WORD FORMATION

Part 5 of the Use of English paper is a word formation exercise. In this exercise you must complete a text by forming words. You form each word from one that is provided. The first word is always given.

Look at this basic example:

To do this exercise successfully you should:

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Decide what kind of word is needed in the gap (noun, verb, adjective or adverb).

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Decide what part of the word is needed, that is, a singular or plural noun, the correct tense or part of a verb.

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Check whether the sense suggests a negative prefix (e.g. un–, dis–) or suffix (e.g. –less).

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If you add a suffix, check whether any other spelling change is needed, e.g. beauty >> beautiful.

SUMMARY OF THE 'USE OF ENGLISH' PAPER

This paper tests your knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary. It has five parts:

Part 1:  Gap-filling (multiple choice)
Part 2:  Gap-filling (open)
Part 3:  Rewriting sentences
Part 4:  Error correction
Part 5:  Word formation

TIMING

You have 1 hour 15 minutes to do the whole paper, so that is roughly 15 minutes for each part. But you will probably find that you need more time for some parts than others.

Make sure you leave about ten minutes at the end to check all your answers thoroughly. You will have to write your answers on a special answer .sheet.

PRACTICE

Remember that accurate spelling is essential in this activity. You have many Word Formation exercises in this course and another one is just coming in this lesson. Below, we remind you some activities you have already done on Word Formation all along this course:

Unit 2 - Lesson 6 (adverbs)
Unit 6 - Lesson 22 (compounds and adjectives)
Unit 7 - Lesson 26 (nouns)
Unit 10 - Lesson 38 (verbs)
Unit 11 - Lesson 42 (prefixes)

FINAL ADVICE

Try to revise several activities before the exam for practice in using your time wisely. Do not panic if you don't understand everything the first time, and always read the instructions carefully.