KS2 English textbook

Chapter 3: Prefixes, suffixes and word families

Strand Spelling and grammar
Level Year 4
Practice 91 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 4. Content: Read new words by their root word, prefix and suffix, and use the terms prefix, suffix, word family and root word, Add the prefixes dis-, mis-, re- and in- (with im-, il- and ir-), and say what each one does to the meaning, Add the prefixes sub-, inter-, super-, anti- and auto-, and spell nouns formed with super-, anti- and auto-, Add the suffixes -ation, -ly and -ous to root words, with the spelling changes that each one needs, Spell the endings -sure, -ture, -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian, Add vowel suffixes to words of more than one syllable, using the doubling rule where it applies, and recognise word families.

Open Year 4 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Say what a root word, a prefix, a suffix and a word family are, and use them to work out a new word
Spell words with the negative and reversing prefixes dis-, mis-, re- and in-, and change in- to im-, il- or ir- where needed
Spell words with sub-, inter-, super-, anti- and auto-, and name the noun that some of them make
Spell words with -ation, -ly and -ous, and make the right change to the root word first
Spell words with -sure, -ture, -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian
Double the last letter before a vowel suffix only when the stress is on the end of the root word

You should already know

Prefixes and suffixes such as un-, re- and -ful, and the endings -less and -ness (Year 3, Chapter 2)
The statutory word list and the dictionary (Chapter 2 of this book)

Where this leads

Plurals and possession (Chapter 4)
Fronted adverbials, which often use -ly adverbs (Chapter 6)

Lessons in this chapter

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers