Year 5 English · Prefixes: in-, dis-, de-, re-, auto- and bi- · Summary
Year 5 English Prefixes: in-, dis-, de-, re-, auto- and bi-: summary and key words
Part of the Year 5 English prefixes: in-, dis-, de-, re-, auto- and bi- chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| in-, il-, im-, ir- (not) | in- before most letters; il- before l; im- before m, p or b; ir- before r. |
| dis- and mis- | dis- gives the opposite (agree, disagree); mis- means wrongly (read, misread). |
| de- | de- means remove, reverse or undo (frost, defrost; code, decode). |
| re- and auto- | re- means again (write, rewrite); auto- means self (graph, autograph; biography, autobiography). |
| bi- | bi- means two (cycle, bicycle; lingual, bilingual). |
| Working out meanings | Find the prefix and the root, put the meanings together, then check in a dictionary. |
Can you…?
- I can use in-, il-, im- and ir- to make a word mean not
- I can use dis- for an opposite and mis- for wrongly
- I can use de- to mean remove, reverse or undo
- I can use re- for again and auto- for self
- I can use bi- for two
- I can work out a word from its prefix and root, then check in a dictionary
Key terms
- prefix
- letters added to the start of a word to change its meaning, such as un- in unhappy
- root word
- the word that a prefix or suffix is added to
- opposite
- a word with the reverse meaning, such as hot and cold
- dictionary
- a book that lists words in alphabetical order with their meanings
- self
- of or by oneself, as in an autobiography
- equal parts
- parts that are the same size, as in two halves