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We started with 350 words, and added 44 words in Lesson A and 44 more in Lesson B. But now we will also begin putting words together to make new words. The meanings are still simple to understand and remember. Try these:

work + man = workman
bed + room =   bedroom
class + room = classroom
day + time    = daytime
week + end   = weekend
home + work = homework
man + kind   = mankind
air + plane =   airplane
song + bird = songbird
street + car =   streetcar
horse + man = horseman
tree + top    =   treetop
road + map = roadmap
life + boat   =   lifeboat
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Phrasal Verbs - combinations of some of the simplest words make other special meanings. Phrasal Verbs are used every day by all English speakers. Here are a few:

Get up - awaken

Get out - leave

Get over - forget

Get in - enter

Get on - step on to something

Bring up - suggest

Bring out - discover

Bring in - attract

Bring down -- usurp

Bring over - transport

Bring on - challenge

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How We Make and Use Phrasal Verbs

In the simplest kind, we add a whole prepositional phrase to a verb to show how a verb acts with an OBJECT. You pull your car up the driveway, meaning to direct your car upward in the driveway. Or, you take food off the table. The verb acts with the OBJECT.

In another form, prepositions sometimes work in pairs, as when we pull the car UP TO the curb. This form is still acting with the OBJECT.

Phrasal verbs become a VERY short usage tool, used VERY often in speech.

drop off - leave back. "Drop the children off (the car) at the school."
pull up - bring the nose of the airplane up (in the air).
get away - run from, escape "They get away from the rain."
hold out (against) - keep back. "Mother holds out. She gives no candy to the kids.
take off - lift up. "The airplane takes off (the runway) and into the air.

We know these may be difficult for you in some ways. But every English speaker knows and uses them -- a lot.

Get off -- means to come from a seat.
Get up -- means to rise from sleep.
Get down -- means to pull ones head downward.
Get over -- means to forget something bad and move on.
Get out -- means to leave quickly

Take off -- means to lift off the ground as an airplane or bird.
Take up -- means to start in a game, a job, or a study.
Take down -- means to bring down something that is posted or elevated.
Take out -- means either to erase, or to carry out as a meal.
Take over -- means to get from someone else.

Put down -- means to insult.
Put up -- means to present, or to keep a visitor in your home, or to bear, depending on context.
Put off -- Means to delay.
Put over -- means to trick.

Other basic verbs that are used often in Phrasal Verbs are Make, Let, Send, Give, Come, Go, Pull and Keep.

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WordMaker™
Let's make some more words from words we already know, just by adding "er":
Teach "They teach school." Teacher    "My mother is a teacher."
Farm     "We have got a farm." Farmer   "My brother is a farmer."
Kill        "You kill flowers."         Killer      "You are a killer."
Fight     "Lawyers fight the law." Fighter "My lawyer is a fighter."

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Most of all, WordMaker™ helps you see the "little changes" we make to existing words. (No, this will not make a new language just for you...:) But when you see how a word is made, then you can remember that word and use that word again yourself.

There are a few rules about "little changes" that make bigger words from smaller ones. Below are the main kinds of WordMaker™ rules you will learn in future lessons:

Letters in Front of a Word

Combinations of letters on the front of the word (im possible) make very different meanings. See if you can see the base words here:

incorrect (not correct)

unhappy (not happy)

renew (make new again)

return (turn back)

preview (before the view)

Letters on the Back of a Word

Letters on the back of the word sometimes also change a few letters at the end of the word. Mostly that is for easier pronunciation. There are 4 basic reasons for Letters on the Back of a Word:

1. To make a word into a noun:

friend + ship = friendship (a bond of friends)

govern + ment = government (an organization for governing)

sing + er = singer (a person who sings)

free + dom = freedom (a state of being free)

2. To make a word into a verb:

system + atize = systematize (make into a system)

regular + ate = regulate (make regular)

3. To make a word into an adjective:

interest + ing = interesting (having one’s interest)

agree + able = agreeable (able to agree with)

thank + ful = thankful (full of thanks)

care + less = careless (without a care)

4. To make a word into an adverb:

happy + ly = happily (in a happy way)

after + ward = afterward (after an event)

These are just a few of the beginnings, and endings and the kinds of words they make. In future lessons we will show you how re-, inter-, in-, -ism, -ment, and many, many more work. These "little changes" give big new meanings to words you already know.

If you understand these "little changes," you will know 3 times as many words as we have in all the lessons. And it will be simple....

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SUFFIXES 1 - Making Nouns with Endings

What a choice! This language can make nouns - or "things" from other nouns...or from verbs or adjectives.

1. Noun to noun: we can make one "thing" into another "thing." If we put friend with - ship we have friendship. Here are some others. We make a bigger noun from a smaller one.
social + -ism = socialism
father + hood = fatherhood
act + -ion = action

2. Verb to Noun: We take an "action" like govern and turn it into a "thing" like govern + -or = governor or govern + -ment = government. Try these:
play + er = player
judge + ment = judgement

3. Adjective to Noun: We take a "quality" and make it into a "thing." We put free with "-dom" and it becomes a noun: freedom. Try these:
great + -ness = greatness
act + -ivity = activity

More to come: You've just begun to see all the endings that give you more words easily. This will cost you nothing for all those extra words.

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SUFFIXES 2 - Making Verbs with Endings

Now we will make "actions" from "things" and "qualities."

1. Nouns to Verbs: English speakers do this all day long. Take a "thing" you want to make into an "action". To make something "human" we add human to -ize = humanize. (-ise in British spelling) Here are some more:
hospital + ize = hospitalize
liquid + ate = liquidate

2. Adjectives to Verbs: We take a "quality" we like and add an ending to make an "action:"
central + -ize = centralize
black + -en = blacken
legal + -ize = legalize

3. Sometimes the basic word is changed to take the ending.
regular makes regulate by dropping the -ar and adding -ate.
Difficult ....but you won't need this often, we hope.

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SUFFIXES 3 - Making Adjectives with Endings

We can make "things" and "actions" and "qualities" into new qualities (adjectives).

1. Noun to Adjective: Take a "thing" and make it a "quality."
Care is a noun, but we add -ful and it is now an adjective that can describe someone. care + -ful = careful
wind + y = windy
interest + ing = interesting

2. Verb to Adjective: An "action" becomes a "quality.
thank + -ful = thankful
suggest + -ive = suggestive
agree + -able = agreeable

3. Adjective to larger Adjective: For example, you can take the "quality" green and make it a more general "quality" by adding -ish. Try these:
lone + -ly = lonely

Your bag of words is getting much larger!
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SUFFIXES 4 - Making Adverbs with Endings

This is the last one, where we make Adverbs out of "things" and "qualities."

1. Noun to Adverb: If we want to go home, we can travel homeward. Also, "referring to":
time + -wise = timewise
cost + -wise = costwise

2. Adjective to Adverb: Take a "direction" and add ward. Up + ward = upward... or down + ward = downward.
some + -times = sometimes
east + -ward = eastward

3. Sometimes the basic word changes:
easy + -ly = easily
simple + -ly = simply

There are so many words you can make now, you should never be without one!

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N2V2A - (Changing Parts of Speech with the same word.)

(Go to N2V2A)