Understand and Spell Words with the Prefix un-

Using prefixes

A root word is a word on it's own. A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word. 

Here are some common prefixes:

un (untidy)

dis (disorganised)

Knowing what a prefix means can help us to understand new words.

For example, the prefix un- means 'not'.

un (prefix) + happy (root word) = unhappy 

un (prefix) + well (root word) = unwell

un (prefix) + kind (root word) = unkind

Did you notice how there are no finger spaces between the prefix and the root word? They are all the same word. 

Let's have a go at adding the prefix un to some words.