Comparatives & Latin Roots Grade 4 Lesson 13 Comparatives & Latin Roots

Comparative Word Forms When we compare two words and show which one is MORE than the other, we are using comparatives. * We use vowel suffix –er to compare. Base Word: More Than: late later pretty prettier rich richer

Adding Vowel Suffixes When you add a vowel suffix to a base word, you MUST know if the final syllable of the base word has a short or long vowel sound. DOUBLING RULE: When you hear a base word with a short vowel sound, double the final consonant before adding the vowel suffix. DROPPING RULE: When you hear a base word with a long vowel sound, drop the silent e before adding the vowel suffix.

DOUBLE OR DROP? DOUBLING RULE DROPPING RULE late = er = later Base Word w/ Short Vowel Sound big + er = bigger thin + er = thinner slim + er = slimmer Base Word w/ Long Vowel Sound late = er = later bake + er = baker time + er = timer

Changing Rule We know that a SUFFIX is a VOWEL SUFFIX if the FIRST letter of the suffix is a vowel. -ing, -er, -ed When you add a vowel suffix to a base word with vowel Y in the final position, you must change the Y to i before adding the suffix unless the suffix begins with the letter i. Base Word: happy + er = happier lucky + er = luckier

“JUST ADD” VOWEL SUFFIX When we have a base word, and we add a VOWEL suffix…we check the last 3 letters of the base word. IF we have 2 consonants in the FINAL position of the base word, we can “JUST ADD” the vowel suffix! quick + er = quicker fast + er = faster IF we have a vowel team in the last 3 letters of the base word, we can “JUST ADD” the vowel suffix! (digraph / dipthong ow and ou count as a vowel team!) slow + er = slower narrow + est = narrowest

LATIN ROOTS (WORD PARTS) ACT = DO NAT = BORN Keywords: natural, native Keywords: action, actor

SPELLING WORDS DOUBLE: CHANGE: JUST ADD: bigger happier richer thinner luckier quicker slimmer shinier faster lighter DROP: slower later odder ACT: NAT: acted nation native action national natural react