/ition	an invitation to a party		people's opposition to the idea
ence/ance	a preference for houses rather than flats				a distance of ten miles
ty/ity	no certainty that we shall succeed			keep the door locked for security
ness	people's willingness to help		recovering from an illness
ing	enter a building	reach an understanding

C Nouns for people

er/or	the driver of the car	a newspaper editor
ist	a place full of tourists	a scientist doing an experiment
ant/ent	an assistant to help with my work			students at the university
an/ian	Republicans and Democrats		the electrician rewiring the house

eean employee of the company (= someone employed) notes for examinees (= people taking an exam)

We also use er for things, especially machines.

a hair-dryer a food mixer a cassette player

D Verb suffixes

Many verbs are formed by adding ize or ise to an adjective. Some are formed by adding en. ize

European safety rules are being standardized.		They privatized the company. en
They're widening the road here.	Meeting you has really brightened my day.

E Adjective suffixes

Most of these adjectives are formed from nouns.
al	a professional musician			Britain's coastal waters
ic	a metallic sound		a scientific inquiry
ive	an informative guidebook			an offer exclusive to our readers
ful	a successful career		feeling hopeful about the future
less	feeling hopeless about the future (= without hope)					powerless to do anything about it
ous	guilty of dangerous driving			luxurious holiday apartments
y	a rocky path	the salty taste of sea water
ly > 109A	a friendly smile		a very lively person
able/ible	an acceptable error (= an error that can be accepted)					a comprehensible explanation
	a valuable painting (= worth a lot of money)				a comfortable chair

F Adverbs

ly>108 He looked around nervously. I moved here quite recently.

G Some common prefixes

anti (= against) inter (= between) mini (= small) mis (= wrongly) multi (= many) over (= too much) post (= after)

pre {— before) re (— again) semi (= half) super (= big)

under (= too little)

H Negative prefixes

anti-roads protestors			anti-government troops
an international match			interstate highways in the US
a minicomputer	the minibar in your hotel room
mishear what someone says				miscalculate the amount
multicoloured lights		a multimillionaire
too fond of overeating			overcrowded roads
the post-war world		a postgraduate student
pre-match entertainment				in prehistoric times
a reunion of old friends			reread a favourite book
semi-skilled work	sitting in a semicircle
a huge new superstore			a supertanker carrying oil
thin and underweight			underpaid work

We can also use a prefix to form an opposite. For example, the opposite of clear is unclear (= not clear).

Un is the most common negative prefix.
dis	a dishonest way to behave			can't help being disorganized			dislike the idea
	disappear from the scene			a disadvantage of the plan
il (+ 1)	an illegal drug	an illiberal attitude
im (+ m or p)	an impossible task		an impolite question
in	an indirect route		the invisible man		a great injustice
ir (+ r)	an irregular shape		an irrelevant remark
non	non-alcoholic drinks		a non-stop flight
un	an uncomfortable chair			an unusual event		an undated letter
	uncertain what to do		unpack your suitcase			unzip the bag

Appendix 2: The spelling of endings

A Plural nouns

We add s to a noun to form the plural.

	a car —> two cars			a name —> some names
1	After s, sh, ch and x we add es /iz/.
	glass —> glasses		dish —> dishes match
	—> matches		box —> boxes
2	A few nouns ending in o have es.
	heroes	potatoes		tomatoes
	But most have s.
	discos	kilos		photos	pianos radios
	stereos	studios		zoos

3 When a noun ends in a consonant + y, the y changes to ies.

penny —> pennies story —> stories We do not change y after a vowel. day —> days journey —> journeys

B The present simple s ending

	In the third person singular, a present simple
	verb ends in s. (See Unit 5B.)
	I know —> he knows		I work —> she works
1	After s, sh, ch and x we add es /iz/.
	pass —> passes	wash —> washes
	catch —> catches		mix —> mixes
2	Some verbs ending in o have es.
	go —> goes	do —> does

3When a verb ends in a consonant + y, the y changes to ies.

hurry --> hurries copy —> copies We do not change y after a vowel. stay —> stays enjoy —> enjoys

C The ed ending

	Most verbs have ed in the past tense.
	(See Unit 8B.) Most past participles also end
	in ed. (See Unit 1 IB.)
	look --> looked	call -> called
1	If the verb ends in e, we add d.
	hope —> hoped	save —>saved
2	When a verb ends in a consonant + y, the y
	changes to ied.
	hurry —> hurried	copy —> copied

3 Sometimes we double a final consonant. This happens when a one-syllable verb ends with one vowel and one consonant, e.g. beg, plan.

beg —> begged plan —> planned For more details about doubling, see G.

DThe ing-form

1We normally leave out e when we add ing to a verb.

take —> taking	drive —> driving
But we keep a double e before ing.
see —> seeing	agree —> agreeing

2 When a verb ends in ie, it changes to ying. die —> dying lie —> lying

But y does not change. hurry —> hurrying

3Sometimes we double a final consonant. This happens when a one-syllable verb ends with one vowel and one consonant, e.g. win, put.

win —> winning put --> putting

For more details about doubling, see G.

E Adverbs

	We form many adverbs from an adjective + ly.
	slow —> slowly		calm —> calmly
1	We do not leave out e before ly.
	safe —> safely		strange --> strangely
	But there are a few exceptions.
	due —> duly	true —> truly
	whole —> wholly
2	When an adjective ends in a consonant + y, the
	y changes to ily.
	angry —> angrily		happy —> happily An
	exception is shy --> shyly.
3	When an adjective ends in a consonant + le, the
	e changes to y.
	probable —> probably			sensible —> sensibly

4When an adjective ends in ic, we add ally. automatic —> automatically romantic --> romantically But there is one exception. public —> publicly

F The comparison of adjectives

We form the comparative and superlative of short adjectives with er and est. See Unit 110.

old—>older,oldest

quick —> quicker, quickest

1 If the adjective ends in e, we add r and st. late —> later, latest fine —> finer, finest

2When an adjective ends in a consonant + y, the y changes to ier or iest.

heavy —> heavier, heaviest lucky —> luckier, luckiest

3Sometimes we double a final consonant. This

happens when a one-syllable adjective ends with one vowel and one consonant, e.g. big, flat.

big —> bigger, biggest flat —> flatter, flattest

For more details about doubling, see G.

GThe doubling of consonants

1When we add ed, ing, er or est to a word, we sometimes double a final consonant. This happens when a one-syllable word ends with one vowel and one consonant, e.g. stop, get, thin, sad.

stop —> stopped	get —> getting thin
—> thinner sad —> saddest
2 We do not double y, w or x.
play —> played	new —> newest
fax —> faxing
We do not double when there are two
consonants.
ask —> asking	short —> shortest

rich—>richer

And we do not double when there are two vowels.

seem —> seemed shout—> shouting fair—>fairest

3 The rule about doubling is also true for words of more than one syllable (e.g. permit = per + mit), but only if the last syllable is stressed.

per'mit —> per'mitted prefer —> preferring

We do not usually double a consonant when the syllable is unstressed.

'open —> opened 'enter—> entering

An exception is that in British English 1 is usually doubled, even if the syllable is unstressed.

travel ~> travelled (US: traveled)