N2 Word Formation (語形成)

How the question works

You're given a base word with one slot — say 「安全＿」 — and four affixes to choose from (的, 性, 化, 感). Only one builds the word the sentence wants (here 安全性, "safety"). The wrong options are real affixes that attach to other bases, so they stay tempting until you know which one this base actually takes.

It's a fast sub-section, and the affixes repeat across the whole language — so every one you nail here pays off again and again in reading.

Strategy & common traps

Learn the affixes in confusable families. The big abstract suffixes — 的 (-ic/-al), 性 (-ness/-ity), 化 (-ization), 感 (a feeling of), 力 (the power of), 観 (a view of) — all attach to two-kanji nouns, so the test is which nuance the meaning needs: 重要性 (importance) vs 重要視… the suffix carries the meaning. The negative prefixes 不・無・未・非 are the other classic trap: 不 (not / un-), 無 (without / -less), 未 (not yet), 非 (non-).

Read the English meaning given and let it pick the affix: "a feeling of ~" points to 感, "the ~ industry/-ization" to 化, "not yet ~" to 未. When two feel possible, recall a word you already know that uses each — your memory of real vocabulary is the best guide.

About this N2 drill

These 25 questions are built from real N2-level derived words, and every distractor is a genuine affix from the same family — the same plausible bait the exam uses. Each answer shows the complete word and its meaning, so a wrong guess immediately teaches you the right combination.