C2 Proficiency Word Formation Practice

C2 Proficiency (CPE) · Reading & Use of English Part 3 · 75 free exercises

A text with eight gaps, each with a stem word in capitals that must be transformed to fit — noun to adjective, verb to noun, adding prefixes or making it negative. Word formation tests how well you know word families and affixes.

Word Formation: One root word, the right family member.

Two decisions: which word class the gap needs (noun, verb, adjective, adverb), and whether the meaning needs a prefix — most often a negative one. The root gives you the meaning; you build the correct form and spell it right.

What real learners get wrong: From 2,288 real C2 gaps, learners average 66%. Negative prefixes are wrong 49% of the time — nearly half. Before every answer, ask whether the meaning is negative.

The method

  1. Read the whole sentence and find the word class the gap needs.
  2. Decide singular or plural, and person or thing (HISTORY → historians, not historically).
  3. Check the meaning for a prefix — is the idea negative or opposite? Add un-, in-, dis-, mis-.
  4. Watch for double changes: many answers need a prefix AND a suffix (un-comfort-able).
  5. Spell it, minding root changes (maintain → maintenance), then reread the sentence.

The traps

All Word Formation exercises

Cambridge English Proficiency 1, Cambridge University Press

Cambridge English Proficiency 2, Cambridge University Press

Close-up C2 Workbook, National Geographic Learning

Close-up C2, National Geographic Learning

Expert Proficiency Resource Book, Pearson Education

Expert Proficiency, Pearson Education

Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition Workbook, Cambridge University Press

Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press

Proficiency Testbuilder, 4th Edition, Mark Harrison, Macmillan

Ready for C2 Proficiency Student's Book, Macmillan

Ready for C2 Proficiency Workbook, Macmillan

Other levels