word building - Question Bank

1. The word 'editor' is formed from 'edit' through:
A) Compounding
B) Conversion
C) Suffixation
D) Back-formation
2. What is the process of forming a new word by removing a part of the beginning and end of a word, like 'flu' from 'influenza'?
A) Blending
B) Acronymy
C) Clipping
D) Back-formation
3. The word 'webinar' is a blend of:
A) Web and seminar
B) Website and seminar
C) World and seminar
D) Weblog and seminar
4. Which word-building process involves adding a suffix to change the meaning or grammatical function, as in 'kind' to 'kindness'?
A) Prefixation
B) Compounding
C) Suffixation
D) Conversion
5. The word 'FIFA' is an example of:
A) Initialism
B) Acronym
C) Blend
D) Clipping
6. What is the term for a word formed by joining two words, but one word is shortened, like 'smog' (smoke + fog)?
A) Compounding
B) Clipping
C) Blending
D) Acronymy
7. The word 'unhappy' is formed by adding a prefix to the word:
A) Happy
B) Unhappy
C) Happily
D) Unhappily
8. Which word-building process creates words like 'telecast' from 'television' and 'broadcast'?
A) Clipping
B) Blending
C) Acronymy
D) Back-formation
9. The word 'speed-reading' is an example of:
A) Blending
B) Clipping
C) Acronymy
D) Compounding
10. What is the process of forming a word by shortening it, such as 'prof' from 'professor'?
A) Blending
B) Clipping
C) Acronymy
D) Back-formation
11. The formation of 'painter' from 'paint' uses which word-building strategy?
A) Prefixation
B) Suffixation
C) Compounding
D) Conversion
12. Which word-building process involves changing the function of a word without changing its form, as in 'to dust' (verb) from 'dust' (noun)?
A) Derivation
B) Compounding
C) Conversion
D) Inflection
13. The word 'USB' is a(n):
A) Acronym
B) Initialism
C) Blend
D) Clipping
14. What is the term for a word formed by joining two or more words, where each word retains its original form, like 'postbox'?
A) Blending
B) Clipping
C) Acronymy
D) Compounding
15. The word 'teach' can be converted to a noun 'teaching' by adding a:
A) Prefix
B) Suffix
C) Infix
D) Compound
16. Which process creates words like 'to murder' from 'murderer'?
A) Conversion
B) Clipping
C) Back-formation
D) Compounding
17. The word 'workaholic' is an example of:
A) Compounding
B) Blending
C) Clipping
D) Acronymy
18. What is the word-building process for 'spy' from 'espionage'?
A) Blending
B) Clipping
C) Back-formation
D) Conversion
19. The word 'groceries' is formed from 'grocery' by adding a:
A) Prefix
B) Suffix
C) Infix
D) Blend
20. Which of the following is a word formed by clipping?
A) Gymnasium
B) Refrigerator
C) Advertisement
D) Gasoline
21. The word 'knowledge' is formed from the root word 'know' by adding a:
A) Prefix
B) Suffix
C) Infix
D) Compound
22. Which word-building process involves adding a prefix to a word, like 'happy' becoming 'unhappy'?
A) Suffixation
B) Compounding
C) Prefixation
D) Conversion
23. The word 'CD' is an example of:
A) Acronym
B) Initialism
C) Blend
D) Clipping
24. What is the term for the process of forming a word by combining the beginning of one word and the end of another, like 'motel' from 'motor' and 'hotel'?
A) Clipping
B) Acronymy
C) Blending
D) Compounding
25. Which word-building process is demonstrated by 'to edit' from 'editor'?
A) Clipping
B) Blending
C) Conversion
D) Back-formation
26. The word 'blogger' is derived from 'blog' through the addition of a:
A) Prefix
B) Suffix
C) Infix
D) Circumfix
27. When a word is formed by joining two independent words, such as 'sun' and 'flower' to make 'sunflower', this is called:
A) Affixation
B) Conversion
C) Compounding
D) Blending
28. The word 'singer' is formed by adding a suffix to the root word:
A) Sing
B) Singing
C) Sings
D) Sung
29. Which word-building process creates words like 'UNESCO' or 'NASA'?
A) Blending
B) Compounding
C) Acronymy
D) Conversion
30. What is the term for the process of forming a new word by removing a suffix from an existing word, e.g., 'butcher' from 'butchery'?
A) Clipping
B) Back-formation
C) Conversion
D) Compounding
31. The word 'brunch' is a prime example of:
A) Clipping
B) Acronymy
C) Blending
D) Back-formation
32. Which of the following is a word formed by adding a suffix to change the meaning or part of speech?
A) Dislike
B) Apple
C) Happily
D) Blackboard
33. The word 'laser' is technically a(n):
A) Acronym
B) Initialism
C) Blend
D) Clipping
34. Identify the word-building process exemplified by 'to laze' from 'lazy'.
A) Compounding
B) Conversion
C) Back-formation
D) Blending
35. The word 'phone' is a clipped form of which longer word?
A) Telephone
B) Phonograph
C) Microphone
D) Soundphone
36. Which word-building process involves removing a part of a word from the beginning?
A) Clipping
B) Back-formation
C) Suffixation
D) Apocope
37. The word 're-examine' is formed by combining a prefix and a root. What is the prefix?
A) examine
B) ex
C) re
D) in
38. What is the process of creating a new word from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a word (e.g., NATO)?
A) Acronymy
B) Initialism
C) Clipping
D) Blending
39. The word 'email' is an example of:
A) Clipping
B) Blending
C) Compounding
D) Acronymy
40. Which of the following is NOT a common method of word building in English?
A) Compounding
B) Affixation
C) Circumfixation
D) Conversion
41. The word 'teach' forms 'teacher' by adding a:
A) Prefix
B) Suffix
C) Root
D) Infix
42. Which process involves changing a word's grammatical category without changing its form, e.g., 'google' (noun) to 'to google' (verb)?
A) Derivation
B) Compounding
C) Conversion
D) Inflection
43. The word 'GPS' is formed through which word-building process?
A) Clipping
B) Acronymy
C) Blending
D) Back-formation
44. What is the term for a word formed by merging parts of two or more words, like 'smog' from 'smoke' and 'fog'?
A) Acronym
B) Clipping
C) Blending
D) Portmanteau
45. The formation of 'editor' from 'edit' by removing a suffix is an example of:
A) Clipping
B) Blending
C) Back-formation
D) Acronymy
46. Which of the following is an example of a compound word?
A) Happily
B) Football
C) Unkind
D) Teacher
47. The word 'unbreakable' is formed by which word-building process?
A) Compounding
B) Suffixation
C) Prefixation
D) Conversion
48. Identify the word-building process where a part of a word is removed to create a new word.
A) Blending
B) Clipping
C) Acronymy
D) Back-formation
49. What is the primary function of a suffix in word building?
A) To change the meaning of the root word
B) To change the grammatical class of the root word
C) To modify the pronunciation of the root word
D) To indicate possession
50. The process of forming a new word by joining two or more existing words is called:
A) Affixation
B) Conversion
C) Compounding
D) Clipping