Word family facts for kids
A word family is a group of words that come from the same base word. Think of it like a family tree for words! All the words in the family share a main meaning, even if they look a little different.
To understand a word family, you need to know the main word (the "parent" word) and how it changes. These changes often happen by adding small parts called affixes to the beginning or end of the word.
Contents
What is a Word Family?
A word family includes a base word and all its different forms. These forms are created by adding prefixes (like "un-" or "re-") or suffixes (like "-ing" or "-ed"). Even with these changes, the core meaning of the word stays the same.
For example, the word "play" can be part of a word family:
- play (the base word)
- playing (adding "-ing")
- played (adding "-ed")
- player (adding "-er")
- replay (adding "re-")
All these words are about the idea of "play."
How Words Change
Words change their form to show different things, like when something happened (past, present, future) or how many of something there are. This is called inflection. When a word is inflected, it's still part of the same word family because its main meaning doesn't change.
Base Words and Affixes
The "base word" is the simplest form of a word. It's the part that doesn't change. For example, in "unhappy," the base word is "happy."
- Affixes are small parts added to a base word.
- Prefixes are added to the beginning (like "un-" in "unhappy").
- Suffixes are added to the end (like "-ness" in "happiness").
When you add an affix, you create a new word that is related to the base word.
Why Word Families Are Useful
Learning about word families can help you understand new words more easily. If you know the meaning of a base word, you can often guess the meaning of other words in its family, even if you haven't seen them before. This is a great way to build your vocabulary!
It also helps with reading and writing. When you recognize word patterns, you can read faster and spell better.
Examples of Word Families
Let's look at some more examples to see how word families work.
The "Walk" Family
- walk (base word)
- walking (present action)
- walked (past action)
- walker (someone who walks)
- walkable (can be walked)
The "Happy" Family
- happy (base word)
- happily (how something is done)
- happiness (the state of being happy)
- unhappy (the opposite of happy)
The "Connect" Family
- connect (base word)
- connecting
- connected
- connection
- disconnect
- reconnect
As you can see, even with prefixes like "un-" or "dis-", the core idea of "happy" or "connect" remains.
See also
In Spanish: Familia de palabras para niños
