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.

B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Y Z

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: rough, tough

Sounds like the hard g: ghost

Sound is silenced: 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 – bakeLong e – economyLong i – rideLong o – noteLong u – flute

Lowercase letters 165

Lowercase letters are not capitalized.

a b c d e f g h I j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

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 worddis + able = disablere + 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/ sound as in car, guitar and Arthur

/âr/ sound as in care, bear, mare, scare, and aquarium

/îr/ sound as in pier

/ir/ sound as in turnip, spider, certificate and beaver

/or/ sound as in manor, observatory author, brought and orchard

/er/ 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 Meaning Words

min small minority, minute

scop see, examine telescope

ject throw inject, reject

Short vowels 34

Short vowels are letters which make distinct sounds like those heard in these words.

/ă/ ant

/ĕ/ eggs

/ĭ/ invisible

/ŏ/ octopus

/ŭ/ 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. Adjectives of one syllable, such as low, big, small, etc., end with –est: the lowest, the biggest, the smallest and so on.

2. 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.

3. 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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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) 45

bi- two, twice

Examples:

bicycle, bilingual, bicentennial

bicolor – having two colors

cent- (prefix) 46

cent- hundred, hundredth

Examples:

centimeter and centipede

centennial- the 100th anniversary

de- (prefix) 47

de- reduce or reverse

Examples:

decompose and debrief

dis- (prefix) 48

dis- not; do the opposite of

Examples:disallow, disagree, discover, disappear

en- (prefix) 49

en- bring or put into or on

Examples:

engage, envelope, encourage, enable, endanger, enhance, endure, enjoin, enlist, encumber

ex- (prefix) 50

ex- from, out of, away

Examples:

exhale and exchange

il-, im-, in-, ir- (prefix) 51

not, without

Examples:

illegal, impossible, inappropriate, irrational

in- (prefix) 52

not, on/in

Examples:

Not: invisible, insane, infinite

On/in: indoors, inject, inhale

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) 55

mis: badly or wrongly

Examples:

misplace, mistake, misunderstand

non- (prefix) 56

non-: not

Examples:

nonfiction, nonsense, non-fat

out- (prefix) 57

out-: more, to a greater degree

Examples:

to outrun, to outlive, to outfox, to outdo

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) 60

tri-: three

Examples:

triangle, tricycle

un- (prefix) 61

un-: not, opposite or to reverse

Examples:

unbeaten, unfriendly, unlock, undo

-able and –ible (suffix) 62

-able and –ible: capable of; fit for

– Acceptable– Curable– Presentable– Flexible– Horrible– Invisible

-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) 64

-ful: full of

Examples:

thankful, useful, careful, respectful

-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