Root Words Worksheets

Root words provide the foundation upon which the meaning of a word forms. A prefix or suffix can often be added to these roots to form a new meaning for the word. Root words are unique from affixes in that they can fully stand on their own and they do not need the help of a word part to make sense and have a distinct meaning. These worksheets will help students better understand the meaning of various roots and their use towards language.


Understanding and focusing time on root words and affixes will definitely heighten your ability to read and comprehend as well communicate with others.


Advanced Roots - These are commonly found user in higher level vocabulary terms, but they do make their way into many elementary appropriate terms as well.

Identifying Roots and Inflectional Forms - We look at how tense and context play into naming an expression of terms.

Learning Academic Terms and Phrases - We will explore a technique that can quickly help you understand new vocabulary when first presented with it.

Patterns of Word Changes - This section can really help your decoding skills. You will feel much more comfortable as you come across new vocabulary terms.

Prefix and Suffixes - This is a huge collection of worksheets that is particularly related to this section.

Using Greek and Latin Affixes and Roots - We look at how the ancient civilizations helped shape the English language even today.

Using Roots To Define Words - This is tremendously helpful when you are preparing for the college aptitude test.

Using Roots to Determine the Meaning of Text - This is a more advanced version of the previous topic of worksheets.

Vocabulary We Use in a Conversation - We use quite common terms that apply to most parts of the world that speak English.

Word Etymology - We learn how they have been formed and changed throughout history.



What are Root Words?

The words that help in the formation of new words are known as root words. As a tree grows from its roots, in the English language, words are also made up of the roots. In the English language, many terms have borrowed a part or whole of another unit of sound from another language.


While the root provides the foundation for most words, they can not hold up all by itself. They require the use of a prefix or suffix which are collectively know as affixes. A prefix is a series of syllables that is found at the start of a word. A suffix is the same thing but found at the end of words. When an affix is removed or added to a word it can often change the meaning or part of speech it exhibits in a sentence.


This borrowed part usually makes the root of a word. Since the Latin and Greek languages played a vital role in the formation of the English language, most of the words used today either have Greek or Latin roots. These Greek and Latin roots contributed to the formation of various English terms are discussed in detail below:


The Most Important Greek and Latin Roots


Greek and Latin languages have played a vital role in the formation of the English language. Most of the English words we use today have either came down to us from Latin or Greek language.


Derived From Greek


The Greek language has contributed a lot in the formation of the English language. This is why Greek Root Words are found in the English language in large amounts. There are roughly thousands of Greek root words and therefore, it is impossible to list them all. Some commonly used Greek root words are, aqua for water, bio for life, cylind for roll, geo for earth, exo for outer, dem for people, tele for far, chrono for time, tele for far, hyd for water, graph for write, anti for against, ast for star, auto for self, chrome for color, dyna for powerful, anthropo for man, dys for bad, hetero for different, homo for same, path for feel, photo for light, logy for study, etc.


Derived From Latin


Latin words also have helped in the formation of the English language to a great extent. Most Latin root words are used in serving as the basis for the formation of many new words. Most important Latin root words used in the English language are circ for round, audi for hearing, jur for law, omni for all, vac for empty, vis or vid for see, sens for feel, scrib for writing, pac for peace, mis for send, log for thought, voc for word, ab for move, manu for by hand, port for carry, quit for silent, terr for earth, tim for fear, act for do, agr for farming, bene for good, dict for saying, circum for around, mater for mother, multi for many, pater for father, rupt for break, sent for feel, voc for voice, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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