Familias de palabras

ability, inability, unable, enable, disabled, ably

She has the ability to stay calm under pressure.

Cambio interno: able → ability.

acceptance, acceptable, unacceptable, acceptably

His behaviour was completely unacceptable.

accuracy, inaccurate, accurately, inaccuracy

The information in the report was inaccurate.

El negativo es in-: inaccurate, no unaccurate. No depende de la letra: ACCEPT da unacceptable.

achievement, achievable, achiever

Winning the cup was a great achievement.

action, active, actively, activity, actor, inactive

She is actively involved in local politics.

advertisement, advertising, advertiser

I saw an advertisement for the job online.

advertisement es el anuncio; advertising, la actividad (incontable).

agreement, disagreement, disagree, agreeable

The two companies finally reached an agreement.

appearance, disappear, disappearance, apparent, apparently

Apparently, the shop is closing next month.

Cambio interno: appear → apparent.

attraction, attractive, unattractive, attractively

The castle is the town's main tourist attraction.

belief, believable, unbelievable, disbelief

The view from the top was unbelievable.

El sustantivo cambia la v por f: belief.

boredom, boring, bored

Many teenagers complain of boredom during the holidays.

boring describe lo que aburre; bored, a quien se aburre.

careful, careless, carefully, carelessly, carer

He made a careless mistake in the last question.

careless = descuidado. El sufijo -less también da sentido negativo.

choice, choosy

We had no choice but to wait.

Cambio interno: choose → choice.

comfortable, uncomfortable, comfortably, discomfort

He felt uncomfortable in his new suit.

competition, competitor, competitive, competitively, uncompetitive

The market for mobile phones is very competitive.

Cambio interno: compete → competition.

confident, confidently, self-confidence

She answered all the questions confidently.

courageous, encourage, encouragement, discourage

My parents always encouraged me to read.

Fíjate en el tiempo de la frase: aquí va en pasado.

criticise, criticism, critical, critically

The minister was criticised for his decision.

critic es la persona; criticism, la crítica.

dangerous, dangerously, endanger, endangered

Pollution could endanger many species.

decision, decisive, indecisive, decisively

I'm too indecisive to choose a restaurant.

Cambio interno: decide → decision.

dependent, independent, independence, dependence, dependable

Young people want more independence from their parents.

Se escribe con e: independence, independent.

difference, different, differently, differentiate

People react differently to stress.

economic, economical, economist, economically

This car is very economical to run.

economic = de la economía; economical = que ahorra.

education, educational, educated, uneducated

The museum offers educational visits for schools.

employer, employee, employment, unemployed, unemployment

Unemployment has fallen this year.

employer da el trabajo; employee lo tiene.

entertainment, entertaining, entertainer

The show was very entertaining.

environmental, environmentally, environmentalist

The new factory will be environmentally friendly.

expectation, unexpected, unexpectedly

The results were completely unexpected.

explanation, explanatory, unexplained

There must be a simple explanation.

Se pierde la i: explanation.

famous, famously, infamous

The city is famous for its cathedral.

infamous significa «de mala fama», no «poco conocido».

forgetful, unforgettable

It was an unforgettable experience.

Se dobla la t: unforgettable.

friendly, unfriendly, friendship, friendliness

Their friendship began at school.

friendly es adjetivo, no adverbio.

growth, grown-up

The country's economic growth has slowed down.

healthy, unhealthy, healthily

We should all try to eat more healthily.

y → i delante de -ly.

helpful, unhelpful, helpless, helpfully

The staff at the hotel were very helpful.

helpless = indefenso; «poco servicial» es unhelpful.

height, heighten, highly

Her latest novel is highly recommended.

highly = muy, con adjetivos y participios. Cambio interno: height.

honesty, dishonest, honestly, dishonesty

I really appreciate your honesty.

imagination, imaginative, imaginary, unimaginable

Many young children have imaginary friends.

imaginative = creativo; imaginary = que no existe.

information, informative, informed, misinform

The talk was very informative.

information es incontable: no lleva plural.

knowledge, knowledgeable, known, unknown

Her knowledge of history is impressive.

illegal, legally, legality, legalise

It's illegal to park here.

il- solo aparece delante de l- (illegal, illogical), pero no siempre: unlucky, unlikely.

length, lengthen, lengthy

They plan to lengthen the runway.

Cambio interno: long → length.

lucky, unlucky, luckily, unluckily

Luckily, nobody was hurt in the accident.

y → i delante de -ly.

natural, naturally, unnatural

Naturally, we were disappointed with the result.

obedient, disobedient, obedience, disobey

The dog was trained to be obedient.

Cambio interno: obey → obedient.

original, originally, originality, originate

The building was originally a school.

patience, impatient, impatience, patiently

He always gets impatient in queues.

im- va delante de p- o m- (impatient, impossible), pero no siempre: unprofessional, unpopular.

persuasion, persuasive, persuasively

She gave a very persuasive speech.

d → s: persuasion, persuasive.

possibility, impossible, possibly, impossibility

There's a possibility of rain later.

product, production, productive, productivity, producer

The new system has increased productivity.

professional, professionally, unprofessional

She plays tennis professionally.

Se escribe con una f y dos s.

reality, realistic, unrealistic, really, realise

I didn't realise it was so late.

En inglés británico se prefiere realise; realize también es correcto.

reasonable, unreasonable, reasonably

The prices are reasonable for a city-centre hotel.

reliable, unreliable, reliability, reliance

The bus service here is very unreliable.

y → i: reliable.

responsibility, irresponsible, responsibly

It was irresponsible to leave the door open.

ir- solo aparece delante de r- (irresponsible, irregular), pero no siempre: unreliable, unreasonable.

safety, safely, unsafe

Wear a helmet for your own safety.

satisfaction, satisfied, satisfying, dissatisfied, satisfactory, unsatisfactory

Customer satisfaction is our main priority.

dissatisfied lleva dos s.

scientist, scientific, scientifically

The scientific evidence is very clear.

shortage, shorten, shortly, shortness

There is a shortage of nurses in the area.

shortly = pronto, dentro de poco.

simplify, simplicity, simply

Could you simplify the instructions?

solution, solvable, unsolved

We need to find a solution quickly.

Cambio interno: solve → solution.

strength, strengthen, strongly

Regular exercise helps to strengthen your muscles.

Cambio interno: strong → strength.

success, successful, unsuccessful, successfully

Her first business was unsuccessful.

succeed es el verbo; success, el sustantivo.

suitable, unsuitable, suitably

This flat isn't suitable for a family with children.

understanding, misunderstand, misunderstanding, understandable

There was a misunderstanding about the date of the meeting.

mis- significa «mal, por error»: misunderstand = entender mal.

width, widen, widely

They are going to widen the road next year.

Cambio interno: wide → width.