As an English learner, building a strong vocabulary is essential to improving your English language skills. One way to achieve this is by learning about word families.
What are Word Families?
Word families are groups of words that share the same root or base word, and often have a similar meaning. Understanding them can help you learn new vocabulary faster and more efficiently.
For example, the word family of “act” includes words like “action,” “actor,” and “react.” These words are related because they all come from the same root word, “act.”
Why are Word Families Important?
Learning word families is important for several reasons.
1 It allows you to learn multiple words at once that are related in meaning. This can help you to expand your vocabulary more quickly and efficiently.
2 Understanding word families can help you to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words. If you know the root word of a word you don’t know, you may be able to figure out its meaning based on its similarity to other words in that family.
3 Knowing word families can also help you to use words more accurately and appropriately in different contexts.
Examples of Word Families
Here are some examples of common word families in English:
| Word Family | Example Words |
|---|---|
| act | action, actor, react, active |
| happy | happiness, unhappy, happily, unhappily |
| nation | national, nationality, international, nationhood |
| beauty | beautiful, beautifully, beautify, beautician |
| friend | friendly, friendship, unfriendly, friendliness |
Learning and practicing word families is an important step in expanding your English vocabulary. By understanding the relationship between words, you can build a stronger foundation for reading, writing, and speaking in English. Keep practicing and reviewing these word families to improve your language skills.
Vocabulary Practice
Level of difficulty: 
- Click on the START button
- Choose a number.
- Look at the clue on the left side of the crossword. This clue will help you guess the word that fits into the puzzle.
- Use the clues to fill in the words that match the number and direction (across or down) of the boxes.
- If you’re not sure of a word, try to guess based on the other letters that you’ve filled in. You can also use a dictionary or the internet to help you if you need it.
Speaking Practice
Level of difficulty:
- Complete the questions with a word from the word family list in the example section.
- Click on FLIP to check your answers
- Discuss the questions with your partner
Writing Practice
Complete the following table
| Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| appear | apparently | ||
| arrive | arriving | ||
| belief | believable | ||
| build | built | – | |
| choose | choose wisely | ||
| criticism | critical | ||
| decide | decisive | ||
| description | descriptive | ||
| enjoy | enjoyably | ||
| exploration | exploratory | ||
| fail | – | ||
| imagination | imagine | ||
| improvement | improved | ||
| – | – | ||
| love | lovely | ||
| move | – | ||
| reading | read | – | |
| think | thoughtful | ||
| usage | use | ||
| work | work | – | – |
Complete the following sentence using the words from the table
- The _______ of the building was stunning.
- She will _____ at the airport tomorrow morning.
- I _____that he is telling the truth.
- He is _______ a new house on the outskirts of the city.
- It’s important to _____ constructively in order to help someone improve.
- I had to ______ between two job offers.
- Her ________ knows no bounds.
- Regular exercise can help you _______ your overall health.
- I _________ spending time with my family and friends.
- It’s important to ___________ carefully before making a decision.
Choose 10 words from the table and write your own sentences.
Share your answers in the comments below and I’ll share with you the answer key
Speaking practice
Teacher Julieta 