Objective:
Students will be able to understand the meaning of new words by using their knowledge of word parts such as prefixes and suffixes.
Written by Prathima Rhodes
Narrated by Prathima Rhodes and Douglas Rhodes
A prefix is a word part that is attached to the front of a root word to form a new word.
Some common prefixes are:
Pre-before
Re-again
Dis-not, or opposite of
In the following sentences, please define the underlined words without using a dictionary. You may write down your answers or give me your answers verbally by creating digital audio files.
Molly preheated the oven before she put in the cake.
Molly used her pre-paid calling card to phone her friend.
He will resend the letter.
Tom believes that cats are the cutest animal and Larry believes that dogs are the cutest animal. Larry disagrees with Tom.
A suffix is a word part that is added to the end of a root word to form a new word.
Some common suffixes are:
rupt-break
able-capable of
less-without
The bully liked to disrupt class.
Learning English is very admirable.
The couple chose not to have children. They were childless.
Class Activity
Please write down some prefixes, suffixes and root words on separate sheets of paper and hand them out to the class. Have the students walk around and match the correct prefixes and suffixes to the correct root words.
- Donna lied to Karen. Donna was dishonest.
- Michael was suprised because the shot in the arm was painless.
- You pre-heated the oven before you baked the cake.
- My teacher is very approachable.
- The rude person interrupted the person who was speaking.
- My child went to preschool before she went to kindergarten.
- Before the movie, we watched many previews.
- I made many mistakes in my essay, so I need to rewrite it.