VOCABULARY – Improve My Child’s Spelling and Vocabulary (Part 2)

By Stuart Ackerman

     Another way to help your child to improve his or her vocabulary is to learn the structure of words.
 
     Students can figure out the meanings of new words by learning about word parts such as: prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
 
Prefixes
 
Prefixes are word parts that come before the root word (pre = before).  What is really important to know about prefixes is that they often change the meaning of a word.
 
For example, to know that the prefix ’re’ means 'again or back', can help a student figure out the meaning of the word 'rewrite' (which means to write again). 
 
Some common prefixes students should know are:
 

ex = out

anti = against

bi = two

co = with

poly = many

pre = before

re = back or again

un = not

 
Suffixes
 
Suffixes come at the end of a word.  Sometimes a suffix will indicate the word's part of speech.  For example, the suffix 'ly' lets us know that the word is an adverb.
 
Some common suffixes students should know are:
 

ed = past tense

er = one who

est = most

less = without

ing = action or process

s = plural

tion = state of

 
Root Words
 
Students should know root words because often, when using context clues, students can gather the meaning of the word just by recognizing the root.
 
For example, the root word 'geo' means earth. So, students can infer that the word 'geography' means the study of the earth, or that the word 'geometry' means the measuring of the earth.
 
Some common root words are:
 

bio = life

chron = time

dict = say

equi = equal

fin = end

medi = middle

multi = many

    Students should be familiar with common prefixes, suffixes, and root words for their grade level.  By having a better understanding of the structure of words, students will become better at decoding words and their vocabulary will improve a great deal.

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