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Learn how to add special word parts to make new words with different meanings!
Long, long ago, people needed more words to talk about things. They were smart and found a way to make new words by adding special parts to the front of words they already knew! These special word parts are called prefixes. Just like building with blocks, people could build new words!
Today we use prefixes all the time to make our talking and writing more interesting. When we know how prefixes work, we can understand new words and make our own!
A prefix is a special word part that goes at the very beginning of a word. It changes what the word means! When you put a prefix in front of a word, you make a brand new word with a different meaning.
Look at how the prefix and the base word work together like puzzle pieces! The prefix always goes first, and when they join together, they make a brand new word with a different meaning.
There are many different prefixes, but some are used more than others. Let's learn the most important ones that you'll see and use all the time!
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not, opposite | unhappy (not happy) |
| re- | again, back | reread (read again) |
| pre- | before | preschool (before school) |
| dis- | not, opposite | dislike (not like) |
These four prefixes are like your word-building tools! Once you know what they mean, you can understand lots of new words and make your own. Try to remember: un- and dis- mean the opposite, re- means again, and pre- means before.
The word tree shows us something important: not every prefix works with every word! You can't say rehappy because it doesn't make sense. But you can say unhappy, undo, redo, preview, and review because these make sense!
Let's practice building a new word step by step! We'll start with the word tie and add the prefix un- to make a new word.
Sometimes you'll see a word you don't know, but if it has a prefix, you can be a word detective and figure out what it means!
| Detective Step | What to Do | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Look for the Prefix | Find the part at the beginning | In 'rewrite', find 're-' |
| 2. Find the Base Word | Take away the prefix | Take away 're-' and get 'write' |
| 3. Think About Meaning | Use what you know about the prefix | 're-' means again, so 'rewrite' means write again |
Once you know the basic prefixes really well, you can learn some new ones to become an even better word builder!
| Beginner Prefixes | Next Level Prefixes |
|---|---|
| un- (not) → unhappy | over- (too much) → overeat |
| re- (again) → reread | under- (below, not enough) → underwater |
| pre- (before) → preschool | super- (above, great) → superhero |
| dis- (not, opposite) → dislike | out- (beyond, better) → outrun |
Don't try to learn all the prefixes at once! Start with the four beginner ones (un-, re-, pre-, dis-) and practice them lots. When those feel easy, then you can learn the next level prefixes!
Today we learned about prefixes, which are special word parts that go at the beginning of words to change their meaning. The four most important prefixes to remember are un- (not or opposite), re- (again), pre- (before), and dis- (not or opposite).
When you see a new word with a prefix, you can be a word detective! Look for the prefix at the beginning, find the base word, and put the meanings together. This helps you understand new words and build your own words for better writing and talking!