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Learn what word parts are and how to use them to discover the meaning of unfamiliar words you come across while reading.
| 0:00 | Owl: to How to Use Word-Part Clues to Define Words, an instructional video on reading comprehension brought to you by the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab. |
| 0:12 | Unfamiliar words can pose a serious problem for reading comprehension. |
| 0:16 | Therefore, in order to improve your ability to understand what you read, you will need to expand your vocabulary. |
| 0:22 | There are a couple of things you can do when you encounter a word you don’t understand. |
| 0:27 | You can look it up! |
| 0:29 | Sometimes a text will provide definitions for key words, either in the text or in a sidebar or glossary. |
| 0:35 | Otherwise, you can look up unfamiliar words in a paper or electronic dictionary. |
| 0:40 | Another thing you can do is look for clues in the word or text that can help you decipher its meaning. |
| 0:46 | There are two types of clues you can look for: context clues and word-part clues. |
| 0:52 | In this video, I’ll explain how to look for and use word-part clues to decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words. |
| 0:59 | This will help you grow your vocabulary and improve your reading comprehension. |
| 1:04 | I’ll discuss context clues in another video. |
| 1:08 | Word parts are the building blocks that form words. |
| 1:11 | If you understand how to identify and make sense of word parts, you can guess the meaning of unfamiliar words while you read. |
| 1:18 | There are three different word parts: the Root, the Prefix, and the Suffix. |
| 1:25 | The Root is the base word that has its own meaning. |
| 1:28 | The Prefix is attached to the of the root and modifies its meaning. |
| 1:33 | The Suffix is attached to the end of the root and also modifies its meaning. |
| 1:38 | Let’s look at an example. |
| 1:40 | Here’s the word “autobiography.” |
| 1:43 | If we take it apart into its word parts we have: auto | bio | graphy. |
| 1:50 | The root word is “bio,” which means “life.” |
| 1:54 | The prefix is “auto,” which means “oneself.” |
| 1:57 | The suffix is “graphy,” which means “writing.” |
| 2:01 | We can translate the literal meaning into this working definition: “self-writing about one’s life.” |
| 2:08 | Now, try out your definition in the original sentence. |
| 2:11 | Replace the original word with your working definition and see if the sentence makes sense: |
| 2:17 | In his “self-writing about his life,” Frederick Douglass describes his escape from slavery and transformation into a prominent abolitionist. |
| 2:25 | It’s a good idea to check your working definition against the actual definition of the word in a dictionary. |
| 2:32 | In this case, the dictionary tells us that the word autobiography means “a history of a person’s life written or told by that person.” |
| 2:41 | That’s pretty much the working definition that we discovered using word parts! |
| 2:45 | You can improve your ability to identify and interpret word parts by becoming familiar with the most common word parts. |
| 2:51 | Use your search engine to find free lists of the most common word parts and their definitions online. |
| 3:01 | Thanks for listening to this instructional video on How to Use Word-Part Clues to Define Words! |
| 3:07 | Visit the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab for more support with reading and writing skills. |
