4th Grade spelling
4th Grade Words With the Prefix Pre
Words with the prefix pre: preview, prehistoric, prefix, precaution and more. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Pre means before: preview is to view before. Each word is pre plus a real base word.
The prefix pre comes from Latin and means before. Preview is to view before, prepaid means paid in advance, and prehistoric describes the time before written history. Because a prefix is added to the front of a whole base word, it never changes the spelling of that base: pre plus view is preview, pre plus set is preset.
Fifteen words appear on this list, including preschool, precaution, prefix, premature, prepaid and preset, along with a few longer ones like preoccupied and predisposed. Fourth grade is the right place for it because students can now read multi-syllable words and are ready to treat the front of a word as a meaningful part. Spelling gets easier when students stop seeing p-r-e-v-i-e-w as seven letters and start seeing two pieces.
12 entries. Our solver needed 0.9 wrong guesses on average: 10 easy, 2 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is prefix (4 misses), the quickest premature (0).
- preview Easy · 1
- premature Easy · 0
- preschool Medium · 2
- prehistoric Easy · 0
- precaution Easy · 0
- previews Easy · 1
- prepaid Easy · 1
- preoccupied Easy · 1
- prefix Medium · 4
- preset Easy · 0
- preconceived Easy · 1
- predisposed Easy · 0
Words worth a closer look
- prefixA neat word for the lesson itself: pre means before, and a prefix is the piece fixed before a base word.
- prehistoricPre plus historic. Students often miss the s before the t.
- prematureMeans too early. Often misspelled with an extra e: premateure.
- preoccupiedTwo o's and two c's in a row look like a typo but are correct: pre, occupied. A hard word, so save it for the last round.
- precautionA caution taken before something happens. Link it to the tion list for a cross-check.
Teaching it
Have students underline pre in each word and write the base word next to it. Most bases are real words (view, school, paid, set, fix), so the sum works every time. A common error is changing a letter at the join, such as writing prescool for preschool. Point out that nothing changes where the two pieces meet.
A good hangman variant is to give only the base word, then ask the group to guess the word with pre added. Because every answer starts with the same three letters, guessers can treat p, r and e as free and spend their guesses on the rest. Print the worksheet and ask students to write a sentence for each of three words they have not used before.
Print a 4th Grade Words With the Prefix Pre worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 4th Grade Words Ending in TionSpell the /shun/ ending with tion: information, education, position and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in SionWords ending in sion: decision, television, vision, session and mansion-type sounds. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words With the Prefix MisWords with the prefix mis: mistake, misplaced, misuse, mistrust, misread. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in MentWords ending in ment: government, development, agreement, equipment and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in Able and IbleWords ending in able and ible: comfortable, reliable, possible, visible. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in OusWords ending in ous: dangerous, famous, nervous, delicious, generous. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.