English 6

Quarter 3- Week 6

Objective
To infer meaning of borrowed words using affixes and roots

Let’s Understand
As we read, we encounter unfamiliar words, and our initial action is to look for
a dictionary. But there are other strategies you can use to infer the meaning of
unfamiliar words aside from looking for context clues. One strategy is to look at how
the words are structured. Analyzing the word and breaking it down to small parts will
help you understand the meaning of unfamiliar words and build a rich vocabulary.
Can you guess the meaning of unfamiliar words without looking at the
dictionary?
Understanding how words are
structured will help you to become a better Walking
reader. Prefixes, suffixes, and roots are the Walker Walked
essential building blocks of all words which
will help you decipher the meaning of
unfamiliar words. WALK

Root word – is a word part that provides the

basic meaning of a word. Also called the base form without any added
syllables.

Affix – is a set of letters generally added to the beginning or end of the root word to
modify its meaning. There are two types of affixes namely prefix and suffix.
Prefix - is a syllable, or group of syllables, added to the beginning of a word to
change the meaning and form another word.
Root word Prefix New word
use re reuse
cover un uncover
respect dis disrespect
Each prefix has its own meaning and when added to the root may change the
entire meaning of the new word or change its function.
Below is a list of commonly used prefixes:
Prefix Meaning Examples
re- again or back revisit, reappear, rebuild,
dis- opposite disappear, disconnect, discontinue
over- too much oversleep, overwork
un- opposite unfamiliar, unfasten

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 mis- badly or wrongly mislead, misinform, misidentify
out- more or better than others outperform, outbid
en- to put into enrage, endanger
de- do the opposite of devalue, deselect
pre- before pre-expose, prejudge, pretest
sub- under/below subway, subdivide
anti- against antidote, anti-government
auto- self autobiography, automobile
bi- two Bicycle

Suffix - is a letter or group of letters added to the ending of words to change their
meaning or function and form a new word.
Root word Suffix New word
use less useless
comfort able comfortable
respect ful respectful
Likewise, each suffix has also its own meaning and when added to the root
may change the entire meaning of the new word or change its function.
Below is a list of commonly used suffixes:
SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
-able capable of capable, attainable
-ee one who receives an action employee, payee
-en constructed of wooden, woolen
-en to make widen, shorten, fasten
-ish resembling childish, foolish
-or one who doctor, censor
-ible can do (something) edible
-er a person who does an action teacher
-ful full of hopeful
-fy to make magnify
-ist person who does an action or artist
believes in a certain idea of
religion
-less not having hopeless
-ology the study of zoology
-ous full of, having joyous
-tion action, process of creation

Did you know that most of our English words are based on Greek and Latin
words? Recognizing these roots will also help you understand the meaning of
unfamiliar words.
These root words need a prefix or suffix to be a full word. Let’s take a look

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at an example of this:

The root ‘aud’ means ‘to hear’, ‘aud’ is part of a word and cannot be used as a
word on its own.
Adding a suffix completes the word and gives it additional meaning, but does
not change the root, ‘to hear’

aud + the suffix ible = audible, meaning ‘able to be heard’

Study the table below containing the commonly used Greek and Latin roots:
Greek Root Meaning English Words
arche/archaeo primitive, ancient, origin archaic, archaeology
bio life autobiography, biology
chron time chronology, chronological
dem people demographics, democracy
geo earth geography, geology
hydr/hydra/hydro water hydrate, hydraulic
log/logy study, speech logic, biology, psychology
Latin Root Meaning English Words
agri field, country Agriculture, agribusiness
alb white albino, alabaster
aud hear, sound audible, audiology
cent a hundred century

Some words can have both the prefix and suffix. Look at the example below:
Change is a root word. By adding the prefix ‘un’ and the suffix ‘able’ you create a
new word with a new meaning, unchangeable.

un + change + able = unchangeable

prefix root word suffix new word

Let’s Apply
A. Directions: Add the most appropriate prefix to the root word in the
parenthesis to make the sentence correct.
Ex: One of our projects is to recycle (cycle) old plastic bottles.
1. I’ve waited for my birthday to (wrap) my presents.
2. Our government is planning to construct a (way) in the
Philippines. If that happens, it will be the first ever underground means of
transportation in the country.
3. My mother told me that if I __ (behave) I will not receive any gifts for
Christmas.
4. I think I (ate) that is why my stomach is aching.
5. One of the oldest bridges in Paranaque is found in Lahuerta. Due to its age it
needs to be (constructed) to strengthen its foundation.

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B. Directions: Add a suffix to each root word so it matches the new definition.

ROOT WORDS
beauty teach cost self sleep
suffixes
Ex: having no sleep – (sleep+less) sleepless
-er -ly -less -ful
very pretty very expensive
one who teach _
concerned more to others than self _

Let’s Try
Directions: Use the word bank and what you know about prefixes, suffixes, and root
words to complete each sentence appropriately. The first one is done for
you.
Word Bank
Imports unclear careful
fearless chronological submarine
Ex. Our city imports vegetables from Baguio because we do not have fields to mass
produce vegetables.

1. A allows explorers to see the bottom most part of the ocean

never seen by man.
2. If the information is _ please ask questions to clarify them.
3. The armed forces are against the terrorist groups who spread
terror in the country.
4. Our medical front liners are in handling patients with COVID-19
not only to cure them but also to avoid from getting and spreading the disease.
5. Our Araling Panlipunan teacher asked us to memorize the Philippine
presidents in _ order.

Let’s Create
Goal: Make a comic strip with dialogues encouraging your classmates to be
productive at home during your free time.
(Note: This activity is not intended to measure how good you draw but how good
you construct the dialogues with appropriate affixes and roots used.)
Role: A comic strip writer.
Audience: Friends/neighbors and teacher.
Situation: You were very productive during your free time, but you learned that your
classmates are just watching television and playing video games at home
during their free time. You thought of encouraging your classmates to be
productive in their own ways by making a comic strip.
Product / Performance: A comic strip containing dialogues with affixes in it.

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings in boxes that tell an amusing story with
dialogue or conversation. Usually the conversation between characters are placed
in balloon talk.