Section 2 : Vocabulary
9th Grade- SAT PREP: Reading and Writing Proficiency
Lessons and Activities
(October 17-November 19)
Importance of Vocabulary
 Vocabulary is a crucial component of the language portion of any
test.
 Students who possess strong, varied vocabularies invariably
achieve higher scores on such tests than students whose
vocabularies are limited.
 Ways to Increase your Vocabulary Development:
 Pay attention to new words as you read and study; use context clues
to figure out the meanings of new words; look up unfamiliar words in
a dictionary
 Use new words in speaking and writing; help to remember the word
and make it a part of your vocabulary
 Example: Lacerate means “to rip or cut;” then recognize that laceration
means “a rip or cut”
Common Prefixes
 A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning
of a word to change its meaning.
 Understanding meanings of prefixes can help you to
understand the meanings of new words.
 Following are common prefixes with their meanings and
examples (next slide)
Prefix
Meaning
Examples
Anti-
Against
Antifreeze, antisocial
Bi-
Two, double
Bicycle, biweekly
Dis-
Not, opposite of, absence of
Dislike, dishonest
Ex-
Out of or from
Exchange, exclaim
Il-, im-, in-, ir-
Not, without
Illegal, irregular, impossible,
incomplete
Inter-
Between or among
International, interlace
Mal-
Bad, wrong, ill
Malfunction, maltreat
Mis-
Badly, wrong
Misjudge, mistreat
Non-, un-
not, opposite of
Nonsense, unpleasant
Pre-
Before
pretest, prehistoric
Post-
after, later
postscript, postdate
Re-
Again,back
rewrite, reenact
Sub-
Beneath, below
submarine, subconscious
Super-
Above, greater
superhero, superstar
Trans-
across
Transform, transplant
Uni-
one
unicycle, unilateral
Common Suffixes
 A suffix is a letter or group of letters addes to the end of a
word to change its meaning.
 Understanding meanings of suffixes can help you to
understand the meanings of new words.
 Following are common suffixes with their meanings and
examples (next slide)
Suffix
Meaning
Examples
-Able, -ible
Able to, capable of
Comfortable, visible
-ance
Act of
Performance, continuance
-ant, -ent, -er, -or
One who
Occupant, respondent, teacher,
inventor
-ful
Full of
Restful, thoughtful
-ic
Of, like
Angelic, volcanic
-ion
Act or condition of
Correction, communion
-ism
Practice of
Patriotism, favoritism
-ist
One who does
Artist, violinist
-ive
Having the nature of
Active, massive
-less
Without, does not
Heartless, careless
-ly
Like in nature
Proudly, royally
-ment
Act, or state of
Agreement, payment
-ness
Quality, state of
Kindness, sadness
-ous
Full of
Dangerous, glorious
-ship
Art or skill of
Friendship, kingship
-ward
Moving toward
Backward, southward
Homographs
 Homographs are words that are words that are spelled alike
but have different meanings and origins.
 Most, but not all, homographs are even pronounced the same
way.
Common Homographs
Angle-to fish with line and hook
Angle- a geometric figure
Arms-limps extending from the shoulders to the hand
Arms-weapons
Fan-a machine that produces currents of air
Fan-a follower or supporter
Invalid-a bedridden person
Invalid-not used
Pitcher-a container for pouring liquids
Pitcher-a baseball player
Homophones
 Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled
differently and have different meanings.
 Because they sound the same, it is easy to confuse them.
Common Homophones
Its-a pronoun that means belonging to it
It’s-contraction for it is
To-word expressing motion toward something
Too-also
Two-the sum of one and one
Whose-pronoun meaning of whom
Who’s-contraction for who is
Your-pronoun meaning belong to you
You’re-contraction for you are
Easily Confused Words
Accept-to receive
Except-to leave out
Allot-to divide according to shares
A lot-many
Desert-a dry wasteland
Dessert-a tasty food served at the end of a meal
Illusion-an unreal image
Allusion-an indirect or implied reference
Lay-to place or put
Lie-to be in a reclined position
Passed-having gone beyond
Past-an earlier time
Than-a word showing comparison
Then-at that time
Through-going from beginning to end
Thorough-complete
 Many words in English
sound a lot like others.
 These words are easily
confused.
Idioms-phrases that have special
meanings














A ball of fire-having a lot of energy
Bark up the wrong tree-make a mistake
Blow off steam-let of anger
By the skin of your teeth-just barely
Call it a day-stop doing whatever you are
doing
Face the music-accept responsibility; be
punished
Feeling his (or her) oats-having a lot of
energy
Get the show on the road-begin; start
Go all out-try your hardest
Got a tiger by the tail-having a big problem
Hold your horses-stop; wait
In a jam-in trouble
In the bag-a certainty; a sure thing
In the same boat-sharing the same thing,
usually a problem











Let the cat out of the bag-reveal a secret
Out of sight, out of mind-a person (or thing)
who (that) is not present is not remebered
Over the hill-too old for a particular job or
task
Pulling my leg-tricking of kidding someone
Put their heads together-work together to
solve a problem
Spur of the moment-do something
spontaneously without thinking about it
Start the ball rolling-begin, start
Stop dead in his (or her) tracks-stop or end
something abruptly
Still up in the air-not settled yet
Throw in the towel-give up
Up the creek
Ways to Build Your Vocabulary
 1. Read as much as you can. Read a variety of different materials, including









novels, nonfiction books, short stories, magazines, and newspapers.
2.Look for context clues to help you understand the meanings of new words.
Practice figuring out the meanings of unfamiliar words from the way they are
used in a sentence
3.When you cannot figure out the meanings of words from context clues, look
them up in a dictionary. Keep a notebook of new words.
4. Pay close attention to words that have multiple meanings.
5. Learn the meanings of prefixes, suffixes, and the roots of the words.
6. Use new words in your speaking and writing.
7. Learn to pronounce and spell words correctly.
8. Use a thesaurus to vary your word usage when writing.
9. Make the learning of new words a goal in every subject. Use the glossaries of
your textbooks to find the meanings of words.
10. Do crossword puzzles and other word puzzles to have fun and to build your
vocabulary.
Finding Prefixes I

1. international
 Nation, al, in, inter

2. dishonest
 Di, dis, est, honest

3. improbable
 Im, imp, impr, able

4. irreversible
 Ir, irr, reverse, ible

5. nonprofit
 No, non, pro, profit

6. prehistorical
 Preh, pre, hist, al

7. inactive
 Inact, act, ive, al

8. transparent
 Al, tra, trans, parent

9. uninterested
 Uni, unin, interest, un

10. biannual
 Bia, annual, bi, al
Defining Prefixes I

1. submarine
 Without, before, below, after

2. antifreeze
 Bad, double, against, back

3. immortal
 Without, before, after, above

4. inconsiderate
 Bad, not, before, wrong

5. misfortune
 Bad, not, later, opposite of,

6. unicycle
 Across, beneath, one, badly

7. transcontinental
 Greater, across, wrong, not

8. preview
 Before, after, again, between

9. malfunction
 Not, badly, among, absence of

10. superstar
 Against, between, again, above
Finding Suffixes I

1. performance
 Per, form, ance, ce

2. retirement
 Ment, re, tire, nt

3. showy
 Show, owy,wy, y

4. eagerness
 E, eager, ness, es

5. existence
 Tence, ence, ex, exist

6. artist
 Tist, art, st, ist

7. respondent
 Re, dent, ent, respond

8. acidic
 Ic, ac, acid, aci

9. patriotism
 Tism, ism, patriot, pat

10. creator
 Ator, create, tor, or
Defining Suffixes I

1. reversible
 Without, capable of, like, state of

2. correction
 condition of, does not, art of, like

3. disappearance
 One who, full of, act of, does not

4. assistant
 One who, state of, like, without

5. vocanic
 Does not, act of, one who, like

6. favoritism
 Able to, not, practice of, badly

7. visible
 Badly, full of, without, able to

8. violiinist
 Like, without, one who does, act of

9. backward
 Act of, moving toward, not, full of

10. carnivorous
 Full of, practice of, like, not
Finding/Defining Synonyms I
 1. a dense fog
 Chilly, thick, damp, thin
 2.an experienced detective
 Police officer, lawyer, investigator, analyst
 3. ominous clouds before a storm
 Threatening, high, fearful, insidious
 4. a strange occurrence that no one could explain
 Evening, tragedy, surprise, incident
 5. modify the schedule for the assembly
 Distribute, change, follow, ignore
 6. catastrophic hurricane
 Flooding, phenomenal, impending, disatrous
 7. amazing news that caused excitement throughout the town
 Awful, astounding, confusing, trivial
 8. another ordinary day
 Unique, stupendous, usual, astonishing
Finding Synonyms II
 1. unanimous decision by the committee
 Undivided, split, disputed, wrong
 2. a suspicious nature
 Trusting, complex, unstable, distrustful
 3. the primary objective
 Only, substantial, noteworthy, main
 4. precious diamonds
 Imitation, valuable, inexpensive, dazzling
 5. decision of the magistrate
 Mayor, judge, senator, president
 6. a severe limitation
 Law, announcement, proclamation, restriction
 7. a generous contribution
 Substantial, thoughtful, satisfying, stingy
Finding Antonyms I
 1. a confidential report
 Secret, public, private, detailed
 2. the original document
 Authentic, handwritten, duplicate, unique
 3. foreign products
 Overseas, international, expensive, domestic
 4. a difficult situation
 Complicated, simple, confusing, extraordinary
 5. an interesting movie
 Boring, enjoyable, scary, complex
 6. an incredible day
 Unusual, typical, shocking, frightening
 7. oppose the reformers
 Fight, undermine, dispute, support
 8.mild reaction to a bee sting
 Uncomfortable, itchy, serious, minor
Finding Antonyms II
 1. follow the orders
 Disregard, accept, question, receive
 2. a very energetic person
 Adventurous, cautious, nervous, lazy
 3. a temporary solution to the problem
 Incomplete, permanent, quick, tedious
 4. violent change in society
 Rapid, destructive, peaceful, expected
 5. a spacious room
 Small, huge, empty, open
 6. a difficult problem
 Question, dilemma, solution, undertaking
 7. a very expensive ring
 Valuable, imitation, phony, cheap