ABC order
143
ABC order means alphabetizing or sorting
words in a list by letters of the alphabet.
– Apple
– Boat
– Cart
Acronym
144
An acronym is usually formed with the
capital initial letters from all or some words
in the name.
Examples:
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
UFO: Unidentified Flying Object
EMT: Emergency Medical Technician
SUV: Sport Utility Vehicle
Adjacent vowels
145
Adjacent vowels are vowels that are right
next to one another in a given word.
Examples:
need, meat, brain, house
Adjective
146
Adjectives are words that describe nouns
and pronouns. Adjectives are usually placed
just before the words they modify. An
adjective is a part of speech.
Examples:
big apple, funny joke, warm water, red
wagon, right angle, and old shoe
Adverb
147
Adverbs are words that describe verbs. They may
also describe adjectives or other adverbs.
Adverbs usually answer such questions as
“How?”, “Where?”, “When?” or “To what degree?”.
Adverbs are often formed by adding the suffix –ly
to an adjective, as in deeply, or happily. An adverb
is a part of speech.
Examples:
She ran very well.
The mayor is highly capable.
Antonyms
148
Antonyms are two words with opposite
meanings.
Examples:
Cold and hot are antonyms
Small and large are antonyms.
Stop and go are antonyms.
Rise and fall are antonyms.
Base word
149
A base word is a word to which prefixes
and suffixes may be added to create new
and related words.
Example:
Base word = learn
Related words = learning, relearn, learned
Closed syllables
150
A word with a closed syllable has a short
vowel which is “closed in” by a consonant.
Examples:
cap, sit, men, was, pencil (two closed syllables)
Compound word
151
A compound word is made by joining two
or more words. Sometimes they are
hyphenated.
Examples:
merry-go-round, backyard, sandbox and
mailbox
Consonant
152
Consonants are the letters of the alphabet
that are not vowels.
BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZ
Context clues
153
Context clues help the reader to figure out
what a word means by looking at the words
nearby. These clues can be found before,
within, or after the sentence with the
unfamiliar word.
Contraction
154
A shortened form of a word or group of
words, with the missing letters marked by an
apostrophe.
Examples:
I’m = I am
They’re = They are
We’re = We are
Shouldn’t = Should not
Digraph
155
A digraph is a pair of letters that make a
single speech sound.
Examples:
gh – ghost, th-three, ph-pheasant, oo-foot
Double consonant
156
Double consonants are two consonants right
next to each other in a word.
Examples:
fall, tripped
gh sound
157
There are three (3) gh sounds:
Sounds like f:
Sounds like the hard g:
Sound is silenced:
rough, tough
ghost
through, height
Greek/Latin Roots
158
A Greek or Latin word root is a part of a word. It
contains the core meaning of the word. Knowing
the “building blocks” of the English language –
prefixes, suffixes and root words – helps you to
understand a word’s meaning. Often you can
guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word if you are
familiar with the Greek or Latin root meaning.
lun- Latin root meaning moon. English words: lunar, lunatic
hard g sound
159
The hard g sounds like the g in these
words:
Examples:
go, goat, tag, big, guest, grab
Homophone
160
same-sound, different spelling, different meaning
Homophones are words that SOUND alike, but
have different meanings and spellings.
Examples:
to, two and too
their, they’re and there
week and weak
hear and here
son and sun
Homograph
161
same writing, different meanings
Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but
have different meanings. They may also sound different.
These homographs look alike, but do not sound alike.
– Have you read the book? I like to read mysteries.
– I wound the clock. I have a large wound on my arm.
– Our seats were very close to the stage, Close the window, please!
This homograph looks the same and sounds the same but has different
meanings.
– Do you feel well? We are digging a new well for the town.
Homonyms
162
same writing, same sound, different meaning
Homonyms are words that have both the same
sound and spelling, but have different meanings.
Examples:
The weather was fair. The rules seem fair.
Please lie down and rest. Do not lie to your friend.
Infer (verb); Inference (noun) 163
Infer: to make a conclusion based on
facts.
Inference: a conclusion based on facts
Example:
Since our cat was wet and covered with leaves, we inferred that she
had gotten outside somehow.
Long vowel sounds
164
Long vowels make the sound of the vowel
name.
Long a – bake
Long e – economy
Long i – ride
Long o – note
Long u – flute
Lowercase letters
165
Lowercase letters are not capitalized.
abcdefghIjklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Multisyllabic
166
A word with more than one syllable is
multisyllabic.
Examples:
Big-ger, tend-er-ly, mar-ried
Noun
167
A noun is a person, place, thing or idea. A
noun is a part of speech.
Examples:
Kevin, baker, library, intelligence, flower and kindness
oi sound
168
The oi sound is heard in words like these:
oil, boil, soil, poison and toy.
Prefix
169
A prefix is a letter combination placed at the
beginning of a root word. Adding a prefix
does not change the spelling of the root
word, but the prefix and the root word
together make a new word with a new
meaning.
prefix + word = new word
dis + able = disable
re + view = review
Preposition
30
A preposition is one of many words that
show the relationship between a noun or a
pronoun and another word. A preposition is
a part of speech.
Example:
The squirrel is on the box.
The preposition on shows the physical relationship between the
squirrel and the box.
r- controlled
31
When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a
special sound called the r- controlled sound.
/ar/
/âr/
/îr/
/ir/
/or/
/er/
sound as in car, guitar and Arthur
sound as in care, bear, mare, scare, and aquarium
sound as in pier
sound as in turnip, spider, certificate and beaver
sound as in manor, observatory author, brought and orchard
sound as in butter, cutter and mother
Rhyming words
32
Rhyming words have the same end sounds.
Examples:
while and style
shoe and glue
nose and grows
pants and France
Root word
173
The root (base) word is the main part of a word
that contains its basic meaning. Suffixes and
prefixes are sometimes added to the root to
change its meaning. Knowing what a root means
helps to determine the meaning of a word.
Root word
min
scop
ject
Meaning
small
see, examine
throw
Words
minority, minute
telescope
inject, reject
Short vowels
34
Short vowels are letters which make distinct
sounds like those heard in these words.
/ă/
/ĕ/
/ĭ/
/ŏ/
/ŭ/
ant
eggs
invisible
octopus
under
Suffix
175
A suffix is a group of letters with a special
meaning added to the end of a root or base
word to change its meaning.
Examples:
baker, boredom, bravely, capable, friendliest and resident
Superlative
176
Superlatives are used to compare nouns.
(example: old, older and oldest)
1.
2.
3.
Adjectives of one syllable, such as low, big, small, etc., end with –est:
the lowest, the biggest, the smallest and so on.
Adjectives which have three or more syllables, such as intelligent,
beautiful, difficult, do not take –est. You must use “most”; the most
intelligent, the most beautiful, the most difficult.
Adjectives with two syllables? If the word ends in ‘y’ such as happy,
dirty, etc., then the adjective takes the –est form. “I am the happiest man
in the world!” If the adjective with two syllables does not end in ‘y’, the
superlative takes the “most” form. For example, boring, then we say:
“That is the most boring book I have ever read!”
Syllable
37
A syllable is a single, uninterrupted sound
found in a word.
Synonyms
178
Words meaning the same or nearly the
same thing.
Examples:
delight and joy
brief and short
mild and gentle
Syntax
39
Syntax is the way words are put together in
a sentence to make meaning.
Uppercase
40
CAPITAL letters of the alphabet are called
uppercase.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
VCCV RULE
41
Vowel, Consonant, Consonant, Vowel
Examples:
blanket and pretzel
Vowel
42
Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu (and sometimes y)
Word family
43
Word families are “related” when they
share a common phonic sound or element.
Sometimes they are called “chunks”.
Examples:
sink, brink, link, stink, rink, mink, wink and pink
Other word families are “related” in
meaning but are different parts of speech.
Examples:
horror (noun), horrible (adjective), horrified (verb), and horribly (adverb)
anti- (prefix)
44
anti- against, opposite or opposed to
Example:
antisocial – acting against the norms of
society
bi- (prefix)
bi- two, twice
Examples:
bicycle, bilingual, bicentennial
bicolor – having two colors
45
cent- (prefix)
cent- hundred, hundredth
Examples:
centimeter and centipede
centennial- the 100th anniversary
46
de- (prefix)
de- reduce or reverse
Examples:
decompose and debrief
47
dis- (prefix)
dis- not; do the opposite of
Examples:
disallow, disagree, discover, disappear
48
en- (prefix)
49
en- bring or put into or on
Examples:
engage, envelope, encourage, enable, endanger,
enhance, endure, enjoin, enlist, encumber
ex- (prefix)
ex- from, out of, away
Examples:
exhale and exchange
50
il-, im-, in-, ir- (prefix)
not, without
Examples:
illegal, impossible, inappropriate, irrational
51
in- (prefix)
not, on/in
Examples:
Not: invisible, insane, infinite
On/in: indoors, inject, inhale
52
inter- (prefix)
53
inter: between, among
Examples:
I took a walk during the intermission of the concert.
The Olympics is an international event.
intra- (prefix)
54
within; inside
Examples:
Our school has many intramural sporting activities.
My dog needed intravenous medicine.
mis- (prefix)
mis: badly or wrongly
Examples:
misplace, mistake, misunderstand
55
non- (prefix)
non-: not
Examples:
nonfiction, nonsense, non-fat
56
out- (prefix)
out-: more, to a greater degree
Examples:
to outrun, to outlive, to outfox, to outdo
57
pre- (prefix)
58
pre-: before
Examples:
pre-existing, preview, precaution, prehistoric, preschool,
predict
re- (prefix)
59
re-: again, back
Examples:
I must review the photos and send my favorites to Granny.
Please rewind the movie so I can see it again.
tri- (prefix)
tri-: three
Examples:
triangle, tricycle
60
un- (prefix)
un-: not, opposite or to reverse
Examples:
unbeaten, unfriendly, unlock, undo
61
-able and –ible (suffix)
-able and –ible: capable of; fit for
–
–
–
–
–
–
Acceptable
Curable
Presentable
Flexible
Horrible
Invisible
62
-er and –or (suffix)
63
1. –er and –or added to a verb: becomes
the person who is performing the action.
teacher, player, boxer, actor, director, mayor
2. -er added to an adjective shows
comparison
bigger, smarter, funnier, softer, kinder
-ful (suffix)
-ful: full of
Examples:
thankful, useful, careful, respectful
64
-iest, -est (suffix)
65
These are suffixes added to show a
superlative comparison, implying that
something is the best or worst, or greatest
or least.
Example:
My dog was voted the ugliest!
The slowest car cam in last.
My funniest friend went on vacation.
The star in the East is the brightest.
-less (suffix)
66
-less: without
Examples:
The little boy had a toothless grin.
Because of the storm, we had a sleepless night.
-phobia (suffix)
67
-phobia: intense fear of a certain thing
Examples:
claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces
ombrophobia: fear of rain
-y (suffix)
68
-y: consisting of, characterized by or having
the quality of
Examples:
brainy, chilly, jumpy and shiny
Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic fallacy is when nature mirrors a
character’s mood, emotions, feelings or
thoughts.
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It is a
wide subject within the general study of
language. An understanding of semantics is
essential to the study of language
acquisition.
Diphthong
A diphthong refers to two adjacent vowel
sounds occurring with in the same syllable.
Paradox
A paradox is a statement or proposition that
seems to contradict itself, but is often true.
Example: “I always lie,” is a paradox
because if it is true, it must be false.
Connotation
Connotation is the idea and feeling
associated with a word as opposed to
its literal dictionary definition.
Denotation
Denotation is the exact dictionary
meaning for a word.
Action verb
3
An action verb is a “doing” verb.
Examples:
walking, sing, threw, builds, mashing, sleep,
love, rested, contain, drive, collecting,
aiming, look, devote and brought
Opposite
28
Opposite means the reverse of something.
Examples:
wet and dry
go and stop