Week 24 and 25:
The Essential Directional Prefixes
Created by: White Oak
re-, pre-, ex-, sub-, co• Prefixes have an impact on a word.
• They give it an opposite meaning, OR
• They give it a direction, OR
• They add emphasis
re-, pre-, ex-, sub-, co• The prefixes we will study for the next 2 weeks
are directional. They tell us to do something
‘again’, to look or think ‘before’, to examine the
‘outside’ or think ‘outer’ or just plain ‘out’, to
think ‘under’, and finally to know that it is
accomplished ‘with’ or ‘together’.
re-,
pre-, ex-, sub-, co-
• Let’s start with the second most common
prefix!!!
• RE is a prefix that gives direction—it says “back,
again”
• Fun Fact: There are over 3,400 words that use
the prefix “re”!!!
re-,
pre-, ex-, sub-, co-
• Elbow Partners!! Try if for yourself. Use the
words:
• Turn,
• Read,
• And build.
and place ‘re’ before them and what happens?
• Now brainstorm with your partner as many ‘re’
words as you can in 1 minute….GO!
re-,
pre-, ex-, sub-, co-
• ‘re’ is special. It can be placed in front of whole
words like establish, or base words like ‘ject’.
• Ject is a base word that means ‘throw’
• When combined---reject--- we can Divide and
Conquer!
• Re(back, again)/ject (throw)=to throw it back or
refuse to accept it!
• Your word work for ‘re’ will include whole words
and word bases.
re-,
pre-
, ex-, sub-, co-
• ‘pre’ is another directional prefix. It tells us that
something is ‘before’ in time.
• Predate, prehistoric, pregame, preview
• Just like ‘re’—the prefix ‘pre’ can attach to whole
words and base words like ‘dict’—this base word
means ‘to say, or to tell’. What is the meaning
for predict? Can you Divide and Conquer
predict?
re-, pre-,
ex-,
sub-, co-
• Here is one you should be familiar with…the
prefix ‘ex’ means ‘out’.
• There are variations to spelling with ‘ex’.
• Use ‘ef’ when the base word (Latin or Greek)
begins with the letter ‘f’. For example: effect.
The base is ‘fect’ and exfect doesn’t sound right.
So we change ‘ex’ to ‘ef’.
• This is also true for efficient and effort.
re-, pre-,
ex-, sub-, co-
• The second spelling change comes when we just
leave off the ‘x’ in ‘ex’. This only happens when
we have certain consonants like r, j, m and d.
• Some words that apply to this rule are erupt,
eject, emission, edict.
re-, pre-,
ex-, sub-, co-
• Find your elbow partner. Both of you exhale.
Talk about which way your breath went. How
does that apply to the word ‘exhale’?
• EX/Hale
• Ex means out and hale means breathe.
• Now Divide and Conquer the word export.
• Hint*** port means ‘to carry’
re-, pre-, ex-,
sub-, co‘sub’ is also directional. This means ‘under’ or
‘below’.
We can place the prefix ‘sub’ before words or bases
to show a physical direction or an idea. With your
elbow partner, decide which of the words below are
physical and which ones are ideas.
Subfloor, substitute, subterranean, subtract, submerge, subway, subtitle,
re-, pre-, ex-,
sub-,
co-
• Here is where ‘sub’ becomes tricky.
• Sub ends with the consonant letter ‘b’. To spell
words easily, we change the ‘b’ to match the first
letter of the base word.
• For example: press. I want to create a word that
means to press under—I would add subpress—it
sounds like the ‘b’ becomes silent, so we just
spell it like suppress!
re-, pre-, ex-,
sub-,
co-
• We can see that when a word begins with ‘su-’
and is followed by a double consonant, it MOST
likely begins with the prefix sub that has been
changed to make it easier to spell and
pronounce.
• Here are some more examples: succeed,
suggest, surrender, support
re-, pre-, ex-, sub-,
co-
• Finally! The last directional prefix we will study
for these 2 weeks! The prefix co- has a meaning
of ‘with’, or ‘together’.
• Sometimes the prefix “co-” will have an ‘n’ added
to it to help spelling and pronunciation.
• !!!Be sure to examine the word and the context
clues. A negative prefix “con” could fool you!!
re-, pre-, ex-, sub-,
co-
• Elbow partner work!
• Look at these two words:
▫ Coworker
▫ Conductor
Ask your partner to explain the meaning of the
words using the words ‘with’ or together’.
re-, pre-, ex-, sub-,
co-
With your partner, match the words on the left to the definitions on the
right. Tell your partner your reasoning for choosing the definition.
Coincidence
To work ‘together’ or ‘with’
others on a project.
Contract
Two things that are not planned but
just happen ‘together’.
Congress
A business agreement that draws two
or more partners ‘together’ on a
project
Cooperate
People working ‘together’ in the state
or federal capital to make laws.