Year 3 Spelling Words Australia: Morphemes

By Year 3, Australian spelling curricula expect students to have a good understanding of morphemic word families. While the word “morpheme” sounds like it jumped right out of a science fiction book, don’t let the jargon fool you. Morphemes are one of the most basic building blocks of the English language, and are crucial for even the most basic spelling operations. In fact, every Year 3 spelling word list contains hundreds of morphemes. So, what are they? And more, importantly, how can your child begin using them to fast-track their spelling?

Download your Year 3-5 Spelling List - Affixes!

Expand your child's vocabulary with this spelling list

Download now

Download your Year 3-5 Spelling List - Affixes!

Fill out your details below to get this resource emailed to you.

"*" indicates required fields

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Postcode*

Grade in 2025*

Grade in 2025123456789101112

Hidden

Resource (DO NOT DELETE OR CHANGE)

By submitting this form, you agree to receive promotional messages from Matrix about its products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the bottom of our emails.

What is a Morpheme?

Morphemes are essentially the building blocks of words. Every single word is made up of one or more morphemes. A morpheme can be a single letter or more, but most importantly, every morpheme carries its own meaning. This means that adding or removing a morpheme from a word can change its definition.

For example, let’s look at the word “dogs.” In this word, we have two morphemes: “dog” and “s”. “Dog” is a morpheme because it has a meaning on its own; it refers to a furry animal. And the “s” at the end of “dogs” is also a morpheme because it adds meaning to the word; it indicates that there is more than one dog. While the “s” morpheme is commonly used to create plurals, some morphemes can totally change the meaning of a word.

For instance, the morpheme “un” can be added to “happy” to form the word “unhappy”. In this case, though the morpheme in question is only two letters, it is capable of completely reversing the meaning of the original word.

Let’s now take a look at how multiple morphemes can be combined to make more complex words. Consider the word “auditorium”:

1. “audi” is a morpheme derived from the Latin word “audire”, which means “to hear”. It relates to the act of listening.
2. “tor” is a Latin morpheme that signifies a person who performs a particular action. For example, an “actor” is someone who acts, while an “inspector” is someone who inspects. In this case, an “auditor” would be someone who listens.
3. “ium” is a morpheme also derived from Latin, which denotes a space or place where something happens. For example, an aquarium is a place where aquatic creatures are kept. In this case, an “auditorium” would be a place where people go to listen.

When we put these morphemes together, “audi” and “tor” combine to form “auditor,” which refers to a person who listens or hears. Then, the suffix “ium” is added to create “auditorium,” which means a place or venue designed for people to listen or hear, typically used for performances, lectures, or presentations.

Evidently, morphemes are the building blocks that make up language. Accordingly, the Australian Year 3 Spelling curriculum requires that students know a range of individual morphemes and can use them to piece together the spelling (and meaning!) of bigger words, even ones they’ve never seen before. So, what are the different kinds of morphemes, and how do they work?

Prefixes, Suffixes, and Base Words

Now that we understand what a morpheme is, let’s take a look at the different types of morphemes:

1. A prefix is a type of morpheme that is added to the beginning of a word. Common examples include “un”, “re”, and “in”, as seen in “unhappy”, “rebuild”, and “inactive”.
2. A suffix is a type of morpheme that is added to the end of a word. Common examples include “s”, “ed”, and “ing”, as seen in “dogs”, “walked”, and “acting”.
3. A base word, also known as a root word, is a word in its simplest form, before any affixes (prefixes or suffixes) are attached. It is the core or foundational part of a word that carries its primary meaning. Base words can stand alone as words, or have other morphemes added to them to alter their meaning. Common examples include “happy”, “walk”, and “dog”.

The Year 3 Australian Spelling curriculum requires an understanding of common prefixes and suffixes for several reasons:

1. Vocabulary Expansion: By understanding common affixes, students can quickly break down unfamiliar words into these smaller units. This knowledge allows them to decode new words quickly to decipher their meaning, promoting a deeper understanding of word structure.
2. Spelling Accuracy: By understanding how affixes influence word formation, students can apply spelling rules more effectively. They can predict the spelling of words by considering the base word and the modifications introduced by the affixes. This knowledge contributes to improved spelling accuracy.
3. Morphological Awareness: Developing an awareness of affixes contributes to overall morphological awareness—the understanding that words are composed of meaningful units. This metalinguistic skill aids in language development, as students can recognise patterns, make connections between words, and make informed choices in their word usage.

Let’s take a look at an example of how knowledge of affixes can improve vocabulary expansion and comprehension. Consider the prefix “sub”. This particular morpheme usually means “under” or “below”. A student who understands this will quickly be able to decipher a number of words containing this prefix, even if they’ve never seen them before. Let’s now see how this knowledge would transfer to Year 3 NAPLAN questions on unknown words:

What is a “subway”?

Most Year 3 Spelling students will already understand that the base word “way” refers to a path, track, or road of some description. By adding the meaning of the prefix “sub”, students can quickly intuit that a “subway” is some sort of path that is “under” or “beneath” – perhaps underground!

What kind of vehicle is a “submarine”?

Again, many Year 3 Spelling students will already know the base word “marine” has something to do with water or the ocean. By adding the prefix “sub”, students can quickly infer that a “submarine” is a vehicle that travels underwater.

Clearly, when it comes to deciphering unfamiliar Year 3 Spelling Words, Australian students who are familiar with common affixes will excel. With this in mind, don’t just download any old word list. Instead, play the spelling game smart, not hard. Encourage your child to recognise patterns, and develop a morphological awareness of the affixes they encounter. Moreover, if you’re ready to begin your child’s journey toward becoming a prefix prodigy, download our “Affix” word list below!

Download your Year 3 Spelling -

Top 10 "Must Know" Affixes!

Boost your child's Year 3 Spelling and Vocabulary!

Download free