Question

Andy is always _________ . unattentive imattentive In the test variants we are given the adjective ‘attentive’ with four prefixes il-, un-, in-, im- that change the meaning of adjectives. Adding these prefixes makes the meaning negative: fair –unfair, active – inactive, regular – irregular, balance – imbalance, legal – illegal, etc.Words that take il– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter l: legal – illegal, literate –illiterate and words that take im– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter m or p: mobile –immobile, perfect - imperfect, etc. Words that take un– as a negative prefix may begin with a vowel or consonant: able – unable, usual - unusual. Words that take in– as a negative prefix can begin with a vowel(except i or u) or a consonant: accurate – inaccurate, eligible – ineligible, organic – inorganic, decent –indecent, sane – insane. So, in accordance with the rules we can add either un- or in- to the test adjective ‘attentive’, because it starts with the vowel ‘a’.And how to choose: un- or in-? To understand which prefix to use it is necessary to know the language the word comes from – to determine the origin of the root morpheme: words of the Germanic origin take the prefix un-, while words that came into English from Latin take the prefix in-. The adjective ‘attentive’ comes from the Old French word ‘attentif’ that in its turn comes from the Latin word ‘attenditus’.Therefore, we are to choose ANSWER 3 (inattentive).

Accepted Answer

ilattentive inattentive c

Question	Andy is always _________ .
A	ilattentive
B	unattentive
C	inattentive
D	imattentive
Answer	c
Remark	In the test variants we are given the adjective ‘attentive’ with four prefixes il-, un-, in-, im- that change the meaning of adjectives. Adding these prefixes makes the meaning negative: fair –unfair, active – inactive, regular – irregular, balance – imbalance, legal – illegal, etc.Words that take il– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter l: legal – illegal, literate –illiterate and words that take im– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter m or p: mobile –immobile, perfect - imperfect, etc. Words that take un– as a negative prefix may begin with a vowel or consonant: able – unable, usual - unusual. Words that take in– as a negative prefix can begin with a vowel(except i or u) or a consonant: accurate – inaccurate, eligible – ineligible, organic – inorganic, decent –indecent, sane – insane. So, in accordance with the rules we can add either un- or in- to the test adjective ‘attentive’, because it starts with the vowel ‘a’.And how to choose: un- or in-? To understand which prefix to use it is necessary to know the language the word comes from – to determine the origin of the root morpheme: words of the Germanic origin take the prefix un-, while words that came into English from Latin take the prefix in-. The adjective ‘attentive’ comes from the Old French word ‘attentif’ that in its turn comes from the Latin word ‘attenditus’.Therefore, we are to choose ANSWER 3 (inattentive).

Prefix Words Negative Begin Adjective Test Attentive Meaning