Word Formation: Adjectives with -ful/-less

FCE (First Certificate)
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 FCE exam.

Look at the information in the table for 1-2 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

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-.

1. What a lovely present! That was very  of you. (THINK)
2. He drives really  - one day he's going to have an accident. (CARE)
3. He's told me  times about how good he is at football. (COUNT)
4. Because of his bad interview, he was  in his job application. (SUCCEED)
5. "I didn't eat your chocolate," she said  , hiding the empty wrapper. (TRUE)
6. It's  . England will never win the World Cup football again. (HOPE)
7. My best friend is a rich,  lawyer. (POWER)
8. You must remember to recharge your phone. Without its batteries, it's . (USE)
9. Cigarettes are  to your health. (HARM)
10. The sales assistant was really  and rude. (HELP)
11. A newborn baby is completely  . (HELP)
12. "Don't worry - this injection will be completely  . (PAIN)
13. Thieves broke into the museum and stole a  painting by Van Gogh. (PRICE)
14. She's really rich, but her clothes are always very  and elegant. (TASTE)
15. I bought some shares in the company 5 years ago, but unfortunately now they are  . (WORTH)
16. His speech went on . I thought he'd never stop talking. (END)

Source : http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/FCE/word-formation-ful-less.html