The exercise itself is in German; the explanation pages it links to are in Turkish.

C1.1 · Wortbildung

Wortbildung: Vor- und Nachsilben (word formation with affixes)

Word formation (Wortbildung) is the key to C1/C2 vocabulary. Prefixes change meaning: un- (negation), miss- (wrong/bad), zer- (breaking apart); suffixes add word class/meaning: -bar (-able), -los (-less), -haft (-like/quality), -ung (action noun). You will work out the correct form yourself in the exercise. All exercise content is in German.

Recognise: match each prefix and suffix with its meaning (example word alongside).

Matched: 0 / 10
Affix
Meaning
What can you do next?
C1 · WORTBILDUNG AFFIXE
C1 Wortbildung: Exercises on Forming Words with Prefixes and Suffixes

In German, new words are often not learned from scratch but derived by adding affixes to an existing stem. Prefixes change the meaning of the verb: ver- carries a mistake or completion (sich verlaufen "to get lost"), zer- expresses breaking apart (zerstören "to destroy"), ent- expresses moving away from something or undoing it (entkommen "to escape", entladen "to unload"). Suffixes, on the other hand, determine the word class: -ung turns a verb into a feminine noun (entscheiden → die Entscheidung), -heit/-keit make abstract nouns from adjectives (die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit), and -bar and -los form adjectives (essbar "edible", arbeitslos "unemployed"). What is expected at C1 is not just recognising these affixes but combining them with the right stem and choosing the article and meaning accurately.

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Golden rule: The suffix determines both word class and gender: -ung, -heit, -keit always make nouns feminine (die).

As soon as you answer a question you see, in feedback with an explanation, why your answer is correct or incorrect; for example, you read straight away why -heit is used rather than -keit, or what the difference in meaning between zer- and ent- is. That way you grasp the rule instead of memorising the affix. It is directly useful for the reading and writing sections if you are preparing for Goethe-Zertifikat C1, telc C1 Hochschule, TestDaF or the DSH (and, in the DSH, for the language-structures section), and it also speeds up your recognition of the abstract nouns and derived adjectives common in university reading texts.

RELATED🗂️ Word list (Turkish)🎯 Placement test📝 Blog (Turkish)

Quick answer

What is in the "Wortbildung: Vor- und Nachsilben" exercise?

The "Wortbildung: Vor- und Nachsilben" exercise is at level C1 and has 5 steps with 50 questions in total: 10 matching items, 30 multiple-choice questions and 10 gap-fill items.

The steps in order: Match · Affix · Genus & Sinn · Richtig/Falsch · Write.

You get instant feedback after every answer; the exercise runs in your browser, is free and needs no sign-up or installation.

What level is the "Wortbildung: Vor- und Nachsilben" exercise suitable for?

This exercise is designed for level C1. You will find more exercises at the same level on the C1 exercises page.