ENGLISH IN MIND UNIT 3 DERIVATIVES GENERAL RULES A root is a word in its simplest (and first) form. A prefix is a word element added to the beginning of a root to form a new word, e.g.: disagree. A suffix is a word element added to the end of a root to form a new word. e.g.: teach-er. Prefixes and suffixes are used for building up new words with related meaning or of opposite meaning. DERIVATIONS BY ADDING SUFFIXES 1. Noun-forming -er, -ar, -or : teacher, liar, governor -ary, -aire : dictionary, millionaire -ee : trainee, absentee -hood : manhood, childhood -ness : coldness, happiness -ship : friendship, leadership -t, -th : weight, truth -ance, -ence : distance, absence -ancy, -ency : pregnancy, currency -ion : relation, religion -ment : enjoyment, placement -ic, -ics : logic, physics -an, -ian, -ician : Lutheran, Shakesperian, beautician -ism : criticism -ity : stupidity, simplicity -age : shortage 1
2. Adjective-forming -ive -ly -al -ic -ant, -ent -ar -esque -some -ful -less -ous -ish -able, -ible -ern -ior -ing/-ed 3. Verb-forming -en en- -fy -ate -ize 4. Adverb-forming -ly -ward, wards -wise : communicative, expensive : womanly : partial, verbal : economic, symbolic : assistant, different : polar : picturesque : troublesome, quarrelsome : colourful, successful : useless : poisonous, dangerous : womanish, childish : laughable, edible : northern : superior : inteteresting, interested : darken, sweeten, lengthen : enlarge, enrich : clarify, terrify : stimulate : apologize : badly, openly : backward, backwards : likewise 2
DERIVATIONS BY ADDING PREFIXES Derivations by adding prefixes change the meaning of the words, but not the parts of speech. out- : outdoor, outgoing over- : oversleep, overfull under- : underage, underestimate with- : withdraw a- : amoral, asleep al- : altogether mis- : mistake un- : unwise dis- : disagree, disbelieve post- : postscript non- : nonsense pre- : preoccupy re- : rewrite, reword hyper- : hypersensitive, hyperactive hypo- : hypothesis, hypocrite in- : insufficient, incorrect ANTONYMS An antonym is a word that is opposite in meaning to a given word. An antonym can be formed by adding a prefix, by changing the prefix, by changing the suffix, or by a completely new word. BY ADDING A PREFIX able - unable clockwise - anticlockwise load - unload honest - dishonest accurate - inaccurate behave - misbehave complete - incomplete legal - illegal possible - impossible legible - illegible patient - impatient smoker - non-smoker regular - irregular citizen - non-citizen responsible - irresponsible curricular - extracurricular climax - anticlimax ordinary - extraordinary 3
BY CHANGING THE PREFIX absent - present emigrant - immigrant ascend - descend encourage - discourage export - import include - exclude external - internal minimum - maximum increase - decrease pro-iran - anti-iran BY CHANGING THE SUFFIX harmful - harmless employer - employee fearful - fearless trainer - trainee useful - useless lively - lifeless painful - painless sensible - senseless Exercise : A. impress trust create die VERB NOUN ADEJCTIVE ADVERB x construct reflection success happy imaginative imaginable imaginary sad dangerous strong memorable memorial 4
B. Complete the sentences using the correct form of the words. 1. die a. They were surprised at the news of her. b. Everybody is going to sooner or later. b. Nothing we can do to save the passengers of the capsized boat. They were already. 2. memory a. He has a good for dates. He can hundreds of important dates easily. b. They built a wall to honour the soldiers who died in Vietnam. c. I have a experience of my happy childhood. 3. create a. God is a great. All of us are His perfect. c. He is very. He has a lot of brilliant ideas in his mind. d. Designing advertisements need a lot of. 4. strong a. I recommend you to study hard for your tests. b. He tries hard to his muscles by doing exercise every day. c. Keep you body and healthy to perform well. 5. danger a. Don t yourself by doing things. b. The stuntman enjoys living. 6. imagine a. Some little children have friends to talk to. b. We have to be able to differentiate between reality and. c. He is very in his new book; full of new ideas that impress all of us. 7. construct a. The of the new airport has already begun. b. Parents give advice to their children. 5
8. success a. Could you tell me the secret of your? b. He passed his examinat ion. c. If you want to in your life, you have to work hard from now on. 9. trust a. He is very. You can rely on him. b. If you are too, other people will take advantage on you. 10. sad a. She cried about the death of her pet. b. We share our joys and along the way. C. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets. 1. The weather was so bad that it was to continue the journey. (possible) 2. The menu was in Chinese and nobody could give us a. (translate) 3. I lost my passport so I had no form of. (identify) 4. She can walk a long way in one day because she s so. (energy) 5. It was a difficult and dangerous climb so we had to go. (careful) 6. One minute it was sunny, the next it rained. The weather was. (change) 7. One of the expedition members hurt his leg and was to continue. (able) 8. During the war, there was a great of sugar, coffee and other goods. (short) 9. Many people still refuse to believe that smoking is. (harm) 10. He s so nice. It is a working for him. (please) 11. Although the painting looked like a genuine Picasso, the was definitely a fake. (sign) 12. Nowadays, violence seems to be a occurrence. (day) 13. You can always rely on Barbara. She is very. (depend) 14. That rule is not in this case. (apply) 15. Now, don t tell anyone else what I ve just told you. Remember, it s. (confide) 6
CLEFT SENTENCES Cleft sentences with WHAT shift the focus of attention to the information at the end of the sentence. Cleft sentences with IT shift the focus of attention to the information at the beginning of the sentence. (These sentences are often used to correct information that is wrong.) A. Reorder the words in the first half of the sentences to complete the phrases. 1 like / what / John / I / is / about / the fact that he s really honest.. 2. need / do / what / is / we / to / focus on all the good things we have... 3. I / what / want / say / is / to / that I love you.. 4. to / do / I / is / intend / what / start eating more healthily this year.... 5. enjoy / what / doing / I / is / walking on the beach with my dog.. B. Right or wrong? Correct the wrong sentences. 1. It were you who forgot the tickets..... 2. It is Josh who won the race..... 3. It are the neighbours who always make such a noise..... 4. It is Mr Brown who owns that little dog..... 5. It is Ronaldo who scored the winning goal..... 7
C. Rewrite the sentences starting with the word in brackets 1. The funny thing is getting lost in your own city. (It) 2. We can tell you the recipe of this delicious cake. (It) 3. Columbus discovered America. (It) 4. I found the listening test was difficult. (It) 5. The financial problem started after we bought the house. (It) _ 6. Doing your best everyday that s the important thing. (What) 7. We don t know why he behaves strangely. (What) 8. His strange behaviour made me worried. (What) 9. I was confused by the ending of the film. (What) _ 10. You need to stay calm in a situation like this. (What) _ 8