Objectives:

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Part Three, A Brief Guide to Important Word
Skills Understanding Word Parts

• Objectives
• This chapter will help you recognize and spell
• Twenty common prefixes
• Twenty common suffixes
• Twenty common roots

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One way to improve your pronunciation and
spelling is to increase your understanding of
common word parts. Prefixes, suffixes and roots
are building blocks in forming many English
words. Increasing your awareness of basic words
parts will help you pronounce many unfamiliar
words, figure out their meanings, and remember
how to spell them.
Word parts are like part of a puzzle.
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Prefixes Prefix a word part added to the
BEGINNING of a word. The prefix changes the
meaning of some words to their opposites. mis
understanding A prefix need not change a word
to its opposite, but it will alter the meaning in
some way. re view
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Some common prefixes mono alone,
one trans across, over, beyond dis apart,
away pre before inter between,
among sub under, below ex out mis badly,
wrong con together, with post after, following,
later
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Some common prefixes anti against pro before,
for (in favor of) un not, reverse ad to,
towards in not, within extra more
than re again, back mal bad com with, together
with de down, from
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Suffixes Suffix a word part added to the END
of the word. While a suffix may affect a words
meaning slightly, it is more likely to affect how
the word is used in a sentence. Very often, one
of several suffixes can be added to a
single word. Understanding common suffixes is
especially helpful when you are learning new
words. If you note the suffixes that can be
added to a new word, you will learn not just a
single word but perhaps three or four other forms
of the word as well.
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Some common suffixes ion (tion) ship less
able (ible) ant (ent) ence (ance) ness ify
(fy) en ate ize (ise) ly age ious
(ous) ist or (er) ment ism ful ery
(ary)
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Roots Root a basic word part to which
prefixes, suffixes, or both are added. Some
common roots at times change their spelling
slightly, especially in the last one or two
letters.
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Some common roots duc (duct) take, lead mit
(miss) send, let go port carry voc
(vok) call tract (trac) draw auto self path
feeling cept (capt) take, seize dict
(dic) say, tell, speak script (scrib) write
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Some common roots vers (vert) turn tang
(tact) touch cess (ced) go, move,
yield sist stand gress go pend (pens) hang,
weigh psych mind vid (vis) see spec
(spic) look graph write