Root Words and Word Families
A root word is a word
that has nothing added
at the beginning or at the end.
You can take a root
word and make new words by adding
prefixes and suffixes.
By adding prefixes and suffixes, you can make these new words:
- unclear
- clearly
- cleared
- clearing
All of these words have grown
from their root word. They share parts of the same spelling
and they are linked in terms of meaning.
In a word family, all
the words share parts
of the same spelling
and have linked meaning.
Root:use
Family:
- useless
- usable
- used
- using
- user
- misuse
Root: employ
Family:
employment
unemployment
employer
employee
employing
You can see that all the words in the family share spelling and meaning.
So, un + employ + ment =
the process of not being employed
Root: bene, ben = good, well, gentle
Latin = bene = good
Family:
- a benign tumor = a harmless tumor
- a benefit = an act of kindness
- beneficial = giving benefits
- beneficiary = one who benefits from something
Root: port = carry
Latin = portare = carry
Family:
- import = to bring in from a foreign country
- transport = to transfer or convey from one place to another
- export = to carry or send to some other place
- transportation = means of travel from one place to another
Root: cred = to believe
Family:
- credo
- credible
- credence
- credit
- credential
- credulity
- incredulous
- creed
- incredible
root
prefix
suffix
FAMILY