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Level 6: Advanced/Proficiency >> Vocabulary Worksheets >> These word formation exercises help students to become independent learners, able to "create" words by themselves thanks to their knowledge of how the English language creates verbs, adjectives, adverbs and nouns, both positive and negative.

Word Formation. Worksheet 1.

For each question, fill the space or spaces in the sentence using the base word given in bold at the end. The required word may be a noun, adverb, adjective or verb and it may be either positive (e.g. helpful) or negative (e.g. unhelpful).

1. The survey showed many young offenders had had difficult __UPBRINGING__.
bring

2. Despite the __STRIKING__ similarities between the two paintings, the court decided the artist was not guilty of making a __FRAUDULENT__ copy.
strike
fraud

3. You should dress __INFORMALLY__ for the party. No tuxedo required!
formal

4. The stray dog spent his days following tourists hoping to __BEFRIEND__ one of them.
friend

5. Severe __OVERCROWDING__ problems in the country's prisons persuaded the government to invest more money in its prison __(RE)BUILDING__ programme.
crowd
build

6. The child's __INABILITY__ to hear his mother calling was blamed on a slight hearing __DISABILITY__ which was eventually solved using a __REVOLUTIONARY__ new technique from Norway.
ability
ability
revolution