Root Words: Finding the Base

Find the base word inside a longer word to understand it.

Many long words are a short base word with parts added on. If you find the base, you are halfway to the meaning. In 'unpacking', the base is 'pack', with un- at the start and -ing at the end. In 'helpful', the base is 'help'.

In 'replayed', the base is 'play'. Read: 'The kids were unbuckling their seatbelts. ' Find the base: 'buckle'. Un- means undo, and -ing means it's happening now. So they are undoing their buckles right now.

Strip the parts off, find the base, then build the meaning back.

• 1Long words often have a base word inside.
• 2Take off prefixes and suffixes to find it.
• 3Then build the meaning back up.