10 ROUTINE CHANGES THAT ARE PROVEN TO MAKE YOU HAPPIER

A very positive article, have a look if you're interested.


Article

Consejos para aprobar el Reading and Writing del PET (B1): Segunda parte

Writing

Word Transformation: Nouns & Suffixes

Word formation is extremely important in the English language and, consequently, in Cambridge English exams. In this article, we are going to see how to form nouns by adding suffixes. However, there are a couple of things you should probably know before reading on:

1. In some cases, there is a mention to what the suffix implies (e.g. profession, activity, etc.)
2. There might be some combinations that are not listed below.
3. Adding the suffix involves, in many cases, some spelling changes to the original word (e.g. peace – pacifist, etc.)
4. This is basically a list of possible combinations with suffixes to make nouns. It’s not a magic formula, as I believe there isn’t one!

VERB TO NOUN

• -ER/-OR – professions or things that do a job: write – writer, work – worker, shop – shopper, act – actor, operate – operator, sail – sailor, sharpen – sharpener, open – opener, project – projector, etc.
• -ANT/-ENT – professions: attend – attendant, inform – informant, assist – assistant, preside – president, etc.
• -ER vs -EE – people who do vs people who experience something:

·       employ – employer (person who employs) vs employee (person who is employed)

·       pay – payer vs payee

·       send/address – sender vs addressee

• -(A)(T)ION: inform – information, declare – declaration, capture – caption, contaminate – contamination, cultivate – cultivation, reduce – reduction, etc.
• -MENT: enjoy – enjoyment, agree – agreement, excite – excitement, replace – replacement, establish – establishment, etc.
• -AL: arrive – arrival, approve – approval, deny – denial, etc.
• -ANCE/-ENCE: attend – attendance, prefer – preference, insure – insurance, accept – acceptance, etc.
• -(S)ION: confuse – confusion, decide – decision, revise – revision, divide – division, televise – television, etc.
• -AGE: pass – passage, pack – package, marry – marriage,  etc.  
• -ING: bless – blessing, feed – feeding, seat – seating, dance – dancing, advertise – advertising, etc.
• -ERY: brew – brewery, bake – bakery, etc.
• -TH: grow – growth, bear/born – birth,

ADJECTIVE TO NOUN

• -NESS – quality/condition: good – goodness, ready – readiness, forgetful – forgetfulness, sad – sadness, happy – happiness, etc.
• -IST vs -ISM – people vs ideology/activity:

·       ideal – idealist (person) vs idealism (ideology)

·       colonial – colonialist vs colonialism

·       human – humanist vs humanism

• -TH: true – truth, strong – strength, broad – breadth, long – length, dead – death, warm – warmth, wide – width, foul – filth, young – youth, etc.
• -ITY: flexible – flexibility, available – availability, productive – productivity, active – activity, etc.
• -ERY: brave (adj.) – bravery, etc.
• -Y: private – privacy, honest – honesty, jealous – jealousy, etc.
• -TY: safe – safety, cruel – cruelty, certain – certainty etc.
• -STER: hip – hipster, young – youngster, old – oldster, etc.
• -DOM: free – freedom, wise – wisdom, etc.

NOUN TO NOUN

• -IST vs -ISM – people vs ideology/activity:

·       journal – journalist (person) vs journalism (activity)

·       peace – pacifist vs pacifism

·       anarchy – anarchist vs anarchism

• -IST – professions: science – scientist, physics – physicist, piano – pianist, cello – cellist, violin – violinist, etc.
• -AGE: pass – passage, bag – baggage, etc.
• -ERY: slave – slavery, machine – machinery, etc.
• -(AR)IAN: vegetable – vegetarian, human – humanitarian, sect – sectarian, music – musician, politics – politician, etc.
• -EER: engine – engineer, mountain – mountaineer, musket – musketeer, etc.
• -STER: gang – gangster, mob – mobster, spin – spinster, etc.
• -ERY: slave – slavery, etc.

Consejos para aprobar el Reading and Writing del PET(B1)-Primera parte

Reading tips

First: Use of English, part 2

Part 2

TRAVEL and TRIP

First: Use of English

Part 1

CAE: Reading & Use of English

This is the first post connected with different exercises useful to practice for the CAE exam which is coming for many students. Good luck!



Reading & Use of English

CAE Speaking Phrases

Likes/dislikes I’m into… I’m a keen/avid (surfer) I’m keen on/fond of (surfing) I (go surfing) to unwind, to escape the stresses and strains of my day to day life. I like nothing more than (to go surfing) I’m itching to try/go…. (I really want to)	Opinion As far as I’m concerned, As I see it, From my point of view, In my humble opinion, I’d say that…
Comparing/contrasting Both pictures show… In this picture they look as though they are…. Whereas/while in this picture… In contrast On the other hand	Describing pictures The first thing that strikes me about this picture is… The thing that really jumps out of this picture is… In this picture it looks as if/though they are… They could/might/may be… They could/might/may have just… I’m pretty sure that they’re feeling… I’d guess that they are…
Agreeing We see eye to eye. Yeah, I’d go along with that. Absolutely! You took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn’t agree more. You have a point there. I’m with you 100% on this one.	Disagreeing We don’t see eye to eye. I take your point but… I tend to disagree with you there. That’s not always the case I beg to differ Isn’t it more a case of…
Starting to make a conclusion Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. The bottom line is we have to choose one… It’s a tough one, I’m torn between … and …. Shall we go with ….?	Asking for opinion What’s your take on….? Where do you stand on….? In my opinion…., would you go along with that? What are your thoughts on this?