Teaching prefixes and suffixes

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

Teach prefixes and suffixes in a planned order, starting with endings like -s, -ed and -ing, then high-use prefixes such as un-, re- and dis- and suffixes such as -ful, -less and -tion. For each one, teach its sound, its meaning and how it changes the base word. Build and take apart words daily, and teach the three suffix spelling rules.

A prefix is a word part added to the start of a base word (un- in unpack). A suffix is added to the end (-ful in careful). Learning them helps in two ways. The student can peel them off to decode a long word, and the student can use them to work out what the word means. That second use is morphology, and it keeps paying off through high school.

The What Works Clearinghouse guide for grades 4 to 9 recommends teaching students to break words into parts, including prefixes and suffixes, to decode and understand complex words.^[1] The kindergarten to grade 3 guide also recommends teaching students to recognize common word parts.^[2] For where affixes sit in the phonics sequence, see the phonics interventions pillar guide.

A teaching order that works

Start with parts that are common, easy to hear and have a clear meaning.

Stage	Affixes	Meaning	Example words
1. Endings	-s, -es, -ed, -ing	More than one, past, happening now	cats, boxes, jumped, running
2. Comparing	-er, -est	More, most	faster, biggest
3. First prefixes	un-, re-, dis-	Not, again, not or opposite	unpack, repaint, dislike
4. First suffixes	-ful, -less, -ness, -ly	Full of, without, state of, in a way	hopeful, helpless, kindness, slowly
5. More prefixes	pre-, mis-, non-, in-, im-	Before, wrongly, not, not, not	preview, misread, nonstop, invisible, impossible
6. More suffixes	-tion, -sion, -able, -ment	Act or result, can be, result	action, tension, readable, payment
7. Content affixes	sub-, inter-, trans-, -ology, -ous	Under, between, across, study of, full of	submarine, interstate, transport, biology, famous

Students in grades 1 and 2 mostly need stages 1 and 2. Grades 3 to 5 work through stages 3 to 6. Middle school students in intervention often need all seven, quickly.

Step-by-step: teaching one affix

Step 1: Show it in words the student knows

"Here are three words: unpack, unzip, unhappy. What part is the same?" The student finds un-. Start from words the student can read and understand, so the only new thing is the part.

Step 2: Teach sound and meaning together

"un- says /un/ and means not or the opposite." Then test meaning: "If unpack means the opposite of pack, what does unfold mean?"

Step 3: Build words

With word cards or tiles, the student adds the affix to bases and reads each new word: un + fair, un + kind, un + safe. Then the student says what each word means in a short sentence.

Step 4: Take words apart

Give affixed words. The student draws a line between the parts and reads each one: un/fair, re/fill, help/less. This is the decoding use: peeling parts off makes the base word shorter and easier.

Step 5: Read and spell in sentences

Dictate 5 words and 1 sentence: "She was careful not to spill the refill." Then read a short passage and hunt for affixed words.

The three suffix spelling rules

When a suffix starts with a vowel (-ed, -ing, -er, -est, -able), the base word sometimes changes. Teach these three rules one at a time, with practice words.

Rule	When	Examples
Doubling	One-syllable word, one short vowel, one final consonant, vowel suffix	hop + ing = hopping; big + est = biggest
Drop the e	Word ends in silent e, vowel suffix	hope + ing = hoping; make + er = maker
Change y to i	Word ends in consonant + y, any suffix except -ing	happy + ness = happiness; cry + ed = cried

The doubling rule also helps reading. "Hoping" and "hopping" differ by one letter. A student who knows that the double p keeps the vowel short can read both correctly. The suffixed words with spelling changes template measures this.

Four affix activities

Word sums. Write "re + play + ing = replaying." The student reads the sum and the word. Then reverse: write a word, and the student writes the sum.
Affix sort. 15 word cards. The student sorts by prefix, then re-sorts by meaning (all the "not" words together: unkind, dislike, impossible).
Word families. Start with one base: help, helpful, helpless, unhelpful, helper, helping. Read each and say what changed. The morphology chains template builds a goal on this.
Real or not. Mix real words and impossible ones: unhappy, unhappily, rehappy. The student reads each and decides whether it is a real word. This sharpens the sense of what each affix can attach to.

Worked example: one 4th grader over 8 weeks

Sofia is a fictional 4th grader with a reading IEP. She reads one-syllable words with all vowel patterns at 18 of 20 or better. On three probes of 20 affixed words (stages 1 to 4), she reads 8, 9 and 7. Her baseline is 8 of 20. On a meaning check (10 affixed words, "What does this mean?"), she explains 3 of 10.

Her goals: read 18 of 20 unpracticed affixed words correctly, and explain the meaning of 8 of 10 affixed words using the base and the affix. The reading goal follows the words with prefixes and suffixes template. The meaning goal follows the use prefixes, suffixes and roots to find meaning template.

Week	Affixed words read of 20	Meanings explained of 10	Affixes taught
Baseline	8	3
2	10	4	-ed, -ing, doubling
4	13	5	un-, re-, dis-
6	15	7	-ful, -less, -ness, -ly
8	17	8	Review, drop-e rule

Reading rose faster than meaning at first, then meaning caught up once she started building word families. The numbers are illustrations, not norms. Probing both skills weekly shows which one needs more time.^[3]

Common mistakes

Weak: A list of 30 prefixes to memorize with definitions. Better: Teach 3 or 4 at a time, in words the student knows, with building and taking apart.
Weak: Teaching meaning only, with no reading or spelling. Better: Teach sound, meaning and spelling of each affix together.
Weak: Calling "re" a prefix in "ready" and "real." Better: Check that the rest is a real base. "Ady" and "al" are not, so re- is not a prefix there.
Weak: Skipping the spelling rules. Better: Teach doubling, drop-e and y-to-i, one at a time, with reading pairs like hoping and hopping.
Weak: A goal that says "will know 20 prefixes." Better: Count words read or meanings explained: "18 of 20 unpracticed affixed words."

Templates and tools

See the vocabulary goals page for meaning-based goals, such as defining an academic word from its parts, and the phonics decoding goals page for reading-based ones, such as affixed words on a timed list. For using affixes inside the long-word routine, see multisyllabic word strategies. More goal wording is in phonics IEP goal examples, and the goal checker catches vague criteria.

Frequently asked questions

Which prefixes and suffixes should be taught first?

Start with the endings -s, -ed and -ing, then -er and -est. Next teach un-, re- and dis-, and the suffixes -ful, -less, -ness and -ly. These appear in many words students meet in grades 2 to 5 and have clear meanings.

Should prefixes be taught for reading or for vocabulary?

Both. Peeling off a prefix helps a student decode a long word, and knowing its meaning helps the student understand the word. Teach the sound, the meaning and the spelling together for each affix.

How do I teach the doubling rule?

Teach it with one-syllable words first: one vowel, one final consonant, and a suffix that starts with a vowel means double the consonant, as in hop and hopping. Practice reading pairs like hoping and hopping so the student sees why it matters.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.