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

Word families

Ages 7–9Chapter 1 · Lesson 9

In this lesson

A word family shares a root and a meaning.
Knowing one word helps you work out the others.
Families help with spelling, like the G in sign and signal.
But matching letters alone don't make a family.

Your turn

Which word belongs to the act family?

Show the answer

Actor! An actor acts. Acorn and acrobat just start with the same letters.

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. Is carpet in the car family? It starts with car, but a carpet has nothing to do with cars. A word family shares a meaning, not just some letters.

Try it at home

Family tree: pick a root word (help, play, friend) and see how many family members you can find together in five minutes. Check each one shares the meaning, not just the letters.

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Words come in families. Sign, signal, signature and design all share the same root: sign. Knowing one word helps you understand the others.

A sign shows you something. A signal is a sign that sends a message, like a traffic light. Your signature is your name, signed by you. And to design something is to plan how it will look.

Families help with spelling too. In sign, you can't hear the G. But say signal, or signature, and there it is! So if you forget the silent G in sign, think of signal.

Let's try one together. Which word belongs to the help family? Helmet, helpful or hello? Say it out loud!

Helpful! It has help inside it, and it's about helping. Helmet and hello just start with the same letters. Well done if you said helpful!

Here's a common mistake. Is carpet in the car family? It starts with car, but a carpet has nothing to do with cars. A word family shares a meaning, not just some letters.

Your turn! Which word belongs to the act family? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Actor! An actor acts. Acorn and acrobat just start with the same letters.

Quick review. A word family shares a root and a meaning. Knowing one word helps you work out the others. Families help with spelling, like the G in sign and signal. But matching letters alone don't make a family. See you next time!