Year 5 English · Key Stage 2 · Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – English Appendix 2

Year 5 verb prefixes and suffixes: a guide for parents

In Year 5, children learn how new verbs are built from other words. They turn nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding a suffix, such as simple becoming simplify or modern becoming modernise, and they change the meaning of verbs by adding a prefix, such as appear becoming disappear. It is a practical way to grow vocabulary and to work out spellings and meanings of unfamiliar words.

Making verbs with suffixes and prefixes, explained

English builds many of its verbs from other kinds of word. A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word, and some suffixes turn a noun or adjective into a verb. The curriculum’s grammar appendix suggests three examples for Year 5, –ate, –ise and –ify, and schools choose which words to teach with them. Activate comes from the adjective active and means to make something active. Modernise comes from modern and means to make something modern. Simplify comes from simple and means to make something simple. These are only examples, and your child will probably meet others, such as apologise, signify, purify or captivate, depending on the books and topics their class is using.

Adding a suffix often changes the spelling of the word it is added to, and this is where most of the teaching time goes. A final silent e is usually dropped (active becomes activate, pure becomes purify), while a word such as modern, with no e to lose, simply takes the ending: modernise. With words that end in –le, the ending is replaced, so simple becomes simplify. Words ending in a consonant plus y tend to lose the y: beauty becomes beautify. Teachers encourage children to say the word in parts and check by eye: if it looks wrong, try again. The curriculum uses the –ise spelling, so that is the ending your child will be taught, and some verbs ending in –ise, such as advertise, exercise and surprise, are not made this way at all and just have to be learned.

A prefix goes at the front of a word and changes its meaning without changing the spelling of the word it is attached to. For prefixes, the appendix suggests dis–, de–, mis–, over– and re– as examples. Dis– often means not or the opposite of (disagree, disappear, disconnect). De– often means to take away or reverse (defrost, deactivate). Mis– means wrongly or badly (misspell, misbehave, mislead). Over– means too much or above (overcook, overtake) and re– means again or back (rebuild, retell, replace). These are patterns, not guarantees, and children learn to use them as clues rather than rules.

Knowing about prefixes and suffixes helps in two ways. When a child meets a new word, such as deforest or electrify, they can break it into parts and make a sensible guess at what it means. And when spelling, knowing that dis + appear is simply the two parts joined together explains why disappear has one s and two ps, while mis + spell explains why misspell has two. Children also come to see how word class works: a suffix often changes a word’s class (the adjective simple becomes the verb simplify), while a prefix usually keeps it as it was (the verb appear stays a verb in reappear).

Words your child will hear

Verb: A word that names an action, event or state, such as simplify, run or exist.
Noun: A word that names a person, place, thing or idea, such as symbol, hospital or beauty.
Adjective: A word that describes a noun, such as simple, modern or active.
Suffix: Letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or its word class, such as –ify, –ise or –ate.
Prefix: Letters added to the start of a word to change its meaning, such as dis–, mis–, de–, over– or re–.
Root word: The basic word before a prefix or suffix is added. The root of disappear is appear.
Word family: A group of words built from the same root, such as active, activate, activity and deactivate.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Year 5 says:

Pupils should be taught converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes
Pupils should be taught verb prefixes

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: building verbs

Make verbs from the adjectives simple, modern and active. Then use a prefix to make a verb that means the opposite of connect.

First check the job. Simple, modern and active are adjectives, and we need verbs that mean “make something simple”, “make something modern” and “make something active”. The suffixes –ify, –ise and –ate make verbs.
Simple + –ify. The word ends in –le, which is replaced by the new ending, so the verb is simplify. Check the meaning: to make something simpler or easier. “The teacher simplified the instructions.”
Modern + –ise. The root has no silent e to remove, so the two parts join directly: modernise. “The council wants to modernise the library.”
Active + –ate. The final e of active is dropped before the ending, so the verb is activate. “Press the button to activate the alarm.”
Now the prefix. The opposite of connect is made with dis–. Dis– simply goes on the front and the root does not change at all: dis + connect is disconnect. “Please disconnect the charger.”

Simplify, modernise, activate and disconnect.

Common mistakes and how to help

Changing the spelling when a prefix is added: “dissapear” or “mispell”

Children sound the word out and let the extra letter go or arrive where it seems to belong. In disappear, the s of dis and the p of appear are separate, so there is only one s but two ps.

What helps: Say the parts separately and then spell them one after the other: dis, appear. Mis + spell makes two s’s because the prefix ends in s and the root begins with s. Mis + take makes just one.

Adding a suffix without fixing the end of the root: “simpleify” or “purefy”

Children attach the new ending to the whole word, or write what they hear, because the rules about dropping e or changing –le are easy to forget.

What helps: Look at the last letter of the root before adding anything. Try the word in its different forms, such as pure, purify, purifier, purity, and look at which letters stay.

Thinking any prefix can go on any word

After learning that dis– and re– make new words, children invent forms such as “deappear” or “disbuild” that are not words in English.

What helps: Treat invented words as a game and check them in a dictionary. Which prefixes go with which roots has to be learned word by word, though patterns help.

Expecting a prefix to change the word class as a suffix does

Children have just learned that –ify and –ise turn adjectives and nouns into verbs, so they expect adding a prefix to do something similar.

What helps: A suffix often changes the kind of word; a prefix mostly changes the meaning. Sort a few words and compare: simple to simplify, but appear to disappear.

How to help at home

Verb-building game. Give your child a list of adjectives, such as solid, pure, real, equal and humid, and ask them to make a verb from each, then use it in a sentence. Check any that look odd in a dictionary.
Opposites with prefixes. Say a verb such as agree, connect, appear or obey and ask for the opposite by adding dis–. Then try mis– words: behave, spell, lead, understand. Notice how the meaning shifts.
Find them around the house. Hunt for words with prefixes: defrost on the freezer, rewind on a remote, overflow on a bath. Say what the prefix tells you before you look at the root.
Say it in parts. When your child has to spell a long verb such as disappear or misunderstand, ask them to say it in its parts, then write each part. It is the fastest way to stop letters going missing.
Invent and check. Make up a silly word with a suffix, such as pizzify, and ask what it would mean. Then look up whether real words follow the same pattern. It shows how English builds its vocabulary.

Updated 20 October 2026.