6. Language use: Word parts

Grow your vocabulary ?

Learning word parts can help your vocabulary grow quickly!

Word parts are parts of words added to another word that changes the meaning or the part of speech.  

• A prefix is a word part that goes at the beginning of a word and changes the meaning.  

• A suffix is a word part that goes at the end of a word and changes the part of speech. 

How are they feeling?

• Which of these is happy and which is unhappy?
• What does un- do to change the meaning of the word? 

Click to show the answer. un- means 'not'

Noticing grammar

1. What part of speech is happy?

noun

verb

adjective

adverb

2. What part of speech is unhappy?

noun

verb

adjective

adverb

3. Does the prefix un- change the part of speech?

Yes, it does.

No, it doesn't

4. What part of speech is happiness?

noun

verb

adjective

adverb

5. Does the suffix -ness change the part of speech?

Yes, it does.

No, it doesn't.

6. Can you add a prefix and a suffix on one word?

Yes, you can.

No, you can't.

7. What happened to the y at the end of happy when you add -ness? 

Answers

1. What part of speech is happy? Click to show the answer. noun verb ? adjective adverb
2. What part of speech is unhappy? Click to show the answer. noun verb ? adjective adverb
3. Does the prefix un- change the part of speech? Click to show the answer. Yes, it does. ? No, it doesn't.
4. What part of speech is happiness? Click to show the answer. ? noun verb adjective adverb
5. Does the suffix -ness change the part of speech? Click to show the answer. ? Yes, it does. No, it doesn't.
6. Can you have a prefix and a suffix on one word? Click to show the answer. ? Yes, you can. No, you can't.
7. What happened to the y at the end of happy when you add -ness?  Click to show the answer. -y changes to -i- and then you add the suffix. Good job noticing grammar!

Common prefixes

Here are four of the most common prefixes in English. Do you know what they mean?