B2 First: word formation (adjectives with -ful/-less)
Most adjectives which end in -ful make the negative with -less, but not all. Note also that we can make adverbs from these adjectives with -fully or -lessly. For example, carefully and carelessly. This is a list of key words which might appear in the B2 First (FCE) exam.
Look at the information in the table for a few minutes and try to remember the words. Then click below to hide the information and try to answer the questions at the bottom.
The words in this table all use -ful and -less to make the adjectives.
Noun | Verb | Adjective |
---|---|---|
care | care | careful /careless |
harm | harm | harmful / harmless |
help | help | (un)helpful / helpless |
hope | hope | hopeful / hopeless |
pain | pain | painful/ painless |
power | power | powerful / powerless |
use | use | useful / useless |
thought | think | thoughtful / thoughtless |
taste | taste | tasteful / tasteless |
The adjectives in this table take -ful or -less, but not both.
Noun | Verb | Adjective |
---|---|---|
count | count | countless / countable |
end | end | endless |
home | - | homeless |
peace | - | peaceful |
play | play | playful |
price | price | priceless |
success | succeed | (un)successful |
truth | - | (un)truthful / (un)true |
worth | worth | worthless |
Note: other word forms do exist for these (for example, homely (adjective), meaning comfortable or unattractive, or to home (verb) meaning to provide someone with a home). However I have tried to give the most common or useful forms here, which might help in the exam.
Practice: word formation (use of English part 3)
Write the correct adjective or adverb for each of these questions. You will need to use -ful/-less or -fully/-lessly. Some answers will also need un-.