Year 4 English · Prefixes, suffixes and word families · Summary
Year 4 English Prefixes, suffixes and word families: summary and key words
Part of the Year 4 English prefixes, suffixes and word families chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| Root word, prefix, suffix, word family | Take off the prefix and the suffix to find the root word. A word family shares one root word: help, helpful, helper, unhelpful. |
| dis-, mis-, re-, in- | dishonest, dissatisfied; misbehave, misunderstand; reheat, reappear; incapable; in- becomes im- before m, p or b, il- before l, and ir- before r. |
| sub-, inter-, super-, anti-, auto- | subway, subheading; interlock, intersect; superstar, superhuman, supersonic; antidote; autobiography, autopilot. Nouns: superstar, antidote, autobiography, autopilot. |
| -ation | Drop the e, then add -ation: preparation, exploration, inspiration, imagination, admiration, organisation, declaration, examination. Alteration adds -ation to alter. |
| -ly | gently (drop the e, add y); basically (add -ally after -ic); magically; finally (double the l); successfully and truthfully (-ful becomes -fully); terribly, bravely. |
| -ous | adventurous (drop the e), poisonous, generous, glorious (y to i), hazardous, mischievous (f to v). |
| -sure, -ture | exposure, enclosure, closure (drop the e, add -ure); furniture, mixture, texture. |
| -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian | election; revision, confusion, explosion, expansion; admission, impression; electrician, optician. |
| Vowel suffixes and the doubling rule | Stress on the end: double the consonant, as in regretted, occurred, controlled, equipped, submitted. Stress on the start: keep one, as in visited, limiting, offering, opening, benefited. Happening keeps the pp of happen. |
| Word families | act: action, active, activity, inactive, interact, reaction; press: pressure, express, impress, impression; vis: visit, visitor, visible, invisible, vision. |
Can you…?
- I can take off the prefix and the suffix to find the root word of a new word
- I can use the terms prefix, suffix, root word and word family correctly
- I can add dis-, mis-, re- and in- (with im-, il- and ir-) and say what each one means
- I can add sub-, inter-, super-, anti- and auto-, and spell the nouns made with super-, anti- and auto-
- I can add -ation, -ly and -ous, and make the change to the root word first
- I can spell the endings -sure, -ture, -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian
- I can decide whether to double the last consonant, using the stress of the root word
Key terms
- root word
- a word on its own, which can have a prefix or a suffix added to it
- prefix
- letters added to the start of a root word, which change its meaning
- suffix
- letters added to the end of a root word, which can change its meaning or its word class
- word family
- a group of words that are all built from the same root word
- noun
- a word that names a person, a place or a thing
- adjective
- a word that describes a thing, such as gentle
- adverb
- a word that tells how something is done, such as gently
- vowel suffix
- a suffix that starts with a vowel letter, such as -ed, -ing or -er
- stress
- the part of a word that is said most strongly
- doubling rule
- double the last consonant before a vowel suffix when the stress is on the end of the root word