Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 37 of the language course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★ · right ✓

Gran snaps "-ish isn't a word, it's lazy talk!" What's true?

1. "-ish" is an American spelling of "-ness" — no support
2. She's right, "-ish" was made up on the internet last year by gamers — no support
3. "-ish" is an old English suffix meaning somewhat, now used more freely — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
4. "-ish" is only allowed in maths lessons about time — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 13: «"-ish" is an old English suffix meaning somewhat, as in childish and reddish; today people also say "7-ish" and even answer just "Ish."», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+4); the same doer «old english suffix» (+3); the same property (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · right ✓

Your mate goes "there's ham in a hamburger, obviously, it's in the name." What's the truth?

1. The name comes from Hamburg; the "ham" bit is not about meat — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. He's right, the very first hamburgers were made from sliced ham — no support
3. It comes from "hammer", because the meat is flattened — no support
4. It comes from Hamlet, who loved burgers — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 14: «"Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, a city in Germany, not from ham; people split it into "ham" + "burger" and then made "cheeseburger" and "veggie burger".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «come» (+3); the same place «hamburg» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

Your Leicester mate says "proper good, me duck" about your drawing. ("Me duck" means love or dear.) What does she think of it?

1. She thinks it looks like a duck — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. She thinks it's a bit rubbish — no support
3. She wants you to draw her a duck — no support
4. She thinks it's really good — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · right ✓

What would happen if nobody had ever split "hamburger" into "ham" + "burger"?

1. Hamburgers would be called Hamburg pies by law — no support
2. We probably wouldn't say "cheeseburger" or "veggie burger" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
3. Nothing at all would change in English — no support
4. We would have no word at all for sandwiches — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 14: «"Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, a city in Germany, not from ham; people split it into "ham" + "burger" and then made "cheeseburger" and "veggie burger".», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «cheeseburger» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Your little sis writes "hopefull" in her story. What do you tell her?

1. It should be "hopeless" instead — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Both l's are right, keep it — no support
3. It needs a third l: "hopefulll" — no support
4. The suffix "-ful" has only one l — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · right ✓

A Gen Alpha kid says "brunch and smog are just slang, they don't count." What's fairer?

1. Only blends from Latin count as real words — no support
2. Blends only count if a king approves them — no support
3. They're blends, and many blends become normal words — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. He's right, blends are never real words in any dictionary — score -2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 37, line 11: «A compound word is two words joined into one; "bookkeeper" (book + keeper) has three double letters in a row: oo, kk, ee.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «compound word» (+2); the same thing acted on «two words» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ollie reckons "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is the longest real word in every dictionary. What's true?

1. It's a Greek medical word for a fever — no support
2. He's right, it's officially the longest English word in every dictionary — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. It's a made-up film word; the longest dictionary words are often technical — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. It's the longest word in Welsh, not English — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 37, line 9: «A blend joins parts of two words: brunch (breakfast + lunch), smog (smoke + fog), motel (motor + hotel) and hangry (hungry + angry), which is now in major dict…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «major dictionaries» (+4); the same doer «brunch» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

Your grandad from Liverpool says "burglar must come from burgle, lad, verbs come first." What's true?

1. "Burglar" came first and "burgle" was made from it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. "Burgle" comes from "burger", not "burglar" — no support
3. He's right, verbs always come before the nouns made from them — score 6
4. Both words appeared on the very same day — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 37, line 4: «Sometimes people even build words backwards, chopping off what looks like an ending: "burglar" came first, and "burgle" was made from it later.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «come» (+3); the same doer «burglar» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

Your mate makes "misunderstand" and asks what "mis-" adds. What's the answer?

1. Again: to understand twice — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Not at all: to never hear — no support
3. Wrongly: to understand wrongly — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Before: to understand early — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Your cousin from Perth says "grab ya togs, we'll take a selfie at the beach." ("Togs" means swimming costume.) What is a selfie?

1. A type of Australian sunscreen — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A photo you take of yourself — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A beach towel with your name — no support
4. A swim on your own — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

Which of these is a compound word?

1. Unkind — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Brunch — no support
3. Football — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Hopeful — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the constituent parts of the word "unhappiness".

1. A prefix, a root and a suffix — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Two roots and no affixes — no support
3. Three separate prefixes — no support
4. A suffix, a prefix and a second suffix — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the formation of the verb "burgle"?

1. It is a blend of "burger" and "gargle" — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Both were borrowed simultaneously from Latin — no support
3. The noun "burglar" was derived from the pre-existing verb "burgle" by suffixation — no support
4. It was derived from the pre-existing noun "burglar" by back-formation — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 12: «Back-formation means making a new word by chopping off what looks like an ending: "burgle" was made from "burglar", and "edit" from "editor".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «back formation» (+1); the same thing acted on «new word» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the word "hamburger".

1. Its name derives from ham, its original principal ingredient — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Its name derives from a cook surnamed Hamburg — no support
3. Its name derives from the German city of Hamburg rather than from ham — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Its name derives from Shakespeare's play Hamlet — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the meaning conveyed by the suffix "-less" in the word "hopeless".

1. Before — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Without — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Full of — no support
4. Somewhat — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/language/37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds/