Word families
Groups of words built from the same root, and how knowing one helps you spell and understand the rest.
The answer
A word family is a group of words that share a root word, so they look alike and are related in meaning, such as solve, solution and dissolve.
Examples
solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble
The national curriculum’s Year 3 example.
teach, teacher, teaching
The root word teach is in every one.
grammar, grammatical, grammarian
The helpful shopkeeper saw that we were helpless without a map.
Helpful and helpless share the root word help.
How to spot it
- Look for the same root word inside each word: help in helpful, helpless and helping.
- Check the meanings are related as well as the spelling. Car and carpet share letters but are not a family.
- Prefixes and suffixes build the family: un-, re-, -ful, -er, -tion.
The common mistake
Grouping words just because they share letters.
Cat, catch and category all start with cat, but their meanings are unrelated, so they are not a word family.
When it is taught
- First met
- Year 3
- On the pupil word list
- Year 3, as “word family”
Year 3 learns word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning (solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble).
Try a question
Which word does not belong to the same word family? Tick one.
- sign
- signal
- signature
- sing
Show the answer
Answer: sing
Sign, signal and signature share the root sign and are related in meaning. Sing looks similar but means something different.
Related terms
- Practise the 11+ skill: Apply a prefix or suffix
More grammar terms
Questions parents ask
What is a root word?
The main part of a word that can stand on its own, before any prefix or suffix is added. Play is the root of played, playful and replay.
How do word families help with spelling?
They show hidden letters. The silent g in sign is easier to remember once you hear it in signal and signature.
Is a word family the same as a rhyming family?
Not in the national curriculum. Some infant schools call rhyming groups such as cat, hat, mat word families, but in Year 3 the term means words related in form and meaning.
Grammar turns up in 11+ English too
Many 11+ English papers include grammar and punctuation questions alongside comprehension. The free diagnostic checks maths, English and both kinds of reasoning, and shows what to practise next. No card is required.