C1 Advanced · Use of English · Module 1, Lesson 3

Part 3: Word Formation

You're given a stem word in CAPITALS and you build the word the sentence actually needs — often with more than one change at once: a negative prefix and a suffix, or an irregular internal change.

8 items 1 mark each 8–10 min target build from a stem
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What this part really tests

Part 3 gives you a "stem" word in capitals at the end of each line and asks you to change its form so it fits the gap grammatically and in meaning. At C1, items increasingly combine more than one change — a negative prefix plus a suffix, or a noun ending that isn't simply "add -ness".

The examiner's method

  1. Decide the word class the gap needs — noun, verb, adjective, or adverb — from the words around it.
  2. Decide if the meaning needs to be positive or negative — look for a contrasting idea, a "not", or an implied criticism nearby.
  3. Decide if it needs to be singular or plural, and whether more than one change is needed (a negative prefix on top of a suffix, for example).
  4. Build the word: add the right affix to the stem, watching for spelling changes (y→i, dropping a final e, doubling a consonant).
  5. Re-read the finished sentence to confirm it makes sense and is spelled correctly.

Affix patterns to watch for

Noun suffixes
-tion/-sion, -ment, -ity, -ance/-ence, -ist
Adjective suffixes
-ive, -al, -ous, -able/-ible
Adverb suffix
-ly (including formal adverbs like "summarily")
Negative prefixes
un-, in-/im-/il-/ir-, dis-, mis-
Double affixes
imagine → imaginable → unimaginable
Irregular / internal changes
abundant → abundance, deep → depth

Worked example

The scale of the disaster was almost ___ before it actually happened. (IMAGINE)
  1. "...was almost ___" needs an adjective.
  2. IMAGINE is a verb; add "-able" to make the adjective "imaginable".
  3. The sentence implies the disaster's scale could not be pictured in advance, so a negative meaning is needed: add "un-" to get "unimaginable".
  4. Answer: unimaginable.
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Micro-trainer — eight word-building patterns

Eight sentences, each testing a different word-building skill, including one double-affix item. Type your answer and press Check.

Try score: 0 / 8
Ready for the real thing? Scroll down to Apply — a brand new 8-item passage in full exam format, against the clock.
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Exam-format practice

A new 8-item passage, official Part 3 format. Aim to finish before the timer runs out — then check your answers below.

10:00

Searching for Signs of Life Beyond Earth

The telescope's principal goal is the (1) of Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars. Unlike its predecessors, the instrument is far more (2) to the faint chemical signals present in a planet's atmosphere, allowing scientists to search for potential biosignatures with far greater precision.

Even so, researchers are quick to point out that any early results will almost certainly remain (3), rather than offering conclusive proof of life elsewhere. The public, they argue, should be encouraged to interpret preliminary findings (4), rather than as definitive proof.

The (5) of any potential discovery would nonetheless be difficult to overstate: even a single confirmed biosignature would represent a (6) leap forward for the entire field of astrobiology. The mission's early (7) will likely shape the design of future telescopes for decades to come.

For now, however, scientists caution that funding for such ambitious projects can be (8), rising and falling with shifting political priorities from one administration to the next.

(1) DISCOVER · (2) SENSE · (3) CONCLUDE · (4) CAUTION · (5) SIGNIFY · (6) MEASURE · (7) FIND · (8) PREDICT

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