LA - Root Words Lesson

Root Words

Believe it or not, most of the words in the English language today were not originally English. These words were taken from other languages. The majority of English words have either Latin or Greek origins. When taking the SAT, it is important to be familiar with the origins or roots of the English language. When you know the meaning of a root word, it can help you to figure out the meaning to a word you don't know. Knowing familiar prefixes and suffixes can also help with this process as well.

Roots

The root is the base element of a word. It is the part of the word that contains the definition. A prefix is a word element that is placed in front of a word. A prefix changes the word's meaning or makes a new word. A suffix is a word element that is placed after the root. The suffix changes the word's meaning as well as its function. Prefixes and suffixes are also called affixes because they are attached to the root.

Endings that create different forms of the same word are called Inflectional Suffixes. There are very few inflectional suffixes, but they occur often in the English language.

Suffix	Type of Word	Example
-s, -es, -ies	Plural	Dogs
-s	3^rd person singular present	He likes
-ed	Past tense	He worked
-en	Past participle	He has eaten
- en	Plural (irregular)	oxen
-ing	Possessive/continuous	He is sleeping
- er	Comparative	Bigger
-est	Superlative	Biggest
n't	Negative (contraction)	Can't

Endings that change the meaning of a word are called Derivational Suffixes .

Suffix	Part of Speech	Example
-ism	Forms a noun	heroism
-ist	Noun	artist
-ful	Adjective	beautiful
-able	Adjective	taxable
- ation	Noun	nomination
- ness	Noun	sadness
- ment	Noun	contentment
-ify	Verb	simplify
-fy	Adjective	amplify
-ity	Noun	captivity
-ly	Adverb	hopefully
-ize	Verb	terrorize

Please view these lists of Greek Links to an external site. and Latin Links to an external site. root words. It is in a student's best interest to study the unfamiliar roots in order to increase vocabulary and improve scores on the SAT. Use the following self-assessment to test your knowledge of Greek and Latin roots.

Read the basic meaning of the root word, prefix, or suffix.

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