English Word Formation

1. What kinds of words are these? (What parts of speech?)

sharp
sweet
black
red
short

What kinds of words are they when you add the suffix –en?

sharpen
sweeten
blacken
redden
shorten

Can you add –en to any adjective? (Think of other adjectives and try it.)

2. What kinds of words (part of speech) are the following?

do
write
work
cook
import
build
state
set
sharpen
shape

Can you add the prefix re- to them?
What part of speech is the resulting word?

redo
rewrite
rework
recook
reimport

reshape
rebuild
restate
reset
resharpen

Can you add re- to any verb?

What’s different about the verbs below? What specific kind of verb does re- attach to?

*rego
*recry
*resleep

*resit
*redie
*reelapse
*revanish