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Myriora English › Words › Chapter 1: Building words: prefixes, suffixes and roots

Compound words

Ages 5–7Chapter 1 · Lesson 4

In this lesson

Your turn

Which two words make up the word cupcake?

Show the answer

Cup plus cake makes cupcake!

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. What do you get when you join ear and ring? Some people write it with just one R. But when you join two words, you keep every letter of both. So earring has two R's: one from ear, and one from ring.

Try it at home

Compound word chains: one person says a compound word (football), the next uses its second half to start another (ballroom, roommate). How long can you keep going?

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! What do you get when you put sun and flower together? A sunflower! Today we're making compound words.

A compound word is two words joined together to make a new word. Foot plus ball makes football. Rain plus coat makes raincoat. Tooth plus brush makes toothbrush.

Often, the two parts tell you what it means. A raincoat is a coat for the rain. A toothbrush is a brush for your teeth. But not always! A butterfly isn't a fly made of butter! Some you just have to learn.

Splitting a long word into its two parts can help you read it. Rainbow: rain, bow. Playground: play, ground. Snowman: snow, man.

Let's try one together. Which word joins with ball to make a new word: foot, chair, or happy? Say it out loud!

Foot! Foot plus ball makes football. Well done if you said foot!

Here's a common mistake. What do you get when you join ear and ring? Some people write it with just one R. But when you join two words, you keep every letter of both. So earring has two R's: one from ear, and one from ring.

Your turn! Which two words make up the word cupcake? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Cup plus cake makes cupcake!

Quick review. A compound word is two words joined together. The parts often tell you the meaning, but not always. And you keep every letter of both words. See you next time!