Word formation exercise is a part of English grammar that is very difficult for some students. I have found out to my surprise that most of my students who have a good grasp of the grammar & can speak relatively fine still continue to fail at the majority of word formation exercises.

Let’s look at an example :

The boy says he's got very bitter memories from his ................... (CHILD).

The answer is obviously “childhood” however, sometimes it gets very complicated. For instance look at this question :

Elderly people are said to have great experience and life ......... (WISE)

Or

The conjurer's performance was so impressive that most of the spectators went ....... (SPEAK)

The answers are : “wisdom” & “speechless” respectively. If you were familiar with the different forms of these words, then you wouldn’t find it so difficult however, a young student who is learning English as a 2nd language in addition to so many other difficult topics like chemistry, mathematics, physics & so on, they can find these exercises very challenging.

Although there are no formulas or secrets to master these types of questions overnight, I would like to share some points that might be helpful to your journey.

Girls do it better

In my experience girls have had a higher success rate in word formation. I have a theory that proves the reason & here it goes : Girls are more descriptive in their speech. So often when I ask a question from my boy students, the answer comes as “yes”, “Minecraft” or simply “I don’t know”. They simply aren’t interested in exploring the answer.

Girls on the other hand are very open to discuss things. A lot of time when I open the class with “How are you doing today?” They tell me about how boring their day was with a lot of information or how excited they are about some event or activity. Boys on the other hand usually stick to one word sentences.

I think the point to take home here is to open up about yourself. The more you talk & describe yourself & your life, the more you explore & discover.

It's automatic

I can say with certainty that about 80% of the answers cannot be figured out by thinking or trickery. You simply know it or you don’t. I say it’s automatic because what it comes to you like a 6th sense or a clear feeling. I always encourage my students to trust their feeling instead of their mind in this matter.

This automatic process doesn’t mean you either have this skill or you don’t in fact the opposite. The way you acquire this skill is also automatic. If you consume enough English materials, you are destined to develop this skill without you even knowing it.

It isn’t only English

While we are deep in conversation about any topic, we are constantly juggling words around & changing their form in real time. We do this in our native language regardless of what it is. There are adjectives, adverbs, nouns & verbs in every language. Some have more rules & some less but every language makes use of these changing forms.

If you are not familiar with these forms in your native language, chances are you are not going to do good in English either. My point is not to force you to learn your own language as much as you do English but to show you that the process of word formation is not exclusive to English. You are probably doing this process in your own language without even knowing it mainly because of its “automatic” nature as I described before.

Consume, Explore & repeat

The rate of your improvement is directly linked to how much & how often you consume English material. You don’t have to consume mindlessly or in the background. No matter what are your lifestyle or interests, there is always something for you to consume in English.

It's very important that you are somehow connected with this activity. It’s a fact that you learn better & easier if you are involved with the subject. If you are not into movies, watch TV shows. If that’s not your cup of tea, read some books or maybe you would like to explore your own psyche? Then start writing.

Check out this article on tips on how to read and this one about how to write in English.

Conclusion

Mastering word formation requires a lot of exposure to the language through different ways. Don’t give up if the change is not visible as fast as you want. You can eventually become proficient & remember that it’s not only good for your exam but in fact it makes you a better speaker. Your expression becomes more colourful & less boring.

If you need more motivation read this article that delves into why it's a great idea to learn & improve your English language skills. Good luck!