Year 4 English · Prefixes, suffixes and word families · Lesson 3.2

Year 4 English: Negative and reversing prefixes: dis-, mis-, re- and in-

Part of the Year 4 English prefixes, suffixes and word families chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

3.2

Negative and reversing prefixes: dis-, mis-, re- and in-

Year 4
Read and spell words with the prefixes dis-, mis- and re-, Read and spell words with in-, and its changed forms im-, il- and ir-

Story. The school trip is moved to next month. Mia is dissatisfied, because she was looking forward to it. Her teacher says the bus company misread the date on the form, so the class will try again.

The prefix dis- means not or the opposite of, as in dishonest. The prefix mis- means wrongly or badly, as in misbehave and misunderstand. The prefix re- means again, as in reheat and reappear.

The prefix in- also means not. Its spelling changes before some letters, so that the word is easy to say: it becomes im- before m, p or b, il- before l, and ir- before r.

Prefix	What it means	Spelling before a letter	Examples
dis-	not, or the opposite of	stays dis-	dishonest, dissatisfied
mis-	wrongly or badly	stays mis-	misbehave, misunderstand
re-	again	stays re-	reheat, reappear
in-	not	stays in- before c and most other letters	incapable
im-	not	before m, p or b	immobile
il-	not	before l	illogical
ir-	not	before r	irresponsible

The negative prefixes and the reversing and repeating prefixes, with the spelling changes.

The shaded letters are the prefix in each word.

Key ideas

Dis- and mis- keep their spelling: dishonest, misbehave.
Re- means again: reheat means to heat again.
In- becomes im- before m, p or b: immobile, not inmobile.
In- becomes il- before l, and ir- before r: illogical, irresponsible.

Worked example 3.2.1

Write the word that means: not truthful, and likely to lie or cheat.

Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check the prefix or suffix.

Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.
not truthful, and likely to lie or cheat
Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.
dishonest
Check the affix. Dis- means not. Honest starts with h, so dis- stays as it is.
Affix letters: dis
Write the answer.
dishonest

Check. Read dishonest and check each letter against the word. ✓

Watch out. Dis- means not. Honest starts with h, so dis- stays as it is.

Worked example 3.2.2

Write the missing word: The moon will from behind the clouds.

Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.

Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.
The moon will ___ from behind the clouds.
Find the word that fits the meaning. to come into view again after being hidden
reappear
Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.
The moon will reappear from behind the clouds.
Write the answer.
reappear

Check. Read the whole sentence with reappear in it. ✓

Watch out. Re- means again. Appear is the root word, and it has pp in the middle.

Worked example 3.2.3

Write the missing letters: responsible

Method. Read the whole word, then fill the box with the affix letters.

Say the whole word, and look at each part. Read every letter in order.
irresponsible
Look at the empty box. The box stands for the letters in a row, 2 in all.
2 missing letters
Write the missing letters. In- becomes ir- before r. Responsible starts with r.
ir

Check. Put ir back in the box and read irresponsible. ✓

Watch out. In- becomes ir- before r. Responsible starts with r.

Watch out

Watch out: do not write inmobile or dissatisfied with one s. Mobile starts with m, so in- becomes im-. Dis- ends in s, and satisfied starts with s, so there are two s letters together.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child to say the root word first, then choose the prefix. For in-, ask which letter the root word starts with: capable starts with c, so the prefix stays in-; mobile starts with m, so it becomes im-.