Lexical Competence: Vocabulary in Context, Word Formation, Collocation
Lexical competence questions test whether you can choose the right word and put it in the right form. In the Castilla-La Mancha paper this appears as synonyms in context, word formation (completing a gap from a root printed in capitals), collocation and phrasal-verb gaps, and it is also scored indirectly in the writing. Two skills are being separated: knowing the word and knowing its grammatical shape.
Word formation: decide the class first
- Read the gap and identify the part of speech required: after a/the/this plus adjective → noun; after be/seem/look → adjective; modifying a past participle → adverb.
- Apply the suffix for that class, then fix the spelling.
| Target | Typical suffixes |
|---|---|
| noun | -tion/-sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance/-ence, -ship, -hood |
| adjective | -ous, -ive, -able/-ible, -ful, -less, -al, -ic |
| verb | -ise/-ize, -ify, -en |
| adverb | -ly (note: hardly ≠ hard) |
- Add a negative prefix if the meaning requires it: un-, in-, im- (before m/p/b), il- (before l), ir- (before r), dis-, mis-, over-, under-.
Collocation: words travel in fixed pairs
Learn nouns with their verbs and adjectives: make a decision, do research, take measures, raise awareness, meet a deadline, draw a conclusion, reach an agreement, pay attention. Adjective–noun: heavy rain, strong coffee, deeply concerned, highly likely, widely available, a vested interest. Verb + preposition: depend on, result in, consist of, refer to, suffer from, contribute to, benefit from.
Worked example
The company's ______ (DECIDE) to relocate was widely criticised. → decision. Reasoning: the possessive company's must be followed by a noun, so the verb decide needs a noun suffix; -sion with the spelling change decis- gives decision. Decisive is an adjective and cannot follow a possessive; decidedly is an adverb. Note the collocation widely criticised - widely + past participle is a frequent pattern (widely used, widely believed).
Traps
- Correct root, wrong class: The film was very excite for exciting.
- Near-synonyms with different collocations: do a mistake ✗ → make a mistake; say a lie ✗ → tell a lie.
- Uncountable nouns that Spanish speakers pluralise: information, advice, evidence, research, furniture, news.
- False friends: actually = in fact; eventually = finally; sensible = reasonable; assist = help; library = biblioteca.
- Wrong prefix or doubled suffix: impossible, not inpossible; unhappiness is fine, unhappyness is not.