Practise Identifying Root Words

Look at the word below:

hearing

What is the root word of hearing?

A root word is a word where neither a suffix nor a prefix have been added.

In other words, a root word doesn’t have anything added at the beginning or the end.

The root word of hearing is hear.

Hearing has the prefix -ing added to it.

Other words in the hear family include:

heard

hears

overhear

Heard and hears both have suffixes and overhear has the prefix over- added.

Root words are always proper words themselves and have a meaning.

What is the root word of disappearing?

This was a challenge as disappearing has both a prefix and suffix added.

Appear is the root word.

-Dis is a prefix and -ing is a suffix.

Can you identify the root words from the words below?

rejoin

mixture

Rejoin is made from the root word join and has the prefix re- added.

Mixture is made from the root word mix and has the suffix -ture added.

In this activity, you’ll be on the hunt for root words. Make sure you remove any prefixes or suffixes.