7 EASY STEPS TO UNDERSTAND AND REMEMBER A NEW WORD - Steps 4 and 5

4... LOOK INSIDE THE WORD

Some English words contain a smaller word inside the bigger word.

For example:

The word ‘extraneous’ contains the word ‘extra’ and ‘extra’ is a synonym for the word extraneous.

 

Some words include a prefix or a suffix, so knowing the meaning of the prefix or suffix may help us to understand the new word.

For example:
The word ‘disproportionate’ contains the word ‘proportion’ which means: the size, quantity or number of something; the amount of something.
And, one of the meanings of the prefix ‘dis-‘ is ‘not’, so “not an equal size, quantity, number or amount”.

For example:
The word ‘denounce’ looks a little like announce.
The prefix ‘de-‘ means a negative.
So denounce means ‘to speak out against something or someone’.

Prefixes and suffixes help us interpret the meanings of some words.

Here’s a link to a very simple, helpful list of prefixes and suffixes:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/vocabulary/pdf/prefixes_suffixes.pdf

 

For a more advanced list:
http://www.cdl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Common-Prefixes-Suffixes-and-Roots-8.5.13.pdf

 

5... COLLOCATIONS: WORDS THAT OFTEN GO TOGETHER

 

We can understand a new word better when we see it used with other words.

For example:

The adjective ‘extraneous’ is often used with:

<ul><li>the noun information...... <em>The report contained a lot of extraneous information.</em></li><li>the verb need............... <em>We don’t need extraneous information in the report.</em></li></ul>

 

Here is a link to a free online collocation dictionary:

<a href="http://prowritingaid.com/free-online-collocations-dictionary.aspx" target="_blank">http://prowritingaid.com/free-online-collocations-dictionary.aspx</a>