General Adjectives
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Understanding how opposites are formed in English is a true learning accelerator. This sheet focuses on general adjectives and their antonyms, particularly highlighting the role of negative prefixes (un-, im-, il-, in-). Thanks to this matching game, students don't just learn words by heart; they begin to grasp the logic of lexical construction. It's a powerful tool to exponentially increase their vocabulary autonomously.
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Pedagogical Guide
Resource Objective & Content
The objective is to consolidate knowledge of general adjectives and to introduce the formation of opposites via common negative prefixes (un-, im-, il-, in-).
The document is an exercise titled "Antonyms Game" on the theme "General Adjectives". Students must match eight pairs of words with opposite meanings. The vocabulary covers fundamental concepts: correct/wrong, possible/impossible, simple/complex, modern/old-fashioned, formal/informal, public/private, legal/illegal, and usual/unusual. The activity is particularly interesting for highlighting the rules of antonym formation.
Suggested Procedure
Before the activity (~5 min): THE POWER OF PREFIXES
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Write the prefixes un-, im-, il-, in- on the board. Ask students if they know what these small letters do to a word. Give a simple example like happy / unhappy to illustrate the idea of opposition.
During the activity (~5-10 min): FINDING THE OPPOSITES
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Distribute the sheet. Have students notice that many words in the right column use the prefixes seen on the board.
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Allow students, individually or in pairs, to connect the pairs.
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Lead a collective correction by classifying antonyms by prefix type.
After the activity (~10 min): SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION
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Give students simple sentences containing an adjective from the left column (e.g.: "It is possible to finish the exercise.").
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Ask them to rewrite the sentence so that it has the opposite meaning, using the corresponding antonym (e.g.: "It is impossible to finish the exercise.").
Adaptations
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To simplify: Review the meaning of each word in the left column before students begin the matching exercise.
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To extend: Challenge students to find other words they know that use these same negative prefixes. Can they find the opposite of patient, believable, or logical?
