USING WORD PARTS
Invertebrate animals don't have backbones. How do you know? Look at the word invertebrate. Can you find a clue to its meaning? In is a prefix meaning "not," and vertebrate is a word root meaning "with backbone." Therefore, invertebrates are creatures without backbones.
Knowing prefixes, word roots, and suffixes can help you decode many important words. Prefixes come first in a word, roots are in the middle, and suffixes are at the end. Using prefixes, roots, and suffixes is an especially useful way to break down and define long words.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Look for Prefixes
A prefix is a letter or group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Knowing a handful of prefixes can help you figure out many different words.For example, how can you figure out how many arms an octopus has if you don't have a picture of an octopus? If you know your number prefixes, it's easy. Here are some prefixes, including Greek and Latin prefixes that indicate the numbers from one to ten.
PREFIXES NUMBER PREFIXES MEANING uni-; mono- one bi- two tri- three quadr- four penta- five hexa- six hepta- seven oct- eight nov- nine deca- ten ploy- many
PREFIXES OTHER PREFIXES MEANING re- again syn- together un- not in- not a- not; without ab- away from anti- against epi- above eu- true omni- all proto- first; early para- beside; almost; closely resembling
Look for Roots
A root is the base form of a word. One of the quickest and most effective ways to increase your vocabulary is to learn the common Latin and Greek roots, since any one of them can help you define a number of English words. Many words used in biology have Greek or Latin roots. Whenever you come to an unfamiliar word in your reading, first see if it has a root that you recognize. For example, if you know that the root word podia (pod, singular) means "feet" and the prefix para means "almost," you can figure out that parapodia are"paddlelike structures."Below are some Latin and Greek roots used in many biological terms. Read the roots and the examples. How many of these words have you encountered in your reading?
ROOT WORDS ROOT MEANING EXAMPLE MEANING anima life inanimate lifeless ann year annual yearly bio life biohazard disease-cuasing agent chloro green chloroplast cell struture that holds green pigment chrom color chromatic pertaining to color cyte; cyto cell leukocyte white blood cell duc lead on ductile pliable fer to bear odoriferous bearing an odor flu flow fluctuation changing flow herb plant herbivore plant eater hydro water hydroponics cultivation of plants in liquid meter measure thermometer device that measures temperature podia feet parapodia almost feet port carry portable movable sect cut dissect cut apart soma body chromosome body or structure in the cell that absorbs stains
Look for Suffixes
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters placed at the end of a word or word root to change its grammatical function. Suffixes can be used to create a verb from a noun or an adjective. They can also change an adjective from a verb, and so forth. A suffix can change a verb's tense as well: -ed can make a present-tense verb into a past tense. Just as knowing a handful of prefixes and roots can help you figure out many different words, knowing a few common suffixes can help you become a more effective reader.
SUFFIXES SUFFIXES MEANING -logy study of -ist one who studies -ette smaller -vore eater TRY IT!
The Latin root ventri means "abdominal or lower side of the body." Knowing this, what do you do think the word ventra on page 509 means?
Click here to check your answers to TRY IT!
To practice what you've just learned, go to Worksheet 6.2
To learn about another reading strategy, go to Reading Strategy 6.1.
Reading Strategy 6.1 | Worksheet 6.1
Reading Strategy 6.2 | Worksheet 6.2
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