Word families are group of words

A word family is a group of words with a common base to which different prefixes and suffixes are added. For example, members of the word family based on the headword, base, stem, or root word work include rework, worker, working, workshop, and workmanship, among others. Similar words are called paronyms. 

Polyptoton is the use of more than one of these words together, such as in this quote from the movie «Fight Club»: «The things you own end up owning you.» The repetition can serve as a dramatic effect or for emphasis in writings ranging from plays and poetry to advertising and political speeches.

Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Don’t plan to memorize all the word families, though. An analysis of a 1963 dictionary by scholars in 1990 found 54,000 word families. With English users creating new words all the time, it’s better to know how to work with the language and its roots, prefixes, and suffixes than to attempt to memorize it all.

According to Birgit Umbreit, «[L]anguage users are able to analyze complex words and to establish synchronic relations between words both formally and semantically because they have an implicit or even explicit knowledge of word-family organization.» (Birgit Umbreit, «Does Love Come From to Love or to Love From Love? Why Lexical Motivation Has to Be Regarded as Bidirectional,» from «Cognitive Perspectives on Word Formation,» edited by Alexander Onysko and Sascha Michel)

Said in a simpler way, language learners can decode many new or unfamiliar words through understanding what different prefixes and suffixes do to a root word. The technique can also help people figure out spellings of words they hear or determine the etymology of a word. Frank E. Daulton wrote, «[M]ost linguists agree that word families should be transparent, in that learning a new item related to one already known should involve a minimum of learning burden…For instance, if a learner knows govern and is familiar with the prefix mis-, then misgovern requires little if any additional learning (Goulden et al., 1990). Derivations that don’t meet the transparency criteria are not included in a word family but given separate listings; for instance, business (busy)…» (Frank E. Daulton, «Japan’s Built-in Lexicon of English-Based Loanwords»)

Breaking Words Into Parts

The roots or stems don’t have to be words on their own to make other words. For example, the root struct forms the base of more than 30 English words; it comes from a Latin word for to build and creates words such as: construction, structure, and constructive. Knowing that con- as a prefix means «with» or «together,» you can see how the words construction and constructive involve the creation of something. Knowing that the prefix de— means the opposite—to reduce or remove—and that the suffix —ion indicates that a word is a noun, you can understand how the word destruction is created—or even the verb to deconstruct.

Following the same pattern, look at contract and detract; a contract is something that joins parties in agreement, while to detract means to draw away from.

Source

• Norbert Schmitt, Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

The idea of a word family is important for a systematic approach to vocabulary studying.
A word family is a group of related words that are formed from the same word. 
A word family consists of a base word and its inflected forms and derivations.

А widely аccepted distinction rеlаted to vоcаbulаry knоwlеdgе rеfеrs tо lеxicаl «rеcеptivе knоwlеdgе», whiсh invоlvеs thе аbility tо undеrstаnd a wоrd whilе listеning оr rеаding, vеrsus «prоductivе knоwlеdgе», the аbility tо usе а wоrd in spеаking оr writing.
Nоrmаlly, thе rеcеptivе vоcаbuаry is аt lеаst twicе thе sizе оf thе prоductivе vоcаbulаry.
Rеsеаrchеrs аrе bеginning tо rеаch а cоnsеnsus rеgаrding thе аvеrаgе rеcеptivе vоcаbulаry sizе оf nаtivе Еnglish spеаkers.
Rеcеptivе sizе оf а university-еducаtеd nаtivе Еnglish spеаkеr is аbоut 17,000 wоrd fаmiliеs.
Аn аvеrаgе sizе оf 17,000 wоrd fаmiliеs suggеsts thаt thе lеаrning burdеn оf thе tаsk аssоciаtеd with dirеct Еnglish vоcаbulаry tеаching tо nоn-nаtivе spеаkеrs is nоt аs dаunting аs оncе bеliеvеd.
А lоngitudinаl study invоlvеd 53 Еuropean еxchаngе studеnts fоund thаt аdult leаrners of Еnglish аs а sаcоnd lаnguagе cоuld lеаrn 2650 bаsе wоrds pеr yеаr.

А vоcаbulаry аcquisitiоn rаtе of 2650 bаsе wоrds pеr year wоuld аllоw аdult leаrnеrs of Еnglish аs а sеcоnd lаnguаgе tо аchiеvе а nаtivе-likе vоcаbulаry sizе of 17,000 bаsе wоrds in 6.41 years.

This rаte mаy nоt bе rеprеsеntаtivе оf thе аvеrаgе Еnglish аs а sеcоnd lаnguаgе lеаrner, sincе thе participаnts wеrе tоp studеnts аnd еxcеptionаl lеаrnеrs, but it suggеsts thаt аcquisition оf а nаtivе-likе vоcаbulаry sizе in a secоnd lаnguagе аs an аdult lеаrnеr is аn аchievable goal.

Lexicаl studiеs suggеst that sоmе wоrds аrе mоrе frеquеnt thаn оthеrs, thеrеfоrе mоrе usеful fоr sеcоnd lаnguаgе leаrnеrs.
Thе 2000 mоst frеquеnt wоrd fаmilies оf Еnglish mаkе up 79.7% оf thе individuаl wоrds in any Еnglish text, thе 3000 mоst frеquеnt wоrd fаmiliеs rеprеsеnt 84%, the 4000 mоst frequent word families make up abоut 86.7%, and the 5000 mоst frеquеnt wоrd fаmilies cоver 88.6%.

Below is a list of more than 250 word families

1. Able 
Ability/ inability
Enable —
Unable 
Disable 
Disability 
Disablement 
Able-bodied 

2. Absence 
Absent
Absentminded 

3. To Absorb 
Absorbent 
Absorbing 
Absorbable

4. Access
Accessible 
Accessory 
Accession 

5. To Act 
Action 
Actually 
Active 
Acting

6. Air 
Airborne
Airplane 
Air alert 
Air bladder 
Air-condition 
Aircraft 
Air-dried 
Airfare 
Air gun 
Airily 
Airless 
Airtight 
Airy 

7. To Agree 
Agreement 
Agreeable
Agreeableness 
Agreeably
То Disagree 
Disagreement
Disagreeable 

8. To Alter 
Alternative 
Alternatively 
Alternate 
Alteration 

9. Аmple 
Ampleness
Amplifier 
Amplify 
Amplification
Amply

10. To Аnnounce 
Announcement 
To Pronounce 
To Renounce 
To Denounce 

11. Apt 
Aptitude 
Aptly 
Aptness 

12. Аrt
Artful 
Artist  
Artificial 
Artistry 
Articulate 
Artifact 

13. Back 

To be taken aback 

Backing 
Backbiting 
Back pay 
Backward 
Background 
Backup 
Backache 
Back and forth 
Backbencher 
Backyard 

14. Bank 
Bank account
Banker 
Banking 
Bankruptcy 
Bankable 

15 Тo Bare 
Barefooted  
Barely 
Bare-ass

 
16. Base 
Baseless 
Basement 
Basic 
Basis 
Baseline 
Baseball 
Based 

17. Bath 
To Bathe 
Bathroom 
Bathing suit 
Bather 
Bathhouse 
Bathtub 

18. Вed 
Bedclothes 
Bedroom 
Bedridden 
Bedspread 
Bed and breakfast 
Bedding 
Bedsore 
Bedtime 
Bed-wetting

 
19. Benefit 
Beneficial 
Benediction 
Benevolent 
Вenign 

20. Вirth 
Birth control 
Birthday
Birth rate 
Birthplace 
Birth certificate 
Birthing 
Birthmark 

21. Вlack 
Blackcurrant 
Blackout 
Blackmail 
Blackboard 
Blacksmith 

22. Вlood 
Blood pressure 
Bloodshed 
Blood poisoning 
Bloodbath 
Blood brotherhood 
Bloodless 
Blood-red 
Blood relative 
Bloody 

23. Вook  
Bookcase
Booking 
Bookkeeping 
То book 
Bookstall 
Bookworm 

24. Boy 
Boyfriend 
Boyish 
Boyhood 
Boyishness 
Boyishly

25. Вrain 
Brainless 
Brainy 
Brainwave 
Brainstorming 
Brainchild 
Brainpower 
Brainiac 
Brainwashing

 
26. Busy 
Busyness 
Busybody 
Busy bee 
Business 
Businessman 

27. Вroad 
Broadcast 
Broaden  
Broadly 
Broadly speaking 
Broad-minded 
Broadsheet 

28. То Capture  
Capture 
Captivity  
Captivate 
Captive
Captivating 

29. То Care 
Care 
Career 
Careful 
Careless  
Carelessness 
Cared-for 
Careerism

 
30. Сatch 
Catch up  
Catching  
Catchy 
Catch-phrase 
Catch a glimpse 

31. Сent 
Per cent 
Centimetre 
Century  
Centigrade 
Centenary 
Center 
Centralise 
Central 
Egocentric 

32. То Change 
Changeable 
Changeability 
Changeful 
Changeableness 
Changeless 

33. Сlass 
Classical  
Classic 
Classification 
Classify 

34. Сlose  
To close
Closed 
Close down  
Closeness 
Closet 
Close at hand 
Close call 
Closed-minded 

35. Сome 
Income 
Incoming 
Outcome 
To Overcome 
Oncoming 

36. To Сompete  
Competition  
Competitive 
Competitor 
Competent 
Incompetent 
Competence 
Competently 

37.То comprehend 
Comprehension
Comprehensive 
Apprehensive 
Apprehension

 
38.То consider 
Considerable  
Considerate  
Consideration  
Inconsiderable 
Considerateness 

39. То consist 
Consistent 
Consistency 
To Insist 
Insistent  
Insistence 
To Resist
Resistance

 
40. To Сontinue 
Continuation  
Continued 
Continual  
Continually  
Continuous

 
41. Сontrast  
Contrary 
Contrastive 
To Contradict 
Contradictory 
Contradiction  
Contravene 
Contradiction in terms 

42. To Сonvert
Convertible  
Divert 
Extrovert 
Introvert 

43. To Count 
Countable noun 
Account 
Accountant 
Accountable 
Counter
Counteract 
Counterattack 
Counterclaim 
Counterclockwise 
Counterfeit 
Countless 

44. Country 
Country house 
Countryside 

45. Court 
Courtesy 
Courteous
Courtesan 
Courthouse 
Courtier 
Court of justice 
Courtyard 

46. Credit 
Creditor 
Creditable 
Creditably 
Creditworthy 
Credulous 

47. Critic 
Critical 
Critically  
Criticality 
Criticism 
Criticize 

48. Cross 
Crossroad 
Crossword 
Cross-banded 
Crossbar 
Crossover 

49. To Cut 
Cutback 
Cutlery 
Cutter 
Cutting 
Cut-and-dry 
Cut down 
Cut in 
Cut short 

50. Day 
Daydream 
Daylight 
Daily 
Daybreak 

51. Dead 
Deadlock 
Deadline 
Deaden
Dead-end 
Deadly 

52. Deceit 
Deceitful 
Deceitfulness 
To Deceive 
Deception 
Deceptive 

53. То Decide 
Decision 
Decidedly
Decisive 
Decided 

54. То Defend 
Defendant 
Defender 
Defence
Defenceless 
Defensive 

55. То Define 
Defined 
Definable  
Definite article 
Definition 
Definitive 

56. То Depend 
Dependent 
Dependant 
Dependable 
Dependability 
Dependably
Dependence
Dependant on 

57. То Descend 
Descendant 
Descending 
Descent 
Ascent 

58. Design 
Designate 
Designation 
Designer 

59. To Dictate 
Dictator 
Dictatorship 

60. To Differ 
Different 
Difference 
То Differentiate 
Differently

61. Dignity 
To Dignify 
Dignifying 

62. Direct 
Direction 
Director 
Directive 
Directed 
Directly 
Directorship 

63. Diverse 
Diversely 
Diversion 
Diversity 
To Diversify 

64. To Divide 
Dividend 
Divider 
Division 
Divisible 

65. То Doubt
Doubtful 
Doubtless 
Doubtfully 
Undoubted
Undoubtedly 

66. Down 
Download 
Downcast 
Downhearted 
Down in the mouth 
Downright 
Downshift 
Downside 
Downstairs 
Downstream 
Down-to-earth 
Downtown 

67. То Draw 
Drawn 
Drawer
Chest of Drawer 
Draw a line 
Draw away 
То draw back 
Drawback 
То withdraw  
Withdrawal 

68. Dress 
Dress up 
Dresser 
Dressing 

Dressing-down 
Dressy 

69. During  
Durable 
Durability 
Duration 
Endure 
Enduring 
Enduringness

70. Dust 
Dusty 
Dustbin 
Duster 
Dustpan 
Dustiness 

71. Ear  
Earlobe 
Earphone 
Earring 
Earshot 
Earache 
Eardrum 
Earmark 

72. Earth 
Earthen 
Earthly  
Earthquake 
Unearthly 
Earthshaking 
Earthman 
Earthy 

73. Ease  
Easily  
Easy  
Easy-going 
Uneasiness 
Easement 
Ease off 

74. Economy 
Economic  
Economically 
Economical  
Economize 
Economics 

75. Edge 
Edgeways 
Edging 
Edgy 
Edged-tool 
Edged 
Edgewise 

76. Effect 
Effective 
Effectively  
To effect 
Effectual 
Effectually
Effectuate 

77. То emerge 
Emergency 
Emergent 
Merge 
Merger 
Submerge 
Submergence 

78. То engage 
Engaged 
Engagement  
Engagement ring 
Engaging 
To Disengage 

79. Engine 
Engineer 
To engineer 
Engineering 
Engine-driver 

80. Equal 
Equality 
Equally 
Equal sign 
To Equalize 
Equilibrium 
Equalisation 

81. То err 
Erratic 
Erroneous 
Erroneously 
Error 
Inerrancy 
Erroneousness 

82. Exam  
Exam paper 
Example 
Examination 
Medical examination  
То examine 
Examiner 
Examinee 

83. То excite 
Excited 
Excitedly  
Excitement 
Exciting 

84. То excel 
Excellence 
Excellency 
Excellent 
Excellently 
То excel at 

85. То exclaim 
Exclamation 
Exclamation mark 
Claim 
To Proclaim 
Proclaimed 
To Acclaim 
Acclamation 

86. То exclude  
Excluding
Exclusion 
Exclusive  
Exclusively 

87. То exceed 
Exceedingly 
Exceedance 
Proceed  
Proceeding  
Procedure 

88. То exist  
Existence 
Existential 
Existing 
Existentionalism 

89. То expand 
Expanse 
Expansion 
Expansionist  
Expansive 

90. То expend 
Expending 
Expense 
Expensive 
Expenditure 
Expendable 
Expensively 

91. То extend 
Extended family 
Extension 
Extent 

92. To extort 
Extortion 
Extortionate
Extortionist 
Extortionately 
Torture 
To torture 
Torturesome 
Torture chamber

93. Eye  
Eyebrow 
Eyesore 
Eye-catching  
Eyesight 
Eye-witness 
Eyeball 

94. False 
Falsetto 
False alarm 
Falsehood 
False start 
Falsify 
Falsity 
Falsely
Falseness 
False witness 

95. Family 
Familial  
Familiar 
Familiarity 
Familiarize 
Family tree 

96. Far 
Farewell 
Far cry 
Far fetched 
Far-flung 
Afar  
Faraway 
Farther  
Far-reaching 

97. Favour 
To favour 
Favourable 
Favourite  
Favouritism 
Favourably 

98. Fear 
To fear  
Fearful 
Fearless 
Fearsome 
Fearlessness 

99. Faith 
Faithful 
Faithfully 
Yours faithfully 
Faith cure 
Faithlessness 

100. То fill 
Fill in 
Fill out 
Filling 
Filling station 

101. То feel  
Feel like doing
Feeling 
Feeler 
Unfeeling 
Feelings 
Feel for 
Feelingly 
Feel like a million dollars 
To Feel out 

102. Final 
Final 
Finale 
Finalist
Finalize 
Finally 
Final stage 
Finality

 
103. Fire 
To fire 
Fire engine 
Fire extinguisher  
Fireplace  
Firework 
Fire alarm 
Firearm 
Fireball 
Firefighter 
Fire code 
Fire-eater 

104. Firm 
Infirm 
Infirmity 
Infirmary 
Firmness 
To Affirm 
Affirmative 
Affirmation 

105. First 
First aid 
First-class 
First name 
First night 
Firsthand 
Firstly 
First and last 
First cousin 

106. Fish  
To fish
Fisherman 
Fishing 
Fishing rod 
Fishhook  
Fishy 
Fish and chips 
Fish bowl 
Fishmonger 

107. Fit 
Fit  
Fitness 
Fitful 
Fitter 
Fitting 
Fit in 
Fittingly 

108. Finite 
Infinite 
Infinitesimal 
Infinitive  
Infinity  
Infiniteness 

109. Flame 
To Flame up 
Inflame 
Inflamed  
Inflammable 
Inflammation 

110. To Fold 
Fold up 
Folder  
Folding 
Unfold 
Foldable 
Foldout 

111. То follow 
То follow up 
Follower 
Following 
Follow-up 
Follow out

112. Fool 
Foolish 
Foolishly 
Foolishness  
Foolproof 
Foolhardy 
Foolhardiness

 
113. Foot 
Football  
Footing  
Footnote 
Footpath 
Footwear 
Footage 
Foot brake 
Footer 
Footloose 
Footmark 
Footpad 
Footprint 

114. Force 
Forceless
Force majeure 
Forced landing 
To force 
Forced 
Forceful  
Enforce 
Forceps 

115. Form
Formal 
Formality 
Format 
Formation 
To Formulate 
Formidable
Formalisation 
Formless 
Formulaic 

116. Free 
To free  
Freedom 
Free enterprise
Freely 
Freestyle 
Freelance 
Freeholder 
Free-range 

117. Fresh 
Freshness 
Freshen  
Freshen up 
Fresher 
Freshman 
Freshwater 
Fresh-cut 

118. Fright 
Frighten 
Frightened
Frightening 
Frightful 
Frightfully 
Frighteningly 
Frightfulness 
Frighten off 

119. Front 
In front of  
Frontal
Frontier 
Front line 
Frontage 
Frontbencher 
Front yard 

120. Fruit 
Fruitful 
Fruitfully 
Fruition 
Fruitless 
Fruity 
Fruitage 
Fruitcake 
Fruiterer 

121. Full  
To Fulfil 

Fullness 
Full stop 
Full time 
Fully 
Full-blooded 
Full-face

 
122. General 
General 
General election 
Generalize  
Generalized 
Generally 

123. Gold 
Golden 
Goldfish  
Gold plated 
Goldmine 
Golden age 
Golden-brown 

124. Good 
Goods 
Good-looking 
Goodness 
Goodbye 
Goodwill 
Good-for-naught 
Good guy 
Good-hearted 
Good-tempered 
Goody 
Goody-goody

 
125. Grade 
Gradation 
Gradual 

Gradually 
Graduate 
Postgraduate 
Grader 
Grade-appropriate 

126. Grave 
Gravely 
Graveness 
Gravity 
Gravitation 
Aggravate 
Aggravator 

127. Great 
Greatness 
Great grandfather 
Greatly 
A great deal 
Greathearted 
Greatness 

128. Green 
The green 
The Greens 
Greenery 
Greengrocer’s  
Greenhouse 
Greenhouse gas 
Greenhorn 
Greenback 
Green-blind 
Green-eyed 
Green-eyed monster 
Green fingers 

129. Ground 
To ground 
Ground floor  
Grounding  
Groundless 
Ground water 
Groundbreaking

130. Guide
To guide
Guidebook 
Guiding 
Guidance 
Guideline 
Guide dog 

131. Habit 
Habitable 
Habitation 
Habitual  
То inhabit 
Inhabitant 
Habitant 
Habituate
Habitude 
Habitat 

132. Hair  
Haircut 
Hairdo
Hairdresser 
Hairy 
Hairbrush 
Hair care 
Hair dryer 
Hairgrip 
Hairiness 
Hairpiece 
Hairpin
Hair-raiser 
Hairsbreadth 
Hair style 

133. Half 
Half-price  
Half-time 
Halfway 
Half-hearted 
Half-life 
Half-baked 
Half-term 

134. Hand  
Hand over  
Handcuffs  
Handful 
Handle  
Handshake 
Handy 
Handsome 
Handkerchief 
Handbag 
Handicap 
Handicapped person 
Handiness 
Handwash 
Handyman 
Handmade 

135. Hang  
Hang out 
Hanger 
Hanging 
Hangover 
Hang-up 
Hangdog 
Hanger-on 

136. Happy 
Happily  
Happiness  
Unhappy  
Mishap 
Happy-go-lucky 
Happy hour

 
137. Hard  
Hardness  
Harden 
Hardly 
Hardship 
Hardware 
Hard-and-fast 
Hardback 
Hard cheese 
Hard-core 
Hardfisted 
Hardheaded 

138. Head 
To head  
Headache 
Headgear 
Heading 
Headlines 
Heady 
Head and shoulders above 
Headband 
Headboard 
Headless 
Headlight 
Headmaster 
Headphone 
Headstand 
Head teacher 

139. Heal 
Healer 
Health  
Healthy  
Healthily 
Healthcare 
Healthfulness 
Health profession 

140. Heart  
Heart attack 
Heartbeat 
Hearten  
Heartbreaking 
Heartfelt 
Heart and soul 
Heartbreak 
Heartburn 
Heartening 
Heartiness 
Heartless 
Heartsease 
Heart-shaped 
Heartsick 
Heart-to-heart 
Heartwarming 
Hearty 

141. Heir  
Heiress 
Heirloom 
Inherit  
Inheritance 
Inheritor 
Heritage 
Heir-at-law 
Inheritance tax 

142. High 
High-heeled 
High-spirited  
Highly 
High school 
Highway 
Highlight 
High and low 
High blood pressure 
Highbrow 
Highflyer 
High-minded 
High school 
Highway Code 

143. To Hold 
Hold out 
Holder  
Holding 
Hold-up 

Hold-down 

Holdfast 
Holdout 
Holdover 
Hold tight 

144. Home 

Homely 
Homebody 
Homeland 
Homeless 
Homelike 
Homemade 
Homeowner 
Homepage 

145. Horse  
Horseback 
Horseman  
Horsemanship 
Horse-radish 
Horsepower 
Horseshoe 
Horse chestnut 
Horselaugh

 
146. House  
Housing 
Housewife  
Household 
Housework 
Housekeeping 
Housebound 
Housewarming 

147. To Hunt  
Hunting 
Hunt down 
Hunter  
Huntsman 
Hunting dog 

148. Ice 
Iceberg  
Ice-cold 
Ice hockey 
Ice-skating  
Icicle 
Icy 
Ice cream 
Ice cube 

149. Ill  
Ill-advised 
Illness  
Ill-being 
Ill-fated  
Ill-treat 
Ill at ease 
Ill health 
Ill-natured 

150. Image  
Imagine 
Imaginative 
Imagination  
Imaginary

 
151. Import  
To import 
Important 
Importance 
Importer 
Importune 
Important-looking 
Importunate 

152. Incident 
Incidence 
Coincidence  
Coincident 
Incidental  
Incidentally 

153. Initial 
Initially  
Initiate 

Initiative 
Initials 
Initialise 

154. To Inspect 
Inspection 
Inspector  
Expect 
Unexpectedly 
Expectation 
Expectancy 
Expectant

155. To judge 
Judge 
Judgement 
Judicious 
Judge’s robe 

156. Just 
Justice 
Justify 
Justifiable 
Justificatory 
Just in time 
Justness 
Just the ticket 

157. То lead 
Leader  
Leadership 
Leading 
Mislead 
Misleading 

158. Liberal 
Liberalize
Liberalization 
Liberate 
Liberation 
Liberty 
Liberal arts 
Liberally 
Liberalness

 
159. Life  
Life expectancy 
Lifeless  
Lifestyle 
Lifetime 
То live 
Lively 
Life-and-death 
Lifeboat 
Life jacket 
Lifelong 
Livelihood 
Liver 
Liveable 
Liven 
Livestock 

160. Light 
To light  
Lighten (up)  
Lighter 
Lighting 
Lightning 
Lighthearted 
Light beer 
Lightheaded 
Lighthouse 
Light-minded 

161. Like  
Likely  
Likelihood  
Likeness 
Likewise 
Likeable 
Likeliness 
Like-minded 

162. Line 
Line up 
Linear  
Linear equation 
Liner 

163. Literate  
Literacy 
Literal 
Literally  
Illiterate 
Literature 

164. Locate 
Local 
Locally  
Locality 
Location 
Locater 
Locale 
Local anaesthesia 
Localisation 
Localise 
Local time 

165. Lock 
To lock  
Lock up 
Locker 
Lockup 
Lockbox 
Lockdown

 
166. Long 
No longer 
Longevity 
Long-lasting 
Long-sighted 
Long sightedness 
Long-term 
Longitude 
Longing 
Long ago 
Longed-for 
Long-haired 
Long haul 
Long sleeve 

167. То look 
Look after smb  
Look forward to smth 
Looker-on 
Lookout 
Looking-glass 
Look up 
Look-alike 
Look down on 

168. To love 
Love  
Lovely  
Lover 
Loving 
Love affair 
Loveable 
Loveliness 

169. Low 
Lowlands 
Lowly 
To lower 
Low-paid 
Lowbrow 
Lowliness 

170. Make 
Make 
Make out 
Make up 
Maker  
Making 
Makeover 
Make up one’s mind 

171. Manage 
Manageable 
Management  
Manager  
Managerial 
Manageability 

172. Man  
Manhandle 
Manhole  
Mankind 
Manly 
Manned 
Man-about-town 
Manfully 
Manhood 

173. Master 
To master 
Headmaster 
Masterful  
Masterpiece  
Mastery 
Master class 
Master’s degree 

174. To mean 
Means 
Mean 
Meaning 
Meaningful 
Meandering 
Meaningless 
Meanness 
Mean time 
Meanwhile 
Meanie 

175. Medic 
Medical 
Medication  
Medicine  
Medicinal 
Medical care 

176. Memory 
Memorize 
Memorial 
Memorable 
Commemorative 
Memory loss 
Memory stick 

177. Mend 
Mendacity 
Mending 
Amends 
Amendment 
Recommend 

178. Motor 
Motorbike 
Motion 
Motionless 
Motional 
Motorboat 
Motorist
Motor memory 
Motorway 

179. To Mount 
Mountain 
Mountaineer 
Mountaineering 
Mountainous 
Mountain sickness 

180. То move 
Move 
Movable 
Movement 
Movie  
Moving 
Moveable 
Move back and forth 

181. Nature
Natural  
Naturalist 
Naturally 
Natural resources 
Natural selection 
Natural ability
Naturalize 

182. Note 
То note  
Notable 
Noted 
Notebook 
Noteworthy 
Notecase
Notepad 

183. То occupy 
Occupation 
Occupant 
Occupier  
Preoccupy 
Occupational therapy 
Preoccupation 

184. Offence  
Offend 
Offender 
Offending 
Offensive 
Offensively 
Offensiveness

185. To open  
Open 
Opening 
Openly 
Opening hours 
Openness 
Open-minded 
Open-air
Open-and-shut 
Open-ended 
Open-handed 
Openhearted 
Open house 
Openness 

186. То pack 
Package  
Packaging 
Packet  
Packing case 
Pack animal 

187. Part
To part  
Partially 
Participant 
Parting 
Particular 
Partial 
Participate 
Partake 
Participatory 
Participle 
Particularise 
Partly 
Partnership 

188. То pass  
Pass away 
Pass 
Passage 
Passer-by 
Passenger 
Password 
Passable 

189. Passion
Passive 
Passionate 
Passively 

190. Perfect 
Perfect tense 
Perfectly  
Perfection 
Perfectionist 

191. То permit 
Permit  
Permission 
Permissible 

192. Person 
Personage 
Personal 
Personally 
Personify 
Personnel 
Personification 
Personality 
Persona 
Personable 
Personal appeal 
Personality 
Personhood 
Person-to-person 

193. То pity 
Take pity on smb 
Pitiable  
Pitiful 
Pitiless 
Pityingly 

194. To play  
Play 
Playboy  
Playfully 
Playmate 
Player 
Playwright 
Play a joke on 
Play along 
Play a trick on 
Playback 
Playfellow 
Playground 

195. Please 
Pleased  
Pleasing 
Pleasure  
Pleasurable 
Pleasant 
Pleaser 
Pleasantly 
Pleasantness 

196. Point 
Тo point  
Point-blank 
Pointer 
Pointless 
Pointlessly 
Point of view 
Pointed 
Pointedly 

197. Practical  
Practice 
Practicality 
Practically 
Practise 
Practicable 
Practiced

198. Present 
Тo present 
Presentation 
Presently 
Presentable 
Present-day 

199. Private 
Privacy 
Privation 
То privatize  
Privatization 
Privately 
Privateness 

200. Produce 
Producer 
Induce 
Induced 
Inducement 
Reduce 
Reducer 
Introduce 
Introduction 
Conduce 
Conducive 

201. To Prove 
Proven  
To Improve 
Improvement 
Improved 
To Approve 
Approver 
Approved 

202. To Protect 
Protection 
Protective 
Protectorate 
Protectively 

203. To Provide 
Provided 
Providing 
Providence
Provident 
Provider 

204. Public  
Publication  
Publicity  
Publicise 
Publicaly 
Publican 
Public library 
Public relations 
Public servant

205. Pure
Purity 
Purify 
Puritan
Purely 
Purebred 
Pureblood 
Pureness 

206. Quality 
Qualitative 
Qualify 
Qualification 
Qualified 

207. Question 
To question 

Questionable 
Question mark 
Questionnaire 
Questioning 
Questioningly 
Question sheet 
Question time 

208. Real  
Realism  
Realist 
Reality 
Realize 
Really 
Real estate 
Realisation 
Realistically 

209. To Receive 
Receiver 
Receipt 
Reception 
Receptionist 
Reception desk

210. Regular 
Regularly 
Regularity 
Regulate 
Regulation 
Regularize 

211. To Relate  
Related 
Relatedness 
Related to
Relation 
Relationship
Relative 
Relatively 
Relative-in-law 

212. To Require 
Requirement 
Inquire 
Inquirer

 
213. To Respond 
Respondent 
Response  
Responsibility 
Responsible 
Responsive 
Responsiveness 
Responsible for

 
214. Safe 
To Save  
Safety 
Safeguard 
Savings 
Safely 
Safe and sound 
Safeness 
Saver 

215. Sane 
Insane 
Insanity  
Insanely 
Sanity  
Sanely 
Sanitary 

216. Secret 
Secrecy 
Secretary
Secretive 
Secretariat 
To Secrete 
Secretion 
Secretaire 
Secretiveness 

217. To Sell 
Sell out  
Sell off 
Seller  
Best-seller 
Sale  
Salesman 
Sellable 

218. Sense 
To sense
Sensation  
Senseless  
Sensitive 
Sensitively 
Sensual 
Sensualist 
Sensuality 
Sensuousness 
Senselessness 

219. Sequel 
Sequence 
Consequence 
Consequent 
Consequently 

220. То Serve 
Server 
Service 
Serving 
Deserve 
Deservedly 

221. Set 
To set 
Set off / set out 
Setback 
Settee  
Outset 
Settle 
Settle on 
Settlement 
Setting 
Settler
Set forth 
Set up

 
222. Ship  
To ship 
Shipping 
Shipwreck 
Shipyard 
Shipment 
Shipbuilding 

223. Short 
Shorts  
Shortage 
Shorten 
Shortcoming 
Short-cut 
Shortsighted 
Shortsightedness 
Shortbread 
Shortcake 
Short-haired 
Shortlist 
Shortly 
Short-staffed 
Short-tempered 

224. Sick  
Sicken 
Sickening 
Sickness 
Sickly 
Sickbed 
Sickish
Sick joke 
Sick leave 

225. Side 
Sideboard  
Sideline  
Sidelong 
Sidestep 
Siding 
Sidekick 
Sidewalk
Sideburns 
Side by side
Side dish 
Side effect 
Sidelight 

226. Sign  
To sign 
Signal 
Signature  
Significant 
Signify 
Signage 
Signaller 
Signalisation 
Signboard 
Signifier 
Sign in 
Sign language 
Sign of the zodiac 
Signpost 

227. Simple 
Simple-minded 
Simplify 
Simplicity 
Simplification 
Simpleton 
Simpleness 
Simplex 

228. To sleep 
Sleep
Sleeper  
Sleepless  
Sleepy  
Sleeping pill 
Sleep around 
Sleep in 
Sleeping bag 
Sleep over 
Sleepwalker 
Sleepy-eyed 

229. To slip  
Slip  
Slippers 
Slippery 
Slipshod 
Slippage 
Slip away 
Slipperiness 
Slip road 

230. То show 
Show 
Show off
Show business 
Showcase 
Showdown 
Showman 
Showpiece
Showroom 

231. Soft  
Soften  
Software  
Softhearted  
Softly 
Soft-cover book 
Softheaded 

232. Solicit  
Solicitor  
Solicitous
Solicitude 
Soliciting 
Solicitation 
Solicitously 

233. Sight  
Sighted 
Sightseeing 
Sightseer 
Far-sighted 
Sighting 
Sightedness 
Sightless 

234. Sport 
To sport 
Sporting 
Sportsman 
Sportswoman 
Sportsmanship 
Sportive 
Sport car 
Sporting chance 
Sportiveness 
Sportswear 
Sporty 

235. To Stand  
Standing 
Standpoint  
Stand-offish 
Understand 
Understanding 
Understandability 
Stand-alone 
Standard 
Stand by 
Standee 
Standoff 
Outstanding 

236. To Stop 
Stop 
Stopover 
Stoppage 
Stopwatch 
Stopgap 
Stopover 
Stopple 

237. Straight  
Straight away 
Straighten 
Straightforward 
Straighten out 
Straight and narrow 

238. To Strain  
Strain 
Strained 
Constrain  
Restrain 
Restraint 
Restrained 
Restrainer 
Constraint 
Constrained 

239. Success 
Successful  
Succession 
Successive 
Successor 
Succeed 
Successiveness 

240. Sun 
Sunny 
Sunrise  
Sunset  
Sunbathe 
Sundry 
Sunbeam 
Sun-dried 
Sunflower 
Sunglasses 

241. Super 
Superior 
Supernatural 
Supersonic
Superstar 
Superficial 
Superfluous 
Supercilious 
Supervise 
Supervision

 
242. To suspect 
Suspect 
Suspicion 
Suspicious
Suspected 

243. Tact 
Tactful 
Tactless 
Tactlessness
Tactic 
Tactical 
Tactile 
Tactically 
Tactually 
Tactile sensation 
Tactician

244. Tense 
Tension  
Tensionless 
Intensive 
Intensively 
Intensive care 
intensiveness 

245. To Think 
Thinker 
Thinking 
Thought  
Thoughtless 
Think tank 
Thinkable 
Think back
Think out 
Think over 
Think the world of 
Think twice

246. Time 
To time 
Timeless 
Timely 
Timer 
Timetable 
Time frame 
Time and again 
Timed 
Time-honored 
Time interval 
Time lag 
Time machine 
Time out 

247. To turn 
Turn 
Turning 
Turner 
Turnery 
Turnover 
Turnkey 
Turnaround 
Turn a blind eye 
Turn around 
Turning point 
Turn a profit/ a loss 
Turn one’s stomach 
Turnout 
Turn thumbs down

 
248. Unit 
Unity 
To Unify 
Unitary 
United 
Unitise 

249. То use  
Use 
Usage 
Useful 
Useless 
Uselessness 
Usefulness 
User 
Used 
Usable 
Used-car 

250. Water  
To water 
Watercolour
Watery  
Waterworks 
Watershed 
Waterfall 
water-based paint 
Waterbird 
Waterless 
Waterproof 
Water-resistant 
Watery-eyed 

251. Way 
Wayward
Waylay 
Wayfarer 
Way of life 
Way-out 
Ways and means 

252. Work 
To work 
Worker 
Working 
Workman 
Workmanship 
Workshop 
Workforce 
Workable 
Workaday 
Workaholic 
Workbook 
Workfellow 
Working-class
Working day 
Work of art 
Works 

Test your English vocabulary

Introduction

Are you struggling to help your child understand how to read? There are many things that you can do to help encourage literacy, one of which includes teaching your child word families.

Word families are the grouping of common letters into similar word lists. In short, if your child understands the word family, they’ll be able to understand a list of words with the word family in common.

This guide will not only explain the various word families in the English language but also give you tips and tricks on how to increase reading comprehension.

A word family is a group of letters that are combined to make a specific sound. For example, -ack, -am-, and -at are all word families.

The purpose of understanding a word family is the notion that if you can identify one word, you should be able to identify many others with the common word family. So, if your child can sound out “back,” then they should easily be able to sound out “smack, tack, and rack” as well.

This is also the foundation of understanding how words work together to create a rhyme. Since these words all sound the same, you can combine them to make them have the same flow and rhyme scheme.

Word families increase with difficulty as children age. The first world families that are taught are generally simple, like “at” (for “cat, bat, and sat”). As children age, they will be asked to identify more complex word families like “ain” (or “rain, refrain, and stain”).

Word families and sight words work together to help children learn how to read. All of these words are high-frequency words, which means that children will see them often. When children can identify them quickly and easily, they can become more persuasive writers.

Examples

According to Wylie and Durrell, there are 37 common word families in the English language. In actuality, there are many more than 37, but these are the highest frequency words.

Many popular nursery rhymes include these 37 word families. They are simple because each letter is pronounced the way it should be. The only time that words are not pronounced as they are spelled is in the event of two vowels being next to each other. When you encounter one of these two-vowel words (like rain), the rule is to pronounce the first vowel only.

Below is a list of examples for each of the 37 most popular word families.

Tips and Tricks for Teaching Reading

When beginning to teach your child to read, you will want to blend information from word families and sight words to help your child start identifying words.

To do this, pick a list of words that matches their age-level and start practicing those words only. When your child can identify these words in a text, it means that they are beginning to see the patterns and identify those high-frequency words in writing.

When you begin teaching word families, start with one of the easier ones first, like am. Once they can identify am, sound it out, and find words that end in am, move to a more complicated word.

Once your child understands how to form these word families into actual words, they will be able to spell and read them!

If your child struggles with some of the foundational skills associated with reading, consider adding a workbook to their daily practice. ArgoPrep has worked with educators to deliver high-quality practice that will entertain, educate, and excite your child. These workbooks are especially helpful for students who might need a little extra attention to reading comprehension, English language skills, and more.

Conclusion

My daughter loves to build things with Magnatiles. She will grab all of the tiles and construct fantastic castles, homes, and more with the simple building tools. But what happens when she builds a weak base? We all know. It can’t stand, it’s not steady, and it falls.

Learning how to read can kind of be similar to building a weak structure. Identifying something as simple as a word family seems like a mindless activity for us. Still, for kids, it’s necessary to understand the increasingly tricky skills that kids learn for reading comprehension.

Taking the time to learn word families will help them identify words more quickly and spell with more accuracy. This list of 37 high-frequency word families is a great place to start, but once your child masters it, consider researching more challenging word families to increase comprehension!

Back to top button

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of related words that are formed from the same word or a group of words with particular features in common.

Word Families are sometimes referred to as groups, chunks or rimes. A word family has something in common with each other, have it be the prefix, suffix or root word. For example, green, grass, grow all have the “gr” sound in the beginning of the word.

Word families are important because they help young children recognize and analyze word patterns when they are learning to read. When teaching analytic phonics, teachers use word families to help children understand these patterns and that certain words have the same letter combinations and sounds.

According to researchers Wylie and Durrel, there are 37 common word families: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw, ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk.

ack: back, hack, pack, rack

ain: brain, chain, main, plain

ake: awake, bake, cake, fake

ale: ale, bale, sale, tale

all: all, ball, call, hall

ame: blame, came, game, same

an: an, ban, can, pan

ank: bank, drank, sank, tank

ap: cap, map, rap, tap

ash: bash, dash, rash, sash

at: bat, cat, fat, mat

ate: fate, gate, late, rate

aw: claw, draw, paw, saw

ay: day, hay, may, say

eat: beat, feat, meat, seat

ell: bell, fell, tell, well

est: best, rest, vest, west

ice: dice, mice, nice, rice

ick: brick, kick, pick, sick

ide: bride, hide, ride, side

Word families are indeed an efficient way to get children reading. Once children learn these one-syllable phonograms then they will more easily be able to decode longer words, too.

Exposing your child to word families, teaching the use of these language patterns, and reinforcing the knowledge with rhyming games and activities will help your child learn to read.

Word families are indeed an efficient way to get children reading. Once children learn these one-syllable phonograms then they will more easily be able to decode longer words, too.

Exposing your child to word families, teaching the use of these language patterns, and reinforcing the knowledge with rhyming games and activities will help your child learn to read.

Word families, sometimes called phonograms or chunks, can really help emergent readers begin to understand our complicated, and often inconsistent, language by providing some predictable patterns within words. As you and I learned to read, we picked up these patterns effortlessly, and they still help us when we try to decode new words. When we direct our child’s attention to these same patterns, they too will be able to untangle the seemingly unrelated sounds of English.

Samples From the Charts

Encouraging children to identify rhyming words in a text is at the core of teaching about rhyming word families. Word family charts and games can be useful tools in this effort. For emergent or dyslexic readers, it may not be easy to identify rhyming words. In such cases, the teacher can guide them by emphasizing the similar sounding portions of final syllables in the words being taught. For example, the teacher can take a keyword such as ‘cat‘, and ask the children to find words that end with ‘at’. 

Knowledge of word families helps children build vocabulary. Instead of memorizing spellings and meanings of all words, they learn how to spot patterns, identify root words, and understand their common meanings or sounds. This helps in word recognition leading to the development of their reading fluency.

Understand more about how children are introduced to word families, made up of words that share a root word modified by different prefixes and suffixes, in our guide for primary-school parents.

You’ve probably noticed that kids’ brains like to discover patterns. As you teach reading and spelling, you can use this natural inclination to your child’s advantage. Read on to find out how!

Meet the Concept of Word Families

Word families are groups of words that follow a similar pattern. Grouping similar words is an excellent way to teach a large number of words in a relatively short period of time. For example, when we teach the EE vowel team in All About Reading Level 2, we teach words like tree, feet, and deep in the same word list. And when we teach the GN phonogram in All About Spelling Level 5, the word list includes design, resign, and assignment.

Word families significantly increase the number of words your child can master.

Instead of learning one or two words per spelling pattern, your child can learn eight to twenty-five words without much additional effort, making it an efficient way to learn new words. And the recall of individual words is improved because similar words are stored together in the student’s brain. That’s all great news.

The Downside to Word Families

If you stop there—just teaching word lists grouped by word families—you will be severely disappointed in your teaching efforts.

Why? Because if you use word families incorrectly, students may end up just following the “pattern” of that particular lesson, blindly zipping through the spelling words without really learning them. What you intended to be educational and insightful becomes an exercise in following patterns—and the time you spent teaching spelling goes down the drain because your child can’t actually spell those words outside of the neatly organized list.

Another downfall of overemphasizing word families is the risk that your child will pay too much attention to the ends of words, skipping over the first part of the word to get to the answer. Instead, we want the student’s eye to start at the beginning of the word and move to the end of the word. Encouraging his eye to start at the end of the word and then jump back to the beginning of the word is reinforcing incorrect eye movement. We don’t want to reinforce dyslexic tendencies. That’s why you won’t find activities such as “write all the spelling words that end in –an” or “read all the words that end in –est” in All About Reading and All About Spelling

That said, after the student has learned the word pan, it is a good thing if he realizes that he can also spell the words van and ran. Just keep the emphasis on moving the eyes from left to right.

The “Thinking Approach” to Word Families

Now that you know the pros and cons of using word families, what should you do?

You want the benefits of teaching related words at the same time, but you also want your child to be able to spell correctly outside of spelling class and away from the neatly organized lists.

Let me introduce you to our “thinking approach to word families.”

All About Spelling and All About Reading provide a fail-proof system to prevent your child from mechanically following the patterns as he learns to read and spell. It’s a simple system, and it’s built right into the lesson plans.

Just as it’s important to drill random math facts to ensure mastery, it’s essential to mix up spelling words with different patterns after they have been learned. The idea is to keep your child’s mind on the reading and spelling of the words and not on the simple repetition of a pattern.

Our system for breaking up patterns and improving retention is three-pronged:

1. Every lesson begins with a short review of previously taught Word Cards. The cards are shuffled so that words with different patterns are presented in different orders, and the words from the same family are no longer grouped together.
2. Each lesson ends with fluency practice (reading) or sentence dictation (spelling) which both feature a wide variety of previously learned words containing various spelling patterns.

   

3. In reading, the decodable stories emphasize the newly taught pattern while mixing in a natural balance of other words. And in spelling, beginning in Level 3, the Writing Station feature requires your student to write original sentences using suggested words with a variety of spelling patterns.

The Bottom Line on Word Families

With our “thinking approach to word families,” your child will steadily grow in reading and spelling ability and confidence. And with our step-by-step lesson plans, everything is laid out for you so you don’t have to wonder if you are doing the right thing. Just sit back and watch our method work for you and your child!

Would your child benefit from this “thinking approach to word families”?