2.3 Vocabulary Building
Expand your vocabulary through word families, prefixes, suffixes and collocations.
Vocabulary Building
A rich vocabulary is one of the biggest differences between a good English text and a great one. On exams, students who use varied and precise vocabulary consistently score higher — even when their grammar is not perfect.
The good news is that you already know thousands of English words. The challenge is to move beyond basic, everyday vocabulary and learn to use more precise, varied, and sophisticated words.
In this chapter you will learn:
1. How to use word families (noun, verb, adjective, adverb forms) to expand your range
2. How prefixes and suffixes change word meaning and class
3. What collocations are and why they matter
4. The difference between synonyms and how to choose the right one
5. Practical strategies for learning and remembering new vocabulary
Why vocabulary matters on exams:
- "Good" → adequate, but basic
- "The weather was good" → "The weather was magnificent / pleasant / ideal"
- Each synonym carries a slightly different shade of meaning — choosing the right one shows language mastery.
A word family is a group of words that share the same root but belong to different word classes (noun, verb, adjective, adverb).
Learning word families is one of the most efficient ways to expand your vocabulary, because from one root you can derive four or more usable words.
Examples:
| Verb | Noun | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| create | creation / creativity | creative | creatively |
| succeed | success | successful | successfully |
| educate | education / educator | educational | educationally |
| compete | competition / competitor | competitive | competitively |
| communicate | communication | communicative | communicatively |
| decide | decision | decisive | decisively |
| imagine | imagination | imaginative | imaginatively |
Why this matters for exams:
If you know the word create, you automatically have access to creation, creative, creatively, and creativity. That is five words for the price of one.
Common patterns:
- Verb → Noun: add -tion, -ment, -ance/-ence, -al (educate → education, develop → development)
- Verb/Noun → Adjective: add -ful, -less, -ive, -ous, -al (success → successful, create → creative)
- Adjective → Adverb: add -ly (careful → carefully, beautiful → beautifully)
- Adjective → Noun: add -ness, -ity (happy → happiness, creative → creativity)
Complete the word family table for the root "inform":
| Verb | Noun(s) | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| inform | ? | ? | ? |
| Verb | Noun(s) | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| inform | information, informant | informative, informed | informatively |
How to use each form:
- "Please inform the teacher about your absence." (verb)
- "I need more information before I can decide." (noun)
- "The documentary was very informative." (adjective)
- "She writes informatively about complex topics." (adverb)
- "An informed citizen makes better decisions." (adjective — from past participle)
- "The police are looking for the informant." (noun — person who informs)
Tip: When you learn a new word, always look up its other forms. Many dictionaries list them at the end of the entry.
Complete the word family for each root. Fill in the missing forms.
Verb: develop
| Noun: ? | Adjective: ? |
|---|
Verb: ?
| Noun: beauty | Adjective: ? |
|---|
Verb: ?
| Noun: strength | Adjective: ? |
|---|
Verb: achieve
| Noun: ? | Adjective: ? |
|---|
Choose the correct word form to complete the sentence: "The ______ of the new school building took three years."
Common prefixes:
| Prefix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not, opposite | unhappy, unfair, undo |
| dis- | not, opposite | disagree, disappear, dishonest |
| mis- | wrongly | misunderstand, misuse, mislead |
| re- | again | rewrite, rebuild, reconsider |
| pre- | before | preview, predict, prejudge |
| over- | too much | overreact, overwork, overcrowded |
| under- | too little | underestimate, underpaid, underrated |
| inter- | between | international, interact, internet |
| multi- | many | multicultural, multilingual, multimedia |
Common suffixes that change word class:
| Suffix | Makes it a... | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -tion / -sion | noun | education, decision, permission |
| -ment | noun | development, achievement, government |
| -ness | noun | happiness, sadness, awareness |
| -ful | adjective | helpful, peaceful, colourful |
| -less | adjective (without) | homeless, careless, useless |
| -able / -ible | adjective (can be) | readable, flexible, accessible |
| -ous | adjective | dangerous, famous, nervous |
| -ly | adverb | quickly, carefully, honestly |
| -ise / -ize | verb | organise, realise, modernise |
The power of prefixes and suffixes:
If you know the word care, you can build: careful, carefully, careless, carelessly, carefree, caregiver, uncaring.
Add a prefix to each word to create the opposite meaning:
1. happy
2. agree
3. understand
4. possible
5. write (in the sense of "do again")
1. unhappy — "un-" is the most common prefix for adjectives
2. disagree — "dis-" is used with many verbs and adjectives
3. misunderstand — "mis-" means "wrongly" (to understand wrongly)
4. impossible — "im-" is used before words starting with p, b, or m (a variant of "in-")
5. rewrite — "re-" means "again" (to write again)
Watch out for tricky ones:
- unfair (not infair)
- illegal (not unlegal) — "il-" before words starting with "l"
- irresponsible (not unresponsible) — "ir-" before words starting with "r"
- impatient (not unpatient) — "im-" before "p"
The negative prefix depends on the word — unfortunately, you often just have to learn which one goes with which word.
Add the correct prefix or suffix to complete each sentence.
"The teacher asked us to ____write our essays after getting feedback." (prefix meaning "again")
"It is ____possible to finish this in one hour." (prefix meaning "not")
"She spoke so quiet______ that I could barely hear her." (suffix to make adverb)
"The home______ people in the city need more support." (suffix meaning "without")
A collocation is a combination of words that naturally go together in English. Native speakers use collocations automatically, but for language learners, they can be tricky because direct translation from Norwegian often does not work.
Types of collocations:
1. Adjective + Noun:
- a heavy rain (NOT a strong rain)
- a strong wind (NOT a heavy wind)
- a fast car (NOT a quick car)
- a quick decision (NOT a fast decision)
- deep sleep (NOT heavy sleep)
- high temperature (NOT tall temperature)
2. Verb + Noun:
- make a decision (NOT take a decision — although this is used in British English)
- do homework (NOT make homework)
- take a photo (NOT make a photo)
- pay attention (NOT give attention)
- catch a cold (NOT get a cold — though "get" is also used informally)
- make a mistake (NOT do a mistake)
3. Verb + Adverb / Adverb + Adjective:
- rain heavily (NOT rain strongly)
- deeply grateful (NOT strongly grateful)
- highly recommended (NOT very recommended)
- bitterly disappointed (NOT deeply disappointed — though "deeply" is also used)
Why collocations matter:
Using the wrong collocation will not always cause misunderstanding, but it makes your English sound unnatural. Examiners notice this. The difference between "do homework" and "make homework" is the difference between fluent and translated English.
Norwegian uses "gjøre" for both "make" and "do". Sort these into the correct column:
homework, a mistake, an effort, the dishes, a decision, progress, an exam, a complaint
| MAKE | DO |
|---|---|
| make a mistake | do homework |
| make an effort | do the dishes |
| make a decision | do an exam |
| make progress | — |
| make a complaint | — |
General rules (with many exceptions):
- DO is used for tasks, work, and activities: do homework, do the washing, do exercise, do a job, do your best
- MAKE is used for creating, producing, or causing something: make a cake, make a plan, make a noise, make money, make friends
Common Norwegian traps:
- Norwegian "gjøre lekser" → English "do homework" (NOT make homework)
- Norwegian "ta et bilde" → English "take a photo" (NOT make/do a photo)
- Norwegian "ta en beslutning" → English "make a decision"
Tip: When you learn a new verb, learn at least two or three nouns that go with it.
Which collocation is correct?
Replace the underlined word with a more precise or sophisticated synonym. Choose from the options provided.
"The film was very good." Options: outstanding, decent, adequate, magnificent
"She said that the project was finished." Options: announced, whispered, claimed, mentioned
"The problem is very big." Options: significant, enormous, severe, substantial
"He walked slowly down the corridor." Options: strolled, trudged, crept, wandered
Choose the correct collocation to complete each sentence.
"There was ______ rain all day." (heavy / strong)
"She ______ attention during the whole lecture." (paid / gave)
"We need to ______ progress on this project." (make / do)
"He has a ______ temperature and should stay home." (high / tall)
Summary — Vocabulary Building
Word families:
Learn all forms of a word (verb, noun, adjective, adverb) to multiply your vocabulary quickly.
- create → creation, creative, creatively, creativity
Prefixes change meaning:
- un-, dis-, mis- (negative/opposite)
- re- (again), pre- (before)
- over- (too much), under- (too little)
Suffixes change word class:
- -tion, -ment, -ness → noun
- -ful, -less, -ive, -ous → adjective
- -ly → adverb
Collocations — words that belong together:
- make a mistake, do homework, take a photo, pay attention
- heavy rain, strong wind, high temperature
- Cannot be guessed from Norwegian — must be learned
Synonyms — choose the right shade of meaning:
- "Good" → outstanding, adequate, decent, magnificent
- "Said" → whispered, claimed, announced, admitted
- Context determines the best choice
Strategies for learning vocabulary:
1. Learn words in families, not in isolation
2. Record collocations together (heavy + rain, not just "heavy")
3. Use new words in sentences — do not just memorise definitions
4. Read widely in English — the best way to absorb natural vocabulary
Rewrite this paragraph, replacing every underlined word with a more precise or varied synonym. Do not change the meaning.
"The trip was very nice. We went to a big city and looked at many interesting buildings. The food was good and the people were very nice. I think everyone should visit this place."
Write a short descriptive paragraph (80-120 words) about a place you know well. Challenge yourself to use at least: two words with prefixes, two words with suffixes, three strong collocations, and no basic words (good, nice, big, small, very).
Dette kapitlet er skrevet av Anthropics toppmodeller (Claude Opus og Claude Fable) og er foreløpig ikke manuelt gjennomgått — kvalitetskontrollen gjøres av uavhengige KI-agenter, og innmeldte feil rettes fortløpende. Funnet en feil? Meld fra, så retter vi den. Les mer om hvordan innholdet lages.