Word Families: The 37 Most Common Word Families for Beginners

Word families are groups of words that go together. They have similar or common features or patterns. They can occur in the prefix, the suffix, or in the root word itself. They are sometimes referred to as groups or chunks. Word families all have the same combinations of letters somewhere in the word. They frequently appear in poems and rhymes (especially nursery rhymes). For example:

“Jack and Jill
Went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown.
And Jill came tumbling after.”

Word Families

Word families can be an important tool when teaching people to read or speak a language. New readers are able to recognize the word patterns, and teachers help them to understand the combinations and sounds.

The National Council of Teachers of English has identified 37 different word families. They are listed below with examples of words that are included in the family.

Other Word Families

There are many other word families beyond the most common 37. Below are some others that occur on a regular basis.

Placement in Words

There are many other word families, and they can occur anywhere in a word. Some examples are:

Risk of Focusing on Word Families

There is one pitfall that new readers can encounter when learning word families. Because they focus so much attention on the second part of the word, they can skip over the first part. They then have to go back to the start of the word.

This results in jerky eye movement. Instead of a steady progression across the page from left to right, the reader jumps around. This could actually reinforce dyslexic tendencies.

Conclusion:

Word families help students to learn to read and pronounce English. Because they learn to recognize the “chunks” of words that are in each family, they can make connections to other words. This helps new readers correctly predict how other words will sound.

New readers are able to take single-syllable words and break them down. There will often be a consonant at the start of the word and a word family group at the end. By breaking down even short words, the new reader is able to improve their spelling, understand new words (by comparing them to old), and improve their reading fluency.

By using the 37 common word families, new readers will be able to learn an estimated 500 words. If other word families are included, the number of new words can grow dramatically.

List of Word Families | Image

List of Word Families

37 Most Common Word Families

37 Different Word Families

List of Word Families in English

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Liam Daniel

At 7ESL, we use advanced AI to help people learn English. Our tools and resources make it easier to speak and write well, supporting learners at every level.

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