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

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

6. “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

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

8. 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