Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 2
Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 2 covers word building: how prefixes, suffixes and root words combine to create meaning, and how spotting a familiar root or affix inside an unfamiliar word lets a pupil work out its meaning without a dictionary. Many 11+ vocabulary questions use words built from common Latin and Greek roots (such as 'dict' meaning to speak, or 'spect' meaning to look), and recognising these parts turns an unseen word into a puzzle that can be solved logically rather than guessed.
Method
- Break an unfamiliar word into its parts: prefix (added to the front), root (the core meaning) and suffix (added to the end).
- Learn a bank of common prefixes and what each changes about the meaning: un-, dis-, mis-, re-, pre-, sub-, trans-, anti-.
- Learn a bank of common suffixes and what each changes about the word: -ful (full of), -less (without), -able (capable of), -tion (turns a verb into a noun), -ist (a person who does something).
- Learn a small set of common Latin and Greek roots, such as 'dict' (speak), 'spect' (look), 'port' (carry), 'scrib/script' (write), 'aud' (hear), 'bio' (life), 'phon' (sound).
- When you meet an unfamiliar word, check first for a recognisable root, then work out how the prefix and suffix change or add to that root meaning.
- Test your guessed meaning against the sentence the word appears in, to check it makes sense in context before settling on a final answer.
- Build your own short list of root-and-word families as you revise (e.g. spect: spectator, inspect, spectacle, spectacles) rather than learning single words in isolation.
Worked example
Using word parts, work out the meaning of 'transportable' in the sentence: 'The generator was heavy but transportable, so the crew could move it between sites.'
- Break the word into parts: trans- (prefix) + port (root) + -able (suffix).
- Recall that the root 'port' relates to carrying (as in transport, portable, export).
- Recall that the prefix 'trans-' means across or over (as in transfer, transatlantic).
- Recall that the suffix '-able' means capable of being.
- Combine the parts: capable of being carried across/over, i.e. able to be moved or carried from place to place.
- Check against the sentence: 'heavy but transportable, so the crew could move it between sites' confirms the meaning of 'able to be moved/carried'.
Practice questions
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Q1The root 'dict' means to speak. Using this, explain what a 'predict' most likely means.Show answer
Answer: To say something before it happens (pre- means before, dict means to speak) - to state what will happen in advance.
Q2Give the meaning of the suffix '-less' as in 'fearless' or 'careless'.Show answer
Answer: Without (fearless = without fear, careless = without care).
Q3The word 'inspect' contains the root 'spect' (to look). What does 'inspect' mean?Show answer
Answer: To look at something closely or carefully (to examine it).
Q4Add the correct prefix to 'agree' to make a word meaning 'to not agree': ___agree.Show answer
Answer: dis- (disagree)
Q5The root 'scrib/script' means to write. What does 'transcribe' most likely mean?Show answer
Answer: To write something across/over from one form to another, e.g. to write down spoken words, or to copy writing from one place to another.
Q6What does the suffix '-tion' usually do to a verb, as in 'inform' becoming 'information'?Show answer
Answer: It turns the verb into a noun (the act or result of the action).
Q7Using the root 'aud' (to hear), explain what an 'audience' is.Show answer
Answer: A group of people who are hearing/listening to something (such as a performance or speech).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Read the sentence: 'The scientist's biography described a childhood spent studying insects in the garden.' Using your knowledge of the roots 'bio' (life) and 'graph' (writing), explain what a 'biography' is, and identify one other word that uses the root 'graph'. (3 marks)
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The word 'incomprehensible' appears in the sentence: 'The old letter, written in faded ink, was almost incomprehensible.' Break the word into its parts (prefix, root, suffix) and use them to explain what the sentence tells you about the letter. (4 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the vocabulary and word skills set 2 worksheet pack - 13 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 21 of 11+ English Workbook 3, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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