Use the word in brackets to complete the sentences. Add the necessary prefix and put the word in the correct form.

Example: The runner was. disqualified.. after a blood test. (QUALIFY)

1 Children (and adults) love....... parcels at Christmas time. (WRAP)

2 I almost always find that I....... with his opinion. (AGREE)

3 I'm sure he's lying but it's going to be hard to …..his story. (PROVE)

4 After a brief speech the Queen..... the new statue. (VEIL)

5 It took the removal men an hour..... our things from the van. (LOAD)

6 His phone was............ because he didn't pay his last bill. (CONNECT)

 

3. Answer the following questions. The answers are all in the table opposite.

1 What kind of oven cooks things particularly fast?

2 What kind of drug can help somebody with an infection?

3 What kind of company has branches in many countries?

4 How does a passenger aeroplane normally fly?

5 What is a student who is studying for a second degree?

6 What means 'underground railway' in the US and 'underground passage' in the UK?

Using the table at the previous page construct words or phrases to replace the underlined words.

Example: He's in favour of the American approach …. He is pro-American

1 The BBC tries to avoid pronouncing foreign words incorrectly.

2 Most people say they have to work too hard but are paid too little.

3 He dated h i s cheque with a date that was later than the real date.

4 She's still on good terms with the man who used to be her husban d.

5 He made so many mistakes in the letter that he had to wri te it again.

 

IV) Affixation. Suffixes.

Additioanal material.

Common noun suffixes

- er is used for the person who does an activity, e.g. writer, painter, worker, shopper, teacher.

You can use - er with a wide range of verbs to make them into nouns. Sometimes the - er suffix is written as - or. It is worth making a special list of these as you meet them, e.g. actor, operator, sailor, supervisor. - er /- or are also used for things which do a particular job, e.g. pencil-sharpener, bottle-opener, grater, projector.

- er and - ее can contrast with each other meaning 'person who does something' (-er) and 'person who receives or experiences the action' (-ее) employer/employee, sender/addressee, payee (e.g. of a cheque).

-(t)ion /- sion /- ion are used to form nouns from verbs, e.g. complication pollution reduction alteration donation promotion admission.

- ist [a person] and - ism [an activity or ideology]: used for people's politics, beliefs and ideologies, and sometimes their profession (compare with -er/-or professions above), e.g. Buddhism, journalism, Marxist, typist, physicist, terrorist, - ist is also often used for people who play musical instruments, e.g. pianist, violinist, cellist.

- ness is used to make nouns from adjectives: goodness, readiness, forgetfulness, happiness, sadness, weakness. Note what happens to adjectives that end in -y.

 

Adjective suffixes

 

- able /- ible with verbs, means 'can be done':

drinkable washable readable forgivable edible [can be eaten] flexible [can be bent]

 

Verbs

- ise (or - ize) forms verbs from adjectives, e.g. modernise [make modern], commercialise, industrialise.

Other suffixes that can help you recognise the word-class

- ment: (nouns) excitement enjoyment replacement

- ity: (nouns) flexibility productivity scarcity

- hood: (abstract nouns especially family terms) childhood motherhood

- ive: (adjectives) passive productive active

- al (adjectives) brutal legal (nouns) refusal arrival

- ous: (adjectives) delicious outrageous furious

- ful: (adjectives) forgetful hopeful useful

- less: (adjectives) useless harmless homeless

- ify: (verbs) beautify purify terrify

Exercises

1. Use the –er/-or, -ее and -ist suffixes to make the names of the following. If you need to use
a dictionary, try looking up the words in bold.

2.

Example: A person who plays jazz on the piano. a jazz pianist

1 The thing that wipes rain off your car windscreen.

2 A person who plays classical violin.

3 A person who takes professional photographs. (N.B. pronunciation)

4 A person who acts in amateur theatre.

5 The person to whom a cheque is paid.

6 A machine for washing dishes.

7 A person who donates their organs upon their death.

8 The person to whom a letter is addressed.

 

2. Each picture is of an object ending in -er. Can you name them?