Learning English

Learn the root

Here's a tip to help you develop your vocabulary skills.

The English language is like a tree. If you learn the root word, you can work out many other parts. Knowing prefixes and suffixes can really help with this.

For example – the verb employ. You can think of this as a 'root' that several 'branches' grow from:

• If you have a job - you are employed.
• Employed is the past participle of employ, and it's also an adjective.
• You can make employ into a noun by adding –ment.
• Employment is 'the state of being employed'.
• An employer is 'someone who employs people'.
• An employee is 'someone who is employed'.
• And don't forget prefixes – unemployment is the state of not being employed.

So – just from one root word, with some knowledge of prefixes and suffixes, we suddenly have a little family: a little tree of words!

Read the text and complete the activity

To do

Here's a little story to help you practise your word families. The three root words are support, friend and use. Try to work out the correct answers using your knowledge of these words.

Here are a few suffixes to help you.

-less = 'without'

• worthless, tasteless

-able = creates an adjective meaning that the subject can do something OR that something can be done to it

• excitable, loveable, breakable

-er = it's a job or skill

presenter, teacher, train driver

-ive = makes an adjective from a verb

• attractive, abusive, protective

And two prefixes:

un- = 'not' the word that comes after

• unemployed, unworthy, unfair

re- = 'again'

• reuse, reheat, re-educate

End of Session 1

And that's it for this session: well done! In Session 2 we're going to look at an important tense - the past perfect continuous. Had you been hoping that we would practise that tense?