How to increase your vocabulary faster - Word families

When you learn a new word, try and find other words in the same 'family' and note how to use them. We often use -er for people, e.g., employer, and -ation for things, e.g, organization, then practice usage.

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Lets start with my favourite example

The root "walk" generates related words for movement.

• Walk (verb: basic action): "People walk to stay healthy."
• Walking (noun/gerund: the activity): "Walking improves fitness daily."
• Walker (noun: the person): "The fast walker led the group."
• Walkable (adjective: accessible by foot): "This neighborhood is walkable to shops."
• Walked (verb past: completed action): "She walked five miles yesterday."

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Once illustrated, lets dive into the patterns and how they can help you increasing vocabulary.

Key Suffix Patterns

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Suffixes transform root words predictably across families.

-er/or: Forms nouns for people or agents, as in "employ" → employer (the person who hires staff, e.g., "The employer offered a raise").

-ation/tion: Creates nouns for processes or results, like "organize" → organization (the group or act, e.g., "The organization runs events").

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Build sentences to see connections

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Example Family: Employ

Employ (verb: "Companies employ workers"): The firm will employ 50 new staff next year.

Employer (noun: "The boss"): My employer values teamwork highly.

Employment (noun: "The job/state"): Full employment drives economic growth.

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Example Family: Organize

Organize (verb: "To arrange"): Volunteers organize the annual fair.

Organization (noun: "The group"): The organization supports local charities.

Organizational (adjective: "Related to structure"): Strong organizational skills are essential.

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Conclusion

Word families boosts vocabulary by revealing patterns in roots, prefixes, and suffixes, allowing learners to grasp multiple related words at once rather than memorizing them individually. This approach enhances recognition of unfamiliar terms in reading and writing, builds confidence through predictable forms, and accelerates fluency. For instance, mastering the "walk" family (as discussed earlier) enables you to use walk, walking, walker, walkable, and walked fluidly.

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