Unit 3: Adding the suffix -ous
This week we will be learning all about adding -o-u-s, ous. Words ending in -ous are the words in our spelling challenge this week.
Let’s get spelling!
Let’s do My turn/Your turn to say all of these words. Repeat them after me.
dangerous
poisonous
mountainous
famous
After three, tell me what the letters -ous sound like in these words: one, two, three...
That’s right! The letters -ous sound like us.
-ous, ous, is a suffix. Here are the root words:
danger
poison
mountain
fame
Say all of the root words. Go!
When we add the suffix -ous we might need to change the root word.
Say our suffix rhyme together, after three: one, two, three...
Is there a letter I need to swap?
Is there a letter to double or drop?
Let’s take a look...
danger
poison
mountain
hazard
We can just add -ous to these words.
dangerous
poisonous
mountainous
hazardous
So nothing at all to swap, double or drop.
Hold on though! We also have a root word that ends in a vowel: fame.
Is there a letter I need to swap?
Is there a letter to double or drop?
If the word ends with an e, we have to drop the e before adding -ous.
fame + ous famous
Now let’s do some word building:
root word | root word + suffix -ous OR drop the e before adding -ous |
danger | dangerous |
mountain | mountainous |
poison | poisonous |
hazard | hazardous |
fame | famous |
Oh, an alert has just come through! It’s a synonym alert. Of course – the words dangerous and hazardous are synonyms. They share the same meaning. I’m going to try to use the word hazardous sometimes instead of dangerous.
Here are some special -ous words. Let’s do My turn/Your turn.
enormous
tremendous
jealous
Why are they special? Watch what happens if we take away -ous:
enormous enorm
tremendous tremend
jealous jeal
They are not complete root words, are they? So -ous is just part of the root word.
Say the words together for me one more time:
enormous
tremendous
jealous
All of our words ending in -ous are describing words. What are they called? Choose from this list:
nouns
verbs
adjectives
adverbs
Turn to your partner and then tell me. One, two, three... tell me!
That’s right; they are all adjectives. Well, you’ve been fabulous. See you next time!
Antonyms are words that mean the opposite of another word.
Sometimes we use different words, like this:
word | antonym
|
hot | cold |
good | bad |
tiny | huge |
Sometimes we can add a prefix that means ‘not’ or ‘opposite’ to a root word to make an antonym, like this:
root word | prefix in-, un-, or dis-, + root word |
sure | unsure |
like | dislike |
correct | incorrect |
If a root word begins with the letter m or p, the prefix i-n-, in, changes to i-m-, im.
Ask your adult to say the words and you copy.
mature
mortal
mobile
possible
patient
polite
Well done!
im- can be added to the root words to make their opposites. Let’s do My turn/Your turn again with your adult:
mature immature
mortal immortal
mobile immobile
possible impossible
patient impatient
polite impolite
Now say them together with your adult. After three: one, two, three...
mature immature
mortal immortal
mobile immobile
possible impossible
patient impatient
polite impolite
Don’t forget that we can also add the suffix -ly to the end of some words that start with im-. Let’s do My turn/Your turn. I’ll say the words, then you say them.
perfect imperfect imperfectly
patient impatient impatiently
polite impolite impolitely
Turn to your adult and say:
Prefix, root word, suffix, too,
I build words, and so can you.
Well done! It would have been impossible to do that any better. Now, I don’t wish to be impolite but I really must go now. Goodbye!
Prefixes are very clever little groups of letters that we can add to the front of a word to change its meaning.
We know that the prefix u-n-, un, means ‘not’ or the opposite of something. Well here’s a surprise for you: the prefixes d-i-s-, dis, and i-n-, in, share almost the same meaning as un-.
Some root words use un- and others use dis- or in- and we just have to learn them as we say, read and spell them.
We can add the prefix dis- to the front of these words to change their meaning:
like
agree
obey
connect
appear
approve
root word | prefix dis- + root word |
like | dislike |
agree | disagree |
obey | disobey |
connect | disconnect |
appear | disappear |
approve | disapprove |
Now let’s look at adding the prefix in-.
action
visible
human
capable
complete
The prefix in- can be added to them to make their opposites. Watch this! Let's build some words with our new prefix in-:
root word | prefix in- + root word |
action | inaction |
visible | invisible |
human | inhuman |
capable | incapable |
complete | incomplete |
Now practise using the prefixes un-, dis- and in- to build and change more words. Remember that each of these prefixes means ‘not’ or the opposite of something.
root word | prefix in- + root word |
complete | incomplete |
visible | invisible |
happy | unhappy |
dress | undress |
like | dislike |
obey | disobey |