TOP 5 REASONS TO LEARN STEMS!
Knowing one root can give you
reasonable definitions of many
words.

Root: theo-

Definition: god.

Therefore, words like theocracy, theology, atheist, polytheistic, and
others all have something to do with “god”. Get it? If you know
what “theo” means, you have a much better chance of
understanding a word you’ve never seen before if it contains that
root.
Knowing one suffix (word ending)
can give you the part of speech of
a word.

Suffix: -ist

Definition: a person who…

Part of speech will always be a noun

A cyclist is a person who cycles. A cellist is a person who plays the
cello. A somnambulist is a person who sleepwalks (som = sleep and
ambul = walk).
Knowing one prefix (word
beginning) can give you part of the
definition.

Root a-, an-

Definition: without, not

Atypical means not typical. Amoral means without morals.
Anaerobic means without air or oxygen. If you understand a prefix,
you’ll have a better time guessing the definition of a word on a test.
Every major standardized test
assesses your vocabulary.

No, you won’t have to write the definition of a word down verbatim,
but you will have to understand words you’ve never seen before
anyway. Take, for instance, the word incongruous. You may have
heard the word before, but might not be able to use it in a sentence
correctly. But, if you remember that the Latin root “congruere”
means “to come together” and “in-“ negates what’s behind it, then
you know that incongruous means not together or inharmonious.
Knowing roots, suffixes and prefixes
can increase your verbal score.

Even though the verbal, critical reading or writing sections may only
account for one-third, one-fourth or an even smaller percentage on
those monstrous tests, you still have to understand what you’re
reading in the other sections. Knowing the bases of the language
can help you score better in the math, science, reasoning, and
biology sections of major tests because most of the English
language is derived from, you guessed it, Greek and Latin.