Reading Long Words Without Losing the Sentence

Break long words into syllables quickly so your reading keeps flowing.

A long word in the middle of a sentence can stop a reader cold. The trick is to break it into syllables quickly, then put it back together and keep the sentence moving. Look for parts you know: prefixes like re-, un-, and dis-, suffixes like -tion, -ful, and -ment, and vowel chunks. Take 'unbelievable': un / be / liev / a / ble. Say the parts, blend them, and check that the word makes sense.

Now read it in context: 'The magician did an unbelievable trick. ' After figuring out the word, reread the whole sentence smoothly so the meaning comes back together. If a long word appears again later on the page, you'll recognize it right away. Each time you decode a word this way, it becomes easier to read next time.

• 1Break long words into syllables and known parts.
• 2Look for prefixes, suffixes, and vowel chunks.
• 3Reread the sentence smoothly after decoding the word.