• Afijos – prefijos y sufijos

READING COMPREHENSION

I. RECOGNIZING PARTS OF SPEECH

When you try to figure out the meaning of a new vocabulary item from the
context and to use the item correctly in speaking and writing, it helps to know
what part of speech the word is. Sometimes, you can tell the part of speech
from the suffix (the ending) on a word. Here are some common noun and
adjective suffixes.

NOUNS ADJECTIVES
SUFFIXES EXAMPLES SUFFIXES EXAMPLES
- er, -or, -ist Teacher, -ar Similar
Professor,
Tourist
-sion, -tion Discussion, -ic, -al, -ical Comic, legal, physical
Action
-ment, -ness Enrollment, -ful, -less Healthful,
Happiness Hopeless
-ure, -ture Pressure, -ive Expensive,
Temperature -ical Physical
-s, -es States, quizzes -er (than) Higher
(plural forms) (Comparative forms)

Exercise 1. Are the following words nouns or adjectives? On each line, write n
(noun) or adj (adjective). The first items are done as examples.

1 n Speaker 10 Individual 19 Equipment

2 n Education 11 Competitive 20 Wilderness
3 adj Harmful 12 Nutritionist 21 Spectacular
4 Management 13 Counselor 22 Expensive
5 Practical 14 Section 23 Temperature
6 Popular 15 Creative 24 Travelers
7 Technical 16 Powerful 25 Beautiful
8 Instructors 17 Forgetfulness 26 National
9 Assignments 18 Introduction 27 Recreation

Exercise 2. Complete the following sentences with the noun or adjective from
Exercise 1 that is related to each underlined word. The first one is done
as an example.

1. Students study management to become managers.

2. A native of English speaks English as a native language.
3. To become a better reader, you have to practice reading; reading is a
___________ skill.
4. Do your instructors assign a lot of homework? So they give many reading
____________ ?
5. Educators try to improve the quality of ____________ in schools.
 6. Can smoking harm people? Is it a _____________ or a ___________ habit?
7. Vegetarians are nor usually __________ people. They don’t like to compete.
8. ___________ are experts in nutrition (the study of food and diet).
9. A _______________ person likes to create.
10. How can the weather have power over people? Weather can have a
____________ effect on people’s feelings. People are often ___________
against the forces of nature (such as earthquakes, storms, floods).
11. I often forget things, and I worry about my _________________ .
12. Chapter 3 introduces you to parts of speech. It is a short ________________ .
13. _________________ are different from tourists; they travel for experience and
knowledge more than to see things.
14. My living expenses are high, so I can’t buy _______________ things.
15. I love _______________ scenery: the beauty of nature relaxes me.

Exercise 3. Circle the correct word (noun or adjective) in parentheses.

The first one is done as an example.

1. Words appear in a dictionary in (alphabet / alphabetical) order.

2. If you study (grammar / grammatical), you learn about parts of speech.
3. Travel is a time for (relaxation / relax) and (recreation / recreate).
4. In Japan, people use landmarks such as buildings in their (directions /
directs).
5. The scenery in some areas is (spectacle / spectacular).
6. In Yucatan, Mexico, the (temperature / temperate) is usually high.
7. Do you know the (nation, national) parks of the western United States?
8. In the United States, do you have to fill out a (registration / register) form at
the post office if you move to a new community?
9. Is it (legality / legal) in your community to smoke in restaurants?
10. The main idea of a paragraph is more (generally / general) and less
(specificity / specific) than details

II. RECOGNIZING PARTS OF SPEECH

As you know, to figure out the meaning of a new word, it is useful to know
what part of speech the word is. The following chart has more common
suffixes that will help you recognize words by their parts of speech.

NOUNS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS

SUFFIXES EXAMPLES SUFFIXES EXAMPLES SUFFIXES EXAMPLES
-ance Distance -ant Distant -ly Clearly
-ence Difference -ent Different
-ty Ability -able Available -ally Scientifically
-ity availability -ible responsible

Exercise 1. Are the following words nouns, adjectives or adverbs? On each line, write
n (noun), adj (adjective) or adv (adverb). The first item is done as an
example.

1 n Intelligence 7 Available 13 Community

2 importance 8 politely 14 responsible
3 Creativity 9 Personality 15 Responsibility
 4 Pleasant 10 Directly 16 Identically
5 Magnificent 11 Quickly 17 Equivalent
6 magnificenc 12 Convenience 18 Truly
e

Exercise 2. Fill in the chart with the missing parts of speech.

NOUNS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS

1 Intelligence Intelligent ________________
2 Responsibility _______________ ________________
3 _______________ Active ________________
4 _______________ Traditional ________________
5 _______________ _______________ Importantly
6 Happiness _______________ ________________
7 _______________ Pleasant ________________
8 Perfection _______________ ________________
9 Typicalness _______________ ________________
10 _______________ _______________ Recreationally

Exercise 3. Read the following sentences. Most of the sentences have at least one
incorrect word. Write the part that is missing. IF you think a word is
complete and doesn’t need anything, put an X in the blank.

1. People from differ_____ cultural backgrounds may think different____ about

family life. For instance, there may be a big differ____ in their ideas about the
import_____ of marriage and children_____ .

2. Family members today may not share many family activit____ because they
probably lead very act____ lives outside the home. For example, a woman
may active_____ run her own business. In this case, she probably expects her
family to take more responsabil____ for housework and shopping.

3. Nobody in our family likes to clean up the kitchen after dinner. I guess we’re a
typical_____ American family. My brother and I had a terrible argu____ last
night about the dish____. Final____, after about ten minutes of screaming, we
decided to do them together. Unfortunate____, my brother and I are both
care____ people. We broke three glass____ and a very expens_____ plate.

III. LEARNING WORD FAMILIES

When you understand the meanings and uses of suffixes (word endings), you can
better learn vocabulary systematically. In other words, you can study word
families – groups of related words with the same stem, or main part, but different
suffixes. In some dictionaries, these related words appear in the same word
entry; in other dictionaries, related words appear in separate entries. Here are
examples of word families.

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS

Murder (thing) Murder Murderous Murderously
Murderer (person) Mystify Mysterious Mysteriously
Mystery
 Mystification
mysteriousness

Exercise 1. Complete the following story with words from the displayed words. For
some blanks, more than one answer may be correct. The first few are
done for you.

murder murderer murderous

mystery mystify mysteriously

In my favorite story, someone murdered a hotel manager. No one seemed to have a

motive, so this murderous act mystified everyone except the detective.
_____________, she figured out the answer to the ______________ quickly. The
_______________ was the chef.
nerve nervous nervously
perfection perfectionist perfect

The chef was a ___________ - he insisted on _________ in the kitchen. Every meal
had to be _____________. Because of the cook’s perfectionism, the kitchen workers
were always feeling _______________ . One day the hotel manager had the
___________________ to talk to the cook about the problem. _______________, he
went into the kitchen.
surprise surprised surprisingly
critic criticism criticize

The manager’s ______________ was a complete _____________ to the chef.

After all, no one ever __________d the cook because all the meals from the
kitchen were perfect. Also, the manager was not a well–known food
_____________. But ______________, the chef didn’t get angry at the manager.
Then the manager was ________________ and worried.

Possibility possible possibly

fortune fortunate fortunately

The next evening, the manager got a strange fortune cookie with his Chinese dinner.
His _______________ said, “You are ____________ to get this warning about your
___________ death, _____________, you will die tonight. But _________, now you
know about the ______________.
stranger strange strangely
silencer silence silent

When a ______________ came into the dining room, no one said anything; everyone
was ______________ _____________. Suddenly, a __________________ thing
happened. A shout broke the _______________. A kitchen helper yelled, “Help! The
chef is shot!”

IV. LEARNING TO USE WORDS WITH PREFIXES

A prefix is a word element placed at the beginning of a root. Prefixes are like
suffixes in that they change the meaning of the root and form a new word;
however, prefixes do not change the word’s part of speech.
 Knowing the meaning of a prefix will give a clue to the meaning of the word. The
following prefixes mean “no” or “not” and add negative meanings to words; that is,
these prefixes create antonyms, or words with opposite meanings.

dis- il- im- in- non- un-

Exercise 1. Which of these words contains a prefix with a negative meaning?

Underline these prefixes. Put an X on the lines next to the words
without negative prefix. The first two are done as examples.

1. incomplete 9. nonstop
2. X include 10. impolite
3. important 11. imply
4. uncommon 12. unfortunately
5. illegal 13. impossible
6. inherited 14. inhabitants
7. distance 15. illness
8. disagree 16. uncomfortable

Exercise 2. From your own knowledge, write the missing negative (dis-, il-, im-, in-,
non-, un-)in each blank. Then check your answers in the dictionary.

1 similar 8 sense 15 correct

2 appear 9 surprising 16 complete
3 balance 10 natural 17 honest
4 perfectly 11 popular 18 polite
5 active 12 mature 19 existent
6 ability 13 personal 20 successful
7 native 14 literate 21 ease

Exercise 3. Look at the words in exercise 2. Complete the following sentences about
negative prefixes. Circle the correct answer.

3.1. Use _______ with most words that start with b, m, or p.

a. in- b. im- c. il-

3.2. Use _______ with most words that start with l.

a. il- b. in- c.un-

3.3.. The most common negative prefix is _____ .

a. a. in- b. im- c. un-

V. READING EXERCISE

Read the following questions and the text, and then mark the correct answers
with a circle.

1.Do we know how human beings learn a language? a. Yes b. No

 2. What was Skinner’s definition of learning? a. Thinking b.
Acquiring new habits.
3. Who uses Skinner’s ideas? a. Teachers b. Scientists
4. Who disagreed with Skinner? a. Everyone b.Chomsky
5. What did Chomsky say all human beings have? a. A habit b.A special
mechanism
in their brain.

Language Learning

No one knows how human beings learn a language. In the 1950’s a famous
psychologist, E.F. Skinner, said that learning was simply the acquisition of new habits.
He taught animals to perform actions by rewarding them when they performed well and
punishing them when they performed badly. His ideas were widely used in language
teaching.
Noam Chomsky disagreed with Skinner, and in 1959 he proposed what became the
basis for a new theory of language learning. Chomsky said all humans beings have a
special mechanism in their brains which is the basis of speech. This mechanism
decays as we grow older, which may explain why children frequently have fewer
problems when learning a language than adults do.
Since 1959 psychologists and teachers have produced variations on Skinner’s and
Chomsky’s ideas but there is still no general agreement on how we learn language.

SUMMARY ON AFFIXES (PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES)

a. Prefixes

Prefixes come before a root word and have an adverbial effect. That is, they
modify the meaning of the root word.

Time Place Negation

Mediated sent done responsible

Pre Ab Un Ir
View duct well replaceable

natal Here agreed perfect

Post Ad Dis Im
Mortem jacent pleased pede

In vade In complete

vert correct

a. Suffixes. They have two functions:

1) They show grammatical inflexion.

This mechanism decays ______________________ 3rd person singular.

 Chomsky’s ideas ___________________________ genitive
They performed well ________________________ simple past.

2) They denote parts of speech

VERB NOUN ADJECTIVE ADVERB

-pose propose -ion action -ial special -ly badly

-duce produce -is basis -al general -ally diametrically

-ate create -ism mechanism -able capable -ward backward

-ize recognize -ment agreement -ive secretive -wise likewise

Guessing Words

Reading text in a foreign language is not easy. The reader has to recognize the
structures which appear in the text, and a good number of the words too. Very often
we do not need to know the exact meaning of all the words, if we can understand the
ideas they contain. Nevertheless, a specific word can be essential for our
understanding of an idea. Therefore, if that word is not already apart of our
vocabulary, we have to guess its meaning.

There are various ways of guessing the meaning of words, but understanding
affixes (prefixes and Suffixes) is one of the most useful. They are particles or words
joined to a root or base word to create a new word. Prefixes go before the root word,
and suffixes follow it. For example, take a root word like APPEAR. We can add a
suffix, ANCE, to make another new word – DISAPPEARANCE.

Now, how does this help us guessing the meaning of words? Well, f we know
that the root word, APPEAR, means to become visible, when we see it with the
negative prefix DIS it must mean the opposite of the root suffix, ANCE, which makes
words into nouns (the names of things), we know that the new word must mean THE
NAME OF THE OPPOSITE OF TO BECOME VISIBLE. If we understand the function
of a number of common affixes, this will help us to guess the meaning of words.

Understanding the function of a word in a sentence helps us arrive at a

synonym for it (a word with the same or a similar meaning). For example, read the
following sentence: He saw the fire and ran away RASSLY. RASSLY is a nonsense
word. It has no meaning in English; however, from its function in the sentence, and its
context we can guess a meaning for it. LY is a suffix which denotes an adverb and an
adverb describes a verb, so RASSLY must describe ran. The person is running away
from a fire, so we imagine that RASSLY must mean quickly, or its synonym rapidly. In
this way we can use affixes to guess the meaning of words in text.

Exercise 1. Choose the best answer. Put a circle around it.

1. When reading a text we must understand ...

a. structures b.words c. structures and words.

 2. Understanding prefixes and suffixes is ....

a.the only way to guess the meaning of words.

b. The most useful way of guessing the meaning of words.

c. One way of guessing the meaning of words.

3. The suffix ANCE makes words into...

a. negatives b) adjectives c) nouns

4. Suffixes come ...

a. before a root word. b. after a root word.

c. before and after a root word.

5. Ly is a ...

a. prefix denoting an adverb. b. prefix denoting an adjective. c Suffix denoting

an

adverb.

Exercise 2. Reference.

1. “Its” in line 6 refers to:

a. A specific word. b. Our understanding c. Our vocabulary

2. “They” in line 8 refers to:

a. various ways b. one of the most useful. c. affixes

3. “This” in line 17 refers to :

a. he suffix ANCE. b. Understanding the function. c the

number.

4. “It” in line 20 refers to:

a. the function. b. A sentence c A word.

5. “It” in line 23 refers to:

a nonsense word. b. English. c Rassly.

Exercise 3. Read the following sentences and complete them with the correct word
or phrases.

3.1.The reader has to _____________ the structures which appear in the text.

racognize decognize recognize

3.2. Nevertheless, a specific word can be _______________ for our understanding of

an idea.
 essentours essentance essential

3.4. __________, if that word is not already part of our vocabulary, we have to guess
its meaning.

Wherefore Therefore Theirfore

3.5. There are various ways of guessing the _______________ of words.

mean meaning meaningful

3.6. Now, how does this help us ____________ the meaning of words?

guess guessing guessed

3.7. Here is a list of a few common ____________ .

offixes affixes effixes

3.8. Understanding the ________ of a word in a sentence helps us arrive at a synonym

for it.

functible functly function

3.9. For example, read the _____________ sentence: He saw the fire and ran away
rassly.

following Followed follows

3.10. The person is ____________ a way from the fire, so rassly must mean quickly.

run runner Running

3.11. In this way we can _____________ affixes to guess the meaning of words.

use uses used

Exercise 4. Put the following words in the correct order to make five sentences.

1. is texts not a Reading language in foreign easy

2. word Prefixes root it suffixes go follow before and the

3. DISAPPEARANCE Then suffix, add we another, can a word make to

ANCE new.

4. become the original of antonym has It the

5. can we in texts In this guess the use affixes way to meaning words
of.
Exercise 5. Read the following beginnings and endings, and make five sentences for
them.

1. Nevertheless, a specific word can be essential.

2. They are particles or words joined to a root or base word

3. If we understand the function of a number of common affixes

4. Understanding the function of a word in a sentence

5. However, from its function in the sentence.

1. a) we can imagine a meaning for it.

2. b) this will help us guess the meaning of words.

3. c) for our understanding of an idea.

4. d) if we can understand the ideas they contain.

5. e) to create a new word.

f) helps us arrive at a synonym for it.

g) it has no meaning in English.

Exercise 6. Read the following sentences and organize them to make a composition.
The first sentence has been chosen for you.

a) I can speak three languages: Spanish, French and German 1. a

b) Then I went to Spain on Holiday 2.

c) But I do not use any of them now. 3.

d) Then my boss asks me to translate it. 4.

e) I do wish I could practice my languages 5.

f) That is because I am interested in Spain and its culture. 6.

g) I started to learn Spanish at school. 7.

h) Later I lived there for a short time 8.

i) But my favorite is Spanish 9.

j) Except when a letter from abroad arrive at the office 10.