Although English vocabulary study can seem overwhelming at times for children (and adults, too!), it can be made more systematic with a good understanding of prefixes, suffixes and root words.
In our 32-page Common Prefixes, Suffixes and RootsWorkbook are essential prefixes and suffixes, meanings, and many examples to help your child build their vocabulary.
After learning the meanings of the prefixes and suffixes, your child will be able to put this knowledge to practice with the word search, crossword and other word puzzle combinations that test their understanding of words – and spelling!
Prefixes are letters that are added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. For example, the letters ‘re’ changes the meaning of a word to mean the redoing or reusing of the word. For example, ‘re’ + ‘cover’ changes the meaning of cover to ‘to get back’ (recover).
Suffixes are a string of letters that go at the end of a root word to change or add to its meaning. A suffix can show whether a word is a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a verb. So, adding the suffix ‘ly’ to the end of a word usually changes it to an adverb. For example: ‘slow’ + ‘ly’ creates ‘slowly’, an adverb.
A root word is a word in its simplest, basic form. It does not have a prefix or suffix added to it. For example, in the word ‘recycle’, the root word is ‘cycle’ and ‘re’ is the prefix.