﻿ VOA Special English - Grow Your Vocabulary by Learning Root Words

Grow Your Vocabulary by Learning Root Words

28 November, 2017








Most English root words came from the Greek and Latin languages.

Building vocabulary through root words


Let's try an example: the base word "struct-." It comes from the Latin word meaning "build." Any English word you hear containing "struct-"* will relate to building, developing or creating something. By itself, "struct" is not a word, but it is the basis for more than 30 words in English.

For example, the word "construct" is a verb that means "to build." The prefix "con" means "together" or "with." So, "construct" means to put things together to build or create something.

Learning just one root word in English can help you understand several words and grow your vocabulary.

Adding suffixes to "struct-" creates additional words.

For example, adding "-ion" in English makes verbs into nouns. When we add "-ion" to "construct," we get "construction," which means the process, or act, of building something.

Adding the suffix "-ing" to "construct" makes "constructing." That is the gerund form and has a similar meaning as the noun "construction."

Adding the suffix "-ive" to make "constructive" gives us the adjective form, and means helpful in developing or improving something.

Now, let's build onto "constructive." Adding the suffix "ly" to "constructive" gives us the word "constructively" and produces an adverb. It means doing something in a way that is helpful.

There are many other words that the base word "struct" produces. For instance, "destruction" is the opposite of "construction."



So, you see, by knowing just one root word – "struct-" – you can get a better idea of the meaning of at least 15 words in English.

A few other common root words include "bio" meaning life, "auto" meaning self, "pro" meaning before or in favor of, and "tele" meaning distance.



I'm Jill Robbins

And I'm Alice Bryant.



Words in This Story

confusev. to make someone uncertain or unable to understand something

spellv. to say, write or print the letters of a word or name

idiomn. an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a meaning of its own

like it's going out of styleidiom. done in a way that is much more than people normally do


unitn. a single thing, person, or group that is a part of something larger

vocabularyn. the words that make up a language

10 Common Root Words










distance, far







scrib-, script-


vis-, vid-




sens-, sent-


*The root words "struct-" and "stru-" mean "build."