Year 6 English · The statutory word list, part 2, roots and prefixes · Lesson 4.4

Year 6 English: Prefixes: dis-, de-, mis-, over- and re-

Part of the Year 6 English the statutory word list, part 2, roots and prefixes chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

4.4

Prefixes: dis-, de-, mis-, over- and re-

Year 6
Spell words with the prefixes dis-, de-, mis-, over- and re-, and say what each prefix does to the meaning (Y5-6 spelling)

Story. The class is making a poster about the school garden. The poster says that the frost will defrost the path, and that the gardeners must rewrite the list, because some words were misspelt and some plants were overwatered.

A prefix is a group of letters at the start of a word. It changes the meaning of the root word, but the root word is spelt the same. The prefix dis- means not, de- means reverse or remove, mis- means wrongly, over- means too much, and re- means again.

Prefixes and their meanings

Prefix	What it does	Example	Meaning of the example
dis-	not, or the opposite of	disagree	to have a different opinion
dis-	not, or the opposite of	disobey	to refuse to do what you are told
de-	reverse or remove	defrost	to remove the ice from something
de-	reverse or remove	decode	to change a coded message back into words
mis-	wrongly or badly	misspell	to spell a word wrongly
mis-	wrongly or badly	mislead	to give someone the wrong idea
over-	too much	overcook	to cook for too long
over-	too much	overflow	to flow beyond the edge of a container
re-	again	rewrite	to write something again, in a new way
re-	again	reheat	to heat something again

Key ideas

A prefix goes at the front of a root word.
The root word is spelt the same way when the prefix is added.
Each prefix changes the meaning in a predictable way.

Worked example 4.4.1

Add the prefix re- to the word write. Write the new word.

Method. Put the prefix at the front, and check the meaning.

Find the root word. The root word is write.
write
Add the prefix. Re- means again, so put it at the front: re + write.
re + write
Check the meaning. Rewrite means to write something again, in a new way.
rewrite
Write the answer.
rewrite

Check. re + write = rewrite. ✓

Worked example 4.4.2

Add the prefix mis- to the word spell. Write the new word.

Method. Put the prefix at the front, and check the meaning.

Find the root word. The root word is spell.
spell
Add the prefix. Mis- means wrongly, so put it at the front: mis + spell.
mis + spell
Check the meaning. Misspell means to spell a word wrongly.
misspell
Write the answer.
misspell

Check. mis + spell = misspell. ✓

Worked example 4.4.3

What does the prefix dis- mean in the word disagree?

Method. Look at the prefix and the root word.

Find the prefix. The prefix is dis-.
dis-
Find the root word. The root word is agree.
agree
Check the meaning. Disagree means to have the opposite opinion, so dis- means not or the opposite of.
not, or the opposite of
Write the answer.
not, or the opposite of

Check. dis- means not, or the opposite of. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: disagree keeps the letters of agree. Do not change the root word when you add a prefix.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child to add a prefix to five root words from home, such as cook, spell or heat, and to say what each new word means.