Caesar’s English Stems
Weeks 1-2
1. Bi (prefix) – two
2. Ped (root) – foot
3. Sub (prefix) – under
4. De (prefix) – down or opposite
5. Pre (prefix) – before
6. Super, sur (prefix) – over
7. Un (prefix) – not or none
8. Dis (prefix) – away or not
9. Sym, Syn (prefix) – together
10. Com, Co (prefix) – together
11. Tion or ion (suffix) – the act of
12. Cent (root) – one hundred
13. Multi (prefix) – many
Homework: Due Wednesday, write a
sentence using each stem in a real word.
You must write 12 complete sentences
(bicycle, biped, bilateral, bimonthly)
(biped, pedestrian, pedal, centipede)
(submarine, submerge, subtract, subway)
(descend, deposit, deduce, deconstruct)
(predict, prepare, preschool, prelude)
(supervise, superman, superior, surprise)
(undone, unprepared, unable, unequal)
(dismiss, distract, disinterested, disagreement)
(symphony, sympathy, synonym, synthesis)
(combine, complete, co-teach, cooperation)
(creation, attention, graduation)
(century, centimeter, centurion, centipede)
(multicultural, multiplication, multicolored)
Latin Stem Talk
BI means two. A bicycle has two wheels, a biped (like you) has two feet,
bilateral means two-sided, and a bimonthly magazine comes out every two months.
PED means foot. A biped (like you) has two feet, pedestrian is someone who
walks on their feet, and a pedal is something that you push with your feet. A
centipede is a creature with 100 feet!
SUB means under. A submarine goes under the sea, to submerge is to pull
something under the surface, and to subtract is a kind of arithmetic where you take
away (pull under) one number from another! A subway is a passageway under
ground.
DE means down. To descend is to go down, to deposit is to put down, to
deduce is to think your way down from a big truth. To deconstruct a project means
the opposite of constructing it, you are tearing it down.
PRE means before. To predict is to announce something before it even
happens; to prepare is to get ready before an event; a preschool is an early school
before first grade, and a prelude is the music before a performance.
SUPER or SUR mean over, above, beyond. To supervise is to watch over
people; a superman is someone with powers over and above the norm; superior
means over others in quality, and so does superb. A surprise is something that is
over or beyond what is expected. Notice that the stems super and sur are opposites
or antonyms of sub.
UN means not or none. An undone task is not completed, an unprepared
person is not prepared, being unable to do something means not being able to do it,
and unequal bowls of ice cream are not equal.
DIS means away or not. To dismiss a class is to send the students away, and
to distract someone is to draw their attention away. To be disinterested means that
you are not interested in what your neighbor is saying and are probably looking
away! A disagreement is when you are not able to come to an agreement
SYM, SYN both mean together. In a symphony orchestra, musicians play
together, and when we have sympathy for people, we feel a feeling of togetherness
with them. A synonym is a word that has the same meaning as another word and
synthesis means to gather information together into a whole.
COM, CO also both mean together. To combine is to put things together;
something is complete when it is all together, and something is complex when a lot
of parts work together. Co-teachers work together to teach, co-chairmen work
together to lead a group and cooperation is the act of working together.
TION or ION mean the act of or process of. Creation is the act of creating,
attention is the process of attending to something and graduation is the process of
graduating from school.
CENT means one hundred. A century is one hundred years, a centimeter is
one hundredth of a meter, and a Roman centurion was a soldier in a subdivision of
a Roman legion called a century, because it contained one hundred soldiers. A
centipede is a creature with 100 feet!
MULTI means many. If we are multicultural we exist with many cultures in
our society and multiplication is the act of taking many numbers and increasing the
quantity, and if something is multicolored is has many colors.