Word Formation: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Compound Words: English ЕГЭ 2025 Preparation

Understanding word formation is essential for expanding your vocabulary and improving your language skills. This knowledge is particularly important for the ЕГЭ English exam, where you may be tested on your ability to recognize and use different word forms. This guide will help you master the principles of word formation in English, focusing on prefixes, suffixes, and compound words.

Theory for Exam Preparation

Word formation is the process of creating new words by modifying existing ones or combining them with other elements. In English, there are several methods of word formation, including affixation (adding prefixes and suffixes), compounding (joining two or more words), conversion (changing a word's part of speech without changing its form), and other less common methods like blending and clipping. Understanding these processes helps you recognize relationships between words, deduce the meanings of unfamiliar words, and expand your vocabulary systematically. In the ЕГЭ English exam, word formation tasks often require you to change a given word into a different part of speech or form to fit a specific context. This guide will focus on the three most common methods of word formation: prefixes, suffixes, and compound words.

Prefixes

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning. They cannot stand alone as words but must be attached to a root word.

Common Prefixes and Their Meanings

Negative Prefixes

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
un-	not, opposite of	unhappy, unable, unfair
in- (im-, il-, ir-)	not, opposite of	inactive, impossible, illegal, irregular
dis-	not, opposite of	disagree, dislike, dishonest
non-	not, absence of	non-smoking, non-fiction, non-profit
a-	without, not	amoral, atypical, asexual

Note!

The prefix "in-" changes to "im-" before words beginning with b, m, or p (e.g., impossible, immature, imbalance).

It changes to "il-" before words beginning with l (e.g., illegal, illegible).

It changes to "ir-" before words beginning with r (e.g., irregular, irresponsible).

Prefixes of Position and Direction

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
pre-	before, in front of	prewar, preview, prepay
post-	after	postwar, postgraduate, postpone
inter-	between, among	international, interact, interchange
trans-	across, beyond	transport, transform, translate
sub-	under, below	submarine, subway, subconscious
super-	above, over	superhuman, supermarket, supernatural

Prefixes of Time and Order

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
ex-	former, out of	ex-president, ex-husband, extract
re-	again, back	rewrite, return, rebuild
fore-	before, in front	forecast, forehead, foresee
mid-	middle	midnight, midday, midweek

Prefixes of Size and Degree

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
mini-	small	miniskirt, minibar, miniature
micro-	very small	microscope, microchip, microwave
macro-	large, long	macroeconomics, macroscopic
mega-	very large	megastore, megabyte, megaphone
over-	too much	overeat, overwork, overconfident
under-	too little	underpaid, undercooked, underestimate

Prefixes of Attitude

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
pro-	in favor of	pro-government, pro-democracy, promote
anti-	against, opposing	anti-war, antisocial, antibacterial
counter-	against, opposite	counterattack, counterproductive, counterclockwise

Prefixes of Number

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
uni-	one	unicycle, uniform, universal
mono-	one, single	monolingual, monotone, monogamy
bi-	two	bicycle, bilingual, bilateral
tri-	three	triangle, tripod, trilogy
multi-	many	multinational, multimedia, multitask
poly-	many	polygon, polyglot, polysyllabic

Rules for Using Prefixes

Spelling: In most cases, the spelling of the base word does not change when a prefix is added.
Hyphenation: Hyphens are sometimes used after prefixes, especially:
- Before proper nouns: pre-Victorian, anti-American
- Before repeated vowels: re-enter, co-operate (though "cooperate" is also correct)
- To avoid confusion with another word: re-cover (to cover again) vs. recover (to get better)
Multiple prefixes: Some words can have more than one prefix: re-un-cover, anti-dis-establishment

Note!

Be careful with prefixes that have similar meanings but are used with different words. For example, both "un-" and "in-" mean "not," but we say "unhappy" (not "inhappy") and "inactive" (not "unactive").

Suffixes

Suffixes are added to the end of a word to form a new word or to change the grammatical function (part of speech) of the original word.

Common Suffixes and Their Functions

Noun Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning/Function	Examples
-er, -or	person who does something	teacher, actor, visitor
-ist	person who practices or is concerned with something	artist, scientist, pianist
-ian	person who is skilled in or works with	musician, librarian, technician
-tion, -sion	state, quality, action	education, decision, confusion
-ment	state, result of an action	development, agreement, punishment
-ness	state, quality	happiness, kindness, darkness
-ity, -ty	state, quality	activity, equality, cruelty
-ism	doctrine, belief	capitalism, Buddhism, criticism
-ship	position, state	friendship, leadership, relationship
-ance, -ence	action, state, quality	importance, difference, existence

Adjective Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning/Function	Examples
-able, -ible	capable of being	readable, flexible, possible
-al	relating to	national, musical, logical
-ful	full of, characterized by	beautiful, careful, helpful
-less	without, lacking	homeless, careless, hopeless
-ous, -ious	having the quality of	dangerous, curious, precious
-ive	having the nature of	creative, attractive, passive
-ic	relating to, characterized by	economic, historic, scientific
-ish	somewhat, like	childish, reddish, selfish
-y	characterized by, inclined to	rainy, funny, sleepy

Verb Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning/Function	Examples
-ize, -ise	become, make	realize, modernize, criticize
-ify	make, become	simplify, clarify, beautify
-en	become, make	strengthen, widen, soften
-ate	become, make	activate, complicate, educate

Adverb Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning/Function	Examples
-ly	in the manner of	quickly, happily, carefully
-ward(s)	in the direction of	forward(s), backward(s), upward(s)
-wise	in the manner of, with respect to	clockwise, likewise, lengthwise

Rules for Using Suffixes

Spelling changes: Unlike prefixes, suffixes often cause spelling changes in the base word:
- Silent 'e' is often dropped: hope → hoping
- Final 'y' often changes to 'i': happy → happiness
- Final consonant is sometimes doubled: run → running
Pronunciation changes: Adding a suffix can change the stress pattern of a word: PHOtograph → phoTOGraphy
Multiple suffixes: Words can have more than one suffix: care + less + ness = carelessness

Note!

Some suffixes are more productive than others, meaning they can be added to many different words to create new words. For example, "-er" can be added to almost any verb to create a noun meaning "person who does the action" (teach → teacher, write → writer, etc.).

Compound Words

Compound words are formed by combining two or more words to create a new word with a meaning that is often different from the meanings of its components.

Types of Compound Words

Closed Compounds

Written as a single word without spaces or hyphens.

Examples:

bedroom (bed + room)
football (foot + ball)
keyboard (key + board)
sunflower (sun + flower)
toothpaste (tooth + paste)

Hyphenated Compounds

Written with hyphens between the component words.

Examples:

mother-in-law
check-in
well-known
self-control
twenty-five

Open Compounds

Written as separate words.

Examples:

high school
ice cream
post office
full moon
real estate

Common Patterns of Compound Words

Noun + Noun

Forms a noun.

Examples:

toothbrush (tooth + brush)
raincoat (rain + coat)
bedroom (bed + room)
bus stop (bus + stop)
windmill (wind + mill)

Adjective + Noun

Forms a noun.

Examples:

blackboard (black + board)
software (soft + ware)
greenhouse (green + house)
full moon (full + moon)
fast food (fast + food)

Noun + Verb

Forms a noun or a verb.

Examples:

rainfall (rain + fall)
sunshine (sun + shine)
babysit (baby + sit)
sleepwalk (sleep + walk)
daydream (day + dream)

Verb + Noun

Forms a noun.

Examples:

washing machine (washing + machine)
driving license (driving + license)
swimming pool (swimming + pool)
dining room (dining + room)
running shoes (running + shoes)

Adjective + Adjective

Forms an adjective.

Examples:

bittersweet (bitter + sweet)
red-hot (red + hot)
dark blue (dark + blue)
icy-cold (icy + cold)
worldwide (world + wide)

Adverb + Verb

Forms a verb or a noun.

Examples:

overthrow (over + throw)
upgrade (up + grade)
download (down + load)
outbreak (out + break)
income (in + come)

Rules for Forming Compound Words

Meaning: The meaning of a compound word is often different from the meanings of its components.
Stress: In compound nouns, the stress is usually on the first component: BLACKboard, TOOTHbrush.
Spelling: There are no fixed rules for whether a compound should be written as one word, with a hyphen, or as separate words. It often depends on usage and convention.
Pluralization: For most compound nouns, add -s to the end: toothbrushes, raincoats. For compounds ending in -man or -woman, change to -men or -women: policemen, businesswomen.

Note!

The form of compound words can change over time. Words that were once written as separate words or with hyphens may eventually become closed compounds as they become more established in the language (e.g., "web site" → "web-site" → "website").

Word Formation in Context

Understanding how words are formed is particularly useful in the following contexts:

Reading Comprehension

Deducing meaning: Knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and compound words can help you guess the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Recognizing relationships: Understanding word formation helps you see connections between related words.

Vocabulary Building

Systematic learning: Instead of memorizing individual words, you can learn word families (e.g., happy, unhappy, happiness, happily).
Creating new words: You can create new words by applying word formation rules.

Grammar and Usage

Part of speech: Suffixes often indicate the part of speech of a word (e.g., -tion for nouns, -ful for adjectives, -ly for adverbs).
Word forms: You need to use the correct form of a word in a sentence (e.g., "She is a scientist" not "She is a science").

Common Errors and How to Avoid Them

Prefix-Related Errors

Using the wrong negative prefix: Some words take specific negative prefixes. For example, we say "impossible" (not "unpossible") and "unhappy" (not "inhappy").
Redundant prefixes: Avoid using a prefix that creates redundancy, such as "pre-plan" (plan already implies doing something before).

Suffix-Related Errors

Incorrect spelling: Be careful with spelling changes when adding suffixes (e.g., "arguing" not "argueing").
Wrong suffix for part of speech: Make sure you use the correct suffix for the part of speech you need (e.g., "creativity" for the noun, not "creative" which is an adjective).

Compound Word Errors

Incorrect form: Be careful about whether a compound should be written as one word, with a hyphen, or as separate words (e.g., "high school" not "highschool").
Wrong pluralization: For most compound nouns, add -s to the end, not to the first component (e.g., "toothbrushes" not "teethbrush").

Practice Examples

Add the correct prefix to each word to form a word with the opposite meaning.

_______ possible (not possible)
_______ legal (not legal)
_______ responsible (not responsible)
_______ honest (not honest)
_______ patient (not patient)

Answers:

1. impossible

2. illegal

3. irresponsible

4. dishonest

5. impatient

Add the correct suffix to form a noun from each of the following words.

happy _______ (state of being happy)
friend _______ (relationship between friends)
educate _______ (process of educating)
lead _______ (position of a leader)
kind _______ (quality of being kind)

Answers:

1. happiness

2. friendship

3. education

4. leadership

5. kindness

Add the correct suffix to form an adjective from each of the following words.

care _______ (full of care)
help _______ (without help)
danger _______ (full of danger)
read _______ (capable of being read)
child _______ (like a child)

Answers:

1. careful

2. helpless

3. dangerous

4. readable

5. childish

Identify the type of each compound word (closed, hyphenated, or open).

bedroom
ice cream
well-known
toothpaste
post office

Answers:

1. bedroom - closed compound

2. ice cream - open compound

3. well-known - hyphenated compound

4. toothpaste - closed compound

5. post office - open compound

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

The _______ of the new shopping center will take place next month. (open)
His behavior was completely _______. I couldn't believe what he did. (responsible)
She spoke so _______ that everyone understood her explanation. (clear)
The company has shown significant _______ over the past year. (improve)
The _______ between the two countries has improved recently. (relate)

Answers:

1. The opening of the new shopping center will take place next month.

2. His behavior was completely irresponsible. I couldn't believe what he did.

3. She spoke so clearly that everyone understood her explanation.

4. The company has shown significant improvement over the past year.

5. The relationship between the two countries has improved recently.

Key Points to Remember

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning. Common types include negative prefixes (un-, in-, dis-), prefixes of position and direction (pre-, post-, inter-), and prefixes of size and degree (mini-, mega-, over-).
Suffixes are added to the end of a word to form a new word or to change the part of speech. Common types include noun suffixes (-er, -tion, -ment), adjective suffixes (-able, -ful, -less), verb suffixes (-ize, -ify, -en), and adverb suffixes (-ly, -ward(s), -wise).
Compound words are formed by combining two or more words. They can be closed (written as one word), hyphenated, or open (written as separate words).
Understanding word formation helps with reading comprehension, vocabulary building, and correct grammar usage.
Common errors include using the wrong prefix or suffix, incorrect spelling when adding affixes, and using the wrong form of compound words.

Exam Tip!

In the ЕГЭ English exam, you may encounter tasks requiring you to:

Change a word into a different part of speech to fit a specific context
Form a negative or opposite word using prefixes
Identify the correct form of a word in a multiple-choice question
Complete a text with the correct forms of given words

Pay attention to the context and the part of speech required in each case. Remember that some words may require spelling changes when adding affixes, and that the meaning of the word should fit logically in the sentence.