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A large vocabulary is very important for a student's success
with reading comprehension and developing communication skills. Vocabulary
includes antonyms, synonyms, homophones and homographs. Prefixes and suffixes
also form a part of vocabulary.
Prefix: The letters Un-, Re-, Pre-, Bi-, Mis-, Dis- are placed before a word
to form a new word.
Example:
Tie
Untied
Clean
Unclean
Mix
Remix
Spell
Misspell
Like
Dislike
Caution
Precaution
Suffix: The letters -er, -est, -ful are placed after a
word to form a new word.
Example:
Harm
Harmful
Strong
Strongest
Big
Bigger
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Antonyms and Synonyms
Antonyms: Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. (Example: adult - child, start - stop, fresh - stale)
Synonyms: Synonyms are words that have similar meanings. (Example: make - produce, no body - no one, cheap - inexpensive)
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Homophones, Homographs and Homonyms
Homophones
Homophones are words that sound alike but have different
meanings and different spellings.
Example:
Accept, except
(Accept means receive and except means without)
Week, weak
(Week means 7days of the week and weak means to feel sick)
See, sea
(See means to look and sea means a big water body) |
Homographs
Homographs are words that are spelled the same way but have
different meanings. Some Homographs are also pronounced differently.
Example:
1. I couldn't bear to give my pet bear to a zoo!
The first meaning of bear is to tolerate. The second one is an animal.
2. Grace didn't feel well after falling into the well.
The first meaning of well is good health. The second one is an underground
supply of water.
3. The oil well is yours and the gold mine is mine.
The first meaning of mine is underground supply. The second one is belongs to
me.
4. The rose bushes rose out of the fertile ground.
The first meaning of rose is a flower. The second one is to grow.
Homonyms
Homonyms, or homophones, are words that are pronounced the same but have
different meanings.
Example:
1. Aunt Grace hates hunting, so please hide that deer hide before she gets
here.
2. The key to the new boat was dropped on the quay.
3. Carlos refuses to buy any
book written by that author. |
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Root Words
Root Words are the basic part of a word, which usually carry the meaning.
Example:
Kind
Gentle
Polite
Worth |
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Suffix and Prefix
Suffix
A Suffix is a word that is added to the end of a base word.
Suffixes also change the meaning of base words.
Example:
worth/less
kind/ness
break/able
Prefix
A Prefix is a word part that is added to the beginning of a
base word. Prefixes change the meaning of base words.
Example:
dis/appear
in/definite
re/arrange |
