Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

Happy Families (Go Fish) Game of Prefixes and Suffixes

This game practices five prefixes learned in this lesson (mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-) plus seven suffixes
from earlier lessons (-s, -ly, -ful, -less, -es, -n’t, -ing). There is one family of four cards for each
prefix and suffix.
Preparation: Cut out and glue the cards onto heavy paper; lamination is optional. (You can now buy
pre-cut card-sized lamination pockets with rounded corners!)
To play: Review the meaning of the suffixes and prefixes in the game. Shuffle the cards. Deal each
player four cards and put the remaining pile of cards face down in the middle. Players try to
assemble families of four cards by asking the other player(s) for the card they want by name
(example: “Do you have ‘pack - repack.’ from the ‘re-’ (which means ‘again’) family?”) If the player
gets what s/he requested, she gets another turn. If not, the other player says, “No, Go Fish,” and
the first player draws a card from the pile. Lay down each family of four cards as it is assembled;
the learner should explain the meaning of the suffix or prefix, then read the 4 pairs of words and
state their meanings. Play until all the cards are laid out in families. The player with the most
families wins. (Try to let the learner outsmart you.)

re- re- re-

pack - repack use - reuse fill - refill

use - reuse pack - repack pack - repack

fill - refill fill - refill use - reuse
sell - resell sell - resell sell - resell

re- dis- dis-

sell - resell connect – disconnect ability - disability

pack - repack ability - disability connect - disconnect

use – reuse respect - disrespect respect - disrespect
fill - refill like – dislike like – dislike

© Fern Levitt, 2009

Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

dis- dis- un-

like – dislike respect- disrespect wise - unwise

ability - disability ability - disability like - unlike

connect - disconnect connect - disconnect well - unwell
respect - disrespect like – dislike do - undo

un- un- un-

like – unlike well - unwell do - undo

well - unwell wise - unwise wise - unwise

do - undo like - unlike like - unlike
wise - unwise do - undo well - unwell

mis- mis- mis-

fit - misfit use – misuse print - misprint

use - misuse print - misprint use – misuse

print - misprint behave – misbehave behave – misbehave
behave - misbehave fit - misfit fit - misfit

© Fern Levitt, 2009

Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

mis- -ful -ful

behave – misbehave care - careful hope – hopeful

use - misuse hope - hopeful use - useful

print - misprint use - useful help – helpful
fit - misfit help - helpful care - careful

-ful -ful -less

tired - tireless
use - useful help – helpful

friend - friendless
hope - hopeful hope - hopeful
hope - hopeless
help – helpful use - useful
care - careless
care - careful care - careful

-less -less -less

friend - friendless hope - hopeless care - careless

tired - tireless tired - tireless tired - tireless

hope - hopeless friend - friendless friend - friendless
care - careless care - careless hope - hopeless

© Fern Levitt, 2009

Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

-ly -ly -ly

sad - sadly stiff – stiffly safe – safely

stiff - stiffly safe - safely happy – happily

safe - safely happy – happily sad - sadly
happy - happily sad - sadly stiff - stiffly

-ly pre- pre-

happy - happily prepare predict

sad - sadly predict prefix

stiff - stiffly prefix pre-pack
safe - safely pre-pack prepare

pre- pre- -es

prefix pre-pack dress - dresses

pre-pack prepare pass - passes

prepare predict box - boxes
predict prefix fix - fixes

© Fern Levitt, 2009

Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

-es -es -es

pass – passes box – boxes fix - fixes

box - boxes pass - passes pass - passes

fix - fixes fix - fixes box - boxes
dress - dresses dress - dresses dress - dresses

-s -s -s
ball - balls cut – cuts sing – sings

cut - cuts ball - balls ball - balls

sing - sings sing - sings cut - cuts
plant - plants plant - plants plant - plants

-s -n’t -n’t
plant - plants do – don’t have – haven’t

ball - balls have – haven’t are – aren’t

cut - cuts are – aren’t is – isn’t
sing - sings is – isn’t do – don’t

© Fern Levitt, 2009

Lesson 32a, prefixes mis-, dis-, un-, re-, pre-

-n’t -n’t -ing

are – aren’t is – isn’t run - running

have – haven’t have – haven’t stand - standing

is – isn’t are – aren’t come - coming
do – don’t do – don’t travel - traveling

-ing -ing -ing

stand – standing come - coming travel – traveling

come - coming stand - standing stand - standing

travel – traveling travel – traveling come - coming
run - running run - running run - running

© Fern Levitt, 2009