Strategy 1_3: Grouping words - prefix and suffix
Before I introduce the characteristics that English words share alike, let me use some visuals to assist my explanation.
Let’s assume the big circle is the words that are going to show up on the SAT/GRE exams, and small circles are the frequent words of SAT/GRE that we are given to memorize. According to what I said earlier in link: Strategy_1, the total area of the small circles should take 70% of that of the big circle. So, when you arrange the small circles in an alphabetical order, it will look like this.
But, we are not going to memorize the frequent SAT/GRE words in an alphabetical order, so let’s release them.
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| Don't know prefix and suffix |
Okay, the first characteristic that English words share alike is that they are the “branches” of their ancestral languages, especially Greek and Latin. In fact, this characteristic can be easily found in English in the form of prefix and suffix. There a few numbers of common prefixes and suffix we use in English, and one of them is the prefix “un-”. The prefix “un-” has a meaning of “opposite or negative,” and, when it sticks in front of a host word (we call this word “stem or root”), usually changes the original meaning of its host to the opposite. For example, if you know the word, “typical,” which means “usual,” you can guess the meaning of “untypical,” which means “not typical or usual.”
Therefore, if you understand a few mechanical patterns that prefix and suffix do to their hosts, you can make two or more words to your own by memorizing one. However, as always, there are few exceptions to this rule, and if you just skip the words that you think you know, I guarantee that you will be tricked by the traps of SAT/GRE test makers as innocent rabbits falling under the pits that malicious hunters made.
Memorizing prefix and suffix is quite doable, and, as we group the words together, the time memorizing the words is greatly reduced since the words in a group are “branches” of the root word. So, if we know prefix and suffix, we can group the small circles like this.
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| Know prefix and suffix |
Let’s compare the first image to the image above. The difference between two is that whether we know prefix and suffix.
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| Know prefix and suffix |
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| Don't know prefix and suffix |
Let’s say you memorize a single word (colored by green), then…
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| Don't know prefix and suffix |
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| Know prefix and suffix |
But, when you know prefix and suffix, you can easily make any words connected to a root word to your own, so the image will look like this.
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| Don't know prefix and suffix |
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| Know prefix and suffix |
Can you see the difference between knowing prefix and suffix beforehand and not?
Prefix and suffix will also become our hidden weapons later to help you understand mysterious 30% of vocabulary on SAT/GRE exams (I will explain later in detail), so never forget to get familiarized first with prefix and suffix before you memorize the words! In the next article, I will introduce the second important key for memorizing the words, so sit tight until tomorrow!
Does this information help you? Please leave comments and tell me what you think!
Image source:
1) http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEVJ-_8s4r85e2_xSglhHWqSC7xoAg90nhIuGwW7HMshUiL0bN
