(MK ENGLISH) 1 W O R D FA M I L I E S
Word families: building possibilities...
Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by becoming familiar
with these word families and this can also enable you to become a more fluent speaker
and writer of English. If you know all the possible words within a word family, you can
express yourself in a wider range of ways. For example, if you know the verb and the
noun forms related to the adjective boring, you can say:
• The lesson was boring.
• The lesson bored me.
• That lesson was such a bore.
An extra reason for paying attention to word families is that for some exams you
have to know them.
In the list below, the words printed in bold are words which are very common and
important to learn. The other words in the same row are words in the same family,
often formed with prefixes and suffixes. Sometimes they are just a different part of
speech (e.g. anger, which is a noun and a verb). All the words in this list have entries
in the dictionary except for some beginning with un-, im-, in- or ir-, or ending with
-ly or -ily, where the meaning is always regular. Sometimes words in a word family
can have meanings which are quite different from others in the group, so you should
always check in the dictionary if you are not sure of the meaning.
Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs
ability, disability, inability able, unable, disabled enable, disable ably
acceptance acceptable, unacceptable, accepted accept acceptably,
unacceptably
accident accidental accidentally
accuracy, inaccuracy accurate, inaccurate accurately, inaccurately
accusation, the accused, accuser accusing accuse accusingly
achievement, achiever achievable achieve
act, action, inaction, interaction, acting act
reaction, transaction
activity, inactivity active, inactive, interactive, proactive activate actively
addition additional add additionally
admiration, admirer admirable admire admirably
advantage, disadvantage advantageous, disadvantaged advantageously
advertisement, advertiser, advertise
advertising
advice, adviser advisable, inadvisable, advisory advise
agreement, disagreement agreeable agree, disagree agreeably
aim aimless aim aimlessly
amazement amazed, amazing amaze amazingly
anger angry anger angrily
announcement, announcer unannounced announce unannounced
appearance, disappearance, appear, disappear, reappear
reappearance
applicant, application applicable, applied apply
appreciation appreciable, appreciative appreciate appreciatively
approval, disapproval approving, disapproving approve, disapprove approvingly
approximation approximate approximate approximately
argument arguable, argumentative argue arguably
arrangement arrange, rearrange
art, artist, artistry artistic artistically
shame ashamed, unashamed, shameful, shame shamefully, shamelessly
shameless
attachment attached, unattached, detachable, attach, detach
detached
attack, counter-attack, attacker attack, counter-attack
attention attentive, inattentive attend attentively
attraction, attractiveness attractive, unattractive attract attractively
, (MK ENGLISH) 2 W O R D FA M I L I E S
Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs
authority, authorization authoritarian, authoritative, authorize
unauthorized
availability available, unavailable
avoidance avoidable, unavoidable avoid
awareness aware, unaware unawares
base, the basics, basis baseless, basic base basically
bearer bearable, unbearable bear
beat, beating unbeatable, unbeaten beat
beauty, beautician beautiful beautifully
beginner, beginning begin
behaviour/US behavior, behavioural/US behavioral behave, misbehave
misbehaviour/US misbehavior
belief, disbelief believable, unbelievable believe, disbelieve unbelievably
block, blockage blocked, unblocked block, unblock
blood, bleeding bloodless, bloody bleed
the boil, boiler boiling boil
bore, boredom bored, boring bore boringly
break, outbreak, breakage unbreakable, broken, unbroken break
breath, breather, breathing breathless breathe breathlessly
brother, brotherhood brotherly
build, builder, building build, rebuild
burn, burner burning, burnt burn
burial buried bury
calculation, calculator incalculable, calculated, calculating calculate
calm, calmness calm calm calmly
capability capable, incapable capably
care, carer careful, careless, caring, uncaring care carefully, carelessly
celebration, celebrity celebrated, celebratory celebrate
centre/US center, centralization, central, centralized centre/US center, centralize, centrally
decentralization decentralize
certainty, uncertainty certain, uncertain certainly, uncertainly
challenge, challenger challenging challenge
change changeable, interchangeable, change
unchanged, changing
character, characteristic, characteristic, uncharacteristic characterize characteristically
characterization
chemical, chemist, chemistry chemical chemically
circle, semicircle, circulation circular circle, circulate
cleaner, cleaning, cleanliness clean, unclean clean cleanly
clarity, clearance, clearing clear, unclear clear clear, clearly
close, closure closed, closing close
closeness close close, closely
clothes, clothing clothed, unclothed clothe
collection, collector collected, collective collect collectively
colour/US color, coloured/US colored, colour/US color colourfully/US colorfully
colouring/US coloring discoloured/US discolored,
colourful/US colorful,
colourless/US colorless
combination combined combine
comfort, discomfort comfortable, comfort comfortably
uncomfortable, comforting
commitment noncommittal, committed commit
communication, communicator communicative, uncommunicative communicate
comparison comparable, incomparable, compare comparatively
comparative
competition, competitor competitive, uncompetitive compete competitively
completion, incompleteness complete, incomplete complete completely, incompletely
complication complicated, uncomplicated complicate
computer, computing, computerize
computerization
concentration concentrated concentrate
concern concerned, unconcerned concern
conclusion concluding, conclusive, inconclusive conclude conclusively
condition, precondition, conditional, unconditional condition conditionally,
conditioner, conditioning unconditionally
confidence confident, confidential confide confidently, confidentially
confirmation confirmed, unconfirmed confirm
confusion confused, confusing confuse confusingly
connection connected, disconnected, connect, disconnect
unconnected
subconscious, unconscious, conscious, subconscious, consciously, unconsciously
consciousness, unconsciousness unconscious
Word families: building possibilities...
Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by becoming familiar
with these word families and this can also enable you to become a more fluent speaker
and writer of English. If you know all the possible words within a word family, you can
express yourself in a wider range of ways. For example, if you know the verb and the
noun forms related to the adjective boring, you can say:
• The lesson was boring.
• The lesson bored me.
• That lesson was such a bore.
An extra reason for paying attention to word families is that for some exams you
have to know them.
In the list below, the words printed in bold are words which are very common and
important to learn. The other words in the same row are words in the same family,
often formed with prefixes and suffixes. Sometimes they are just a different part of
speech (e.g. anger, which is a noun and a verb). All the words in this list have entries
in the dictionary except for some beginning with un-, im-, in- or ir-, or ending with
-ly or -ily, where the meaning is always regular. Sometimes words in a word family
can have meanings which are quite different from others in the group, so you should
always check in the dictionary if you are not sure of the meaning.
Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs
ability, disability, inability able, unable, disabled enable, disable ably
acceptance acceptable, unacceptable, accepted accept acceptably,
unacceptably
accident accidental accidentally
accuracy, inaccuracy accurate, inaccurate accurately, inaccurately
accusation, the accused, accuser accusing accuse accusingly
achievement, achiever achievable achieve
act, action, inaction, interaction, acting act
reaction, transaction
activity, inactivity active, inactive, interactive, proactive activate actively
addition additional add additionally
admiration, admirer admirable admire admirably
advantage, disadvantage advantageous, disadvantaged advantageously
advertisement, advertiser, advertise
advertising
advice, adviser advisable, inadvisable, advisory advise
agreement, disagreement agreeable agree, disagree agreeably
aim aimless aim aimlessly
amazement amazed, amazing amaze amazingly
anger angry anger angrily
announcement, announcer unannounced announce unannounced
appearance, disappearance, appear, disappear, reappear
reappearance
applicant, application applicable, applied apply
appreciation appreciable, appreciative appreciate appreciatively
approval, disapproval approving, disapproving approve, disapprove approvingly
approximation approximate approximate approximately
argument arguable, argumentative argue arguably
arrangement arrange, rearrange
art, artist, artistry artistic artistically
shame ashamed, unashamed, shameful, shame shamefully, shamelessly
shameless
attachment attached, unattached, detachable, attach, detach
detached
attack, counter-attack, attacker attack, counter-attack
attention attentive, inattentive attend attentively
attraction, attractiveness attractive, unattractive attract attractively
, (MK ENGLISH) 2 W O R D FA M I L I E S
Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs
authority, authorization authoritarian, authoritative, authorize
unauthorized
availability available, unavailable
avoidance avoidable, unavoidable avoid
awareness aware, unaware unawares
base, the basics, basis baseless, basic base basically
bearer bearable, unbearable bear
beat, beating unbeatable, unbeaten beat
beauty, beautician beautiful beautifully
beginner, beginning begin
behaviour/US behavior, behavioural/US behavioral behave, misbehave
misbehaviour/US misbehavior
belief, disbelief believable, unbelievable believe, disbelieve unbelievably
block, blockage blocked, unblocked block, unblock
blood, bleeding bloodless, bloody bleed
the boil, boiler boiling boil
bore, boredom bored, boring bore boringly
break, outbreak, breakage unbreakable, broken, unbroken break
breath, breather, breathing breathless breathe breathlessly
brother, brotherhood brotherly
build, builder, building build, rebuild
burn, burner burning, burnt burn
burial buried bury
calculation, calculator incalculable, calculated, calculating calculate
calm, calmness calm calm calmly
capability capable, incapable capably
care, carer careful, careless, caring, uncaring care carefully, carelessly
celebration, celebrity celebrated, celebratory celebrate
centre/US center, centralization, central, centralized centre/US center, centralize, centrally
decentralization decentralize
certainty, uncertainty certain, uncertain certainly, uncertainly
challenge, challenger challenging challenge
change changeable, interchangeable, change
unchanged, changing
character, characteristic, characteristic, uncharacteristic characterize characteristically
characterization
chemical, chemist, chemistry chemical chemically
circle, semicircle, circulation circular circle, circulate
cleaner, cleaning, cleanliness clean, unclean clean cleanly
clarity, clearance, clearing clear, unclear clear clear, clearly
close, closure closed, closing close
closeness close close, closely
clothes, clothing clothed, unclothed clothe
collection, collector collected, collective collect collectively
colour/US color, coloured/US colored, colour/US color colourfully/US colorfully
colouring/US coloring discoloured/US discolored,
colourful/US colorful,
colourless/US colorless
combination combined combine
comfort, discomfort comfortable, comfort comfortably
uncomfortable, comforting
commitment noncommittal, committed commit
communication, communicator communicative, uncommunicative communicate
comparison comparable, incomparable, compare comparatively
comparative
competition, competitor competitive, uncompetitive compete competitively
completion, incompleteness complete, incomplete complete completely, incompletely
complication complicated, uncomplicated complicate
computer, computing, computerize
computerization
concentration concentrated concentrate
concern concerned, unconcerned concern
conclusion concluding, conclusive, inconclusive conclude conclusively
condition, precondition, conditional, unconditional condition conditionally,
conditioner, conditioning unconditionally
confidence confident, confidential confide confidently, confidentially
confirmation confirmed, unconfirmed confirm
confusion confused, confusing confuse confusingly
connection connected, disconnected, connect, disconnect
unconnected
subconscious, unconscious, conscious, subconscious, consciously, unconsciously
consciousness, unconsciousness unconscious
