To learn English words thoroughly we must spend some thought on the way in which they are made up, on the language from which they have been derived, and on the changes in meaning made by adding prefixes and suffixes. Three important influences in building the English have been the Anglo-Saxon, the Greek, and the Latin languages. The simplest words in the language are Anglo-Saxon. The following exercises illustrate how words have been multiplied by Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes.

Name as many words as you can that make use of each of the following prefixes. Give only such as are recognizable English words without the prefix.

Give the meaning of each of the prefixes used above.

What part of speech does each prefix make?

Using the following Teutonic suffixes, form English words. Be careful that the root taken alone is an English word.

What does each suffix mean?

What part of speech does it make?

As above, form words using the following suffixes:

Define each suffix.

What part of speech does it make?

Below is given a list of common Greek roots with the English meaning of each. Form words using one or more of the roots for each word, and define the words you make. For instance, give the meaning of telephone, telegraph, and monarch.

How many names of modern inventions have you made?

What words belonging to your vocabulary end in the following suffixes? Choose only such as have an English word for the root.

The following is a list of the more commonly used Latin prefixes:

Analyze the following words, telling prefix, root, suffix, part of speech, and meaning:

When the prefixes ad, con, and in are used to form English words, the final consonant of each is often changed to the initial consonant of the root to which it is joined.

Ad assumes the forms ab, ac, af, ag, al, an, ap, ar, as, at, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which it is prefixed; as,

Con assumes the forms col, cor, com, by assimilation; it takes the form com before p; and it drops the n before a vowel; as,

In assumes the forms il, im, ir, by assimilation and takes the form of im before p.

The suffixes able and ible are sometimes troublesome because it is difficult to know which ending to write. As a rule, if the new word was made from another English word, the ending is able, as blamable. The words ending in ible are derived from the Latin, and, as a rule, the ending cannot easily be separated from the root and still leave the latter an English word. Examples are:

The suffixes ant and ent must also be carefully noted. No rule can be given for using one rather than the other. Whenever in doubt, consult a dictionary. Note the following:

The endings eous and ious, where e and i are often confused, are illustrated in the following:

The endings cious and tious are shown in the following:

The endings gious and geous are illustrated in the following:

Nouns in ance and ence:

Nouns in sion, cion, and tion:

Verbs in ise, yze, and ize:

Verbs in ceed, sede, and cede:

What other words can you form from the following? Explain what prefixes or suffixes you use in each case and what part of speech you form.

There are many words the meanings of which are easily confused. The spelling and the definitions of such must be mastered. Analysis in this exercise and in the one following does not require separation into prefix, root, and suffix, but it necessitates a careful study of the words, first, to note the difference in spelling; second, to consult a dictionary, if necessary, for the difference in meaning.

Define each word clearly.

Use each in a sentence to illustrate its meaning.

As above, define each word carefully and use it in a sentence to illustrate its meaning.

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