English Word Families

ENGLISH WORD FAMILIES

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:

• That class was really boring.

• I was really bored in that class.

• That class was a real bore.

Another 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 that 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, for example 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 that are very different from others in the group, so you should always check in the dictionary if you are not sure of the meaning.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

ability, disability, inability enable, disable able, unable, disabled ably

acceptance accept acceptable, unacceptable, accepted acceptably, unacceptably

accident accidental accidentally

accuracy, inaccuracy accurate, inaccurate accurately, inaccurately

accusation, the accused, accuser accuse accusing accusingly

achievement, achiever achieve achievable

act, action, inaction, interaction, act, action acting

reaction, transaction

activity, inactivity activate active, inactive, interactive, proactive actively

addition add additional additionally

admiration, admirer admire admirable admirably

advantage, disadvantage advantageous, disadvantaged, advantageously

advantaged

advertisement, advertiser, advertise

advertising

advice, adviser advise advisable, inadvisable, advisory advisedly

agreement, disagreement agree, disagree agreeable agreeably

aim aim aimless aimlessly

amazement amaze amazed, amazing amazingly

anger anger angry angrily

announcement, announcer announce unannounced unannounced

appearance, disappearance, appear, disappear

reappearance reappear

applicant, application apply, reapply applicable, applied

appreciation appreciate appreciable, appreciative appreciatively, appreciably

approval, disapproval approve, disapprove approving, disapproving approvingly

approximation approximate approximate approximately

argument argue arguable, argumentative arguably

arrangement, rearrangement arrange, rearrange

art, artist, artistry artistic, arty artistically

shame shame ashamed, unashamed, shameful, shamefully, shamelessly

shameless

attachment attach, detach attached, unattached, detachable,

detached

attack, counter-attack, attacker attack, counter-attack

attention, inattention attend attentive, inattentive attentively

attraction, attractiveness attract attractive, unattractive attractiveNouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs

authority, authorization authorize authoritarian, authoritative, authoritatively

authorized, unauthorized

availability available, unavailable

avoidance avoid avoidable, unavoidable unavoidably

awareness aware, unaware unawares

base, the basics, basis base baseless, basic basically

bearer bear bearable, unbearable

beat, beating beat unbeatable, unbeaten

beauty, beautician beautify beautiful beautifully

beginner, beginning begin

behaviour/US behavior, behave, misbehave behavioural/US behavioral

misbehaviour/US misbehavior

belief, disbelief believe, disbelieve believable, disbelieving, unbelievable unbelievably

block, blockage block, unblock blocked, unblocked

blood, bleeding bleed bloodless, bloody

the boil, boiler boil boiling

bore, boredom bore bored, boring boringly

break, breakage, outbreak break broken, unbreakable, unbroken

breath, breather, breathing breathe breathless, breathy breathlessly

brother, brotherhood brotherly

build, builder, building build, rebuild

burn, burner burn burning, burnt

burial bury buried

calculation, calculator calculate incalculable, calculated, calculating

calm, calmness calm calm calmly

capability capable, incapable capably

care, carer care careful, careless, caring, uncaring carefully, carelessly

celebration, celebrity celebrate celebrated, celebratory

centre/US center, centralization, centre/US center, central, centralized centrally

decentralization decentralize, centralize

certainty, uncertainty ascertain certain, uncertain certainly, uncertainly

challenge, challenger challenge challenging

change, change changeable, interchangeable,

unchanged,

changing

character, characteristic, characterize characteristic, uncharacteristic characteristically

characterization

chemical, chemist, chemistry chemical chemically

circle, semicircle, circulation circle, circulate circular

cleaner, cleaning, cleanliness clean clean, unclean cleanly

clarity, clearance, clearing clear clear, unclear clear, clearly

close, closure close closed, closing

closeness close close, closely

clothes, clothing clothe clothed, unclothed

collection, collector collect collected, collective collectively

colour/US color, colour/US color coloured/US colored, colourfully/US colorfully

colouring/US coloring discoloured/US discolored,

colourful/US colorful,

colourless/US colorless

combination, combine combine combined

comfort, discomfort comfort comfortable, comfortably uncomfortable, comforting

commitment commit noncommittal, committed

communication, communicator communicate communicative, uncommunicative

comparison compare comparable, incomparable, comparatively

comparative

competition, competitor compete competitive, uncompetitive competitively

completion, incompleteness complete complete, incomplete completely, incompletely

complication complicate complicated, uncomplicated

computer, computing, computerize

computerization

concentration concentrate concentrated

concern concern concerned, unconcerned

conclusion conclude concluding, conclusive, inconclusive conclusively

condition, precondition, condition conditional, unconditional conditionally,

conditioner, conditioning unconditionally

confidence confide confident, confidential confidently, confidentially

confirmation confirm confirmed, unconfirmed

confusion confuse confused, confusing confusingly

connection connect, disconnect connected, disconnected, unconnected Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs

Adjectives subconscious, unconscious, conscious, subconscious, consciously, unconsciously

consciousness, unconsciousness unconscious

consequence consequent, inconsequential consequently

consideration consider, reconsider considerable, considerate, considerably, inconsiderate, considered considerately

continent continental, intercontinental

continuation, continuity continue, discontinue continual, continued, continuous continually, continuously

contribution, contributor contribute contributory

control, controller control controlling, uncontrollable uncontrollably

convenience, inconvenience inconvenience convenient, inconvenient conveniently

convince convinced, convincing, unconvincing convincingly

cook, cooker, cookery, cooking cook cooked, uncooked

cool, coolness cool cool coolly

correction, correctness correct correct, incorrect, corrective correctly, incorrectly

count, recount count, recount countable, uncountable, countless

cover, coverage, covering cover, uncover undercover, uncovered undercover

creation, creativity, creator create, recreate creative, uncreative creatively

crime, criminal, criminologist incriminate criminal, incriminating criminally

critic, criticism criticize critical, uncritical critically

crowd, overcrowding crowd crowded, overcrowded

cruelty cruel cruelly

cry, outcry cry crying

culture, subculture cultural, cultured culturally

cure cure cured, incurable

custom, customer, customs accustom customary customarily

cut, cutting cut, undercut cutting

damage, damages damage damaging, undamaged

danger endanger endangered, dangerous dangerously

dare, daring dare daring daringly

dark, darkness darken dark, darkened, darkening darkly

date date, predate dated, outdated

day, midday daily daily

dead, death deaden dead, deadly, deathly deadly, deathly

deal, dealer, dealings deal

deceit, deceiver, deception deceive deceitful, deceptive deceptively

decision, indecision decide decided, undecided, decisive, decidedly, decisively,

indecisive indecisively

decoration, decorator decorate decorative decoratively

deep, depth deepen deep, deepening deeply

defeat, defeatism, defeatist defeat undefeated, defeatist

defence/US defense, defend defenceless/US defenseless, defensively

defendant, defender indefensible, defensive

definition define definite, indefinite definitely, indefinitely

demand, demands demand demanding, undemanding

democracy, democrat democratic, undemocratic democratically

demonstration, demonstrator demonstrate demonstrable, demonstrative demonstrably

denial deny undeniable undeniably

dependant, dependence, depend dependable, dependent, dependably,

independence, dependency independent independently

description describe describable, indescribable, descriptively

descriptive, nondescript

desire desire desirable, undesirable, desired,

undesired

destroyer, destruction destroy indestructible, destructive destructively

determination, determiner determine determined, predetermined, determinedly

indeterminate

developer, development, develop, redevelop developed, undeveloped, developing

redevelopment

difference, indifference, differ, differentiate different, indifferent differently

differentiation

directness, direction, direct, redirect direct, indirect directly, indirectly

directions, director

disagreement disagree disagreeable disagreeably

disappointment disappoint disappointed, disappointing disappointingly

disaster disastrous disastrously

disciplinarian, discipline discipline disciplinary, disciplined, undisciplined

discoverer, discovery discover

distance distance distant distantly

disturbance disturb disturbed, undisturbed, disturbing disturbingly

divide, division, subdivision divide, subdivide divided, undivided, divisible, divisive

divorce, divorcee divorce divorced Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 3rd edition

Source:

© Cambridge University Press 2008