Context Clues

Context Clues

by Joshua Strausser

​What are Context Clues?

​Context clues are ways for us to find the answers to words that we might not know

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​Useful when you don't have a dictionary or when you just want to keep reading.

​Types of Context Clues

​There are different types of Context Clues that we can find in literature

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​These clues differ on how we use them, but they all help us find a way to break down a word.

​Prefixes

​Prefixes are standard BEGINNINGS of words that have a set meaning.

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​You already know a ton of prefixes! For example, Anti-means against, Con-means with (or sometimes in opposition), Pro- means for

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​We use these beginnings of words to help us figure out what the rest of the word means.

​Prefixes

​We know that Pro-gress means to move forward to continue doing something.

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​Pro- means for or in agreeance with and we can assume that -gress means moving.

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​If we know that con- means against, what should "Congress" mean? Does it mean that?

​Suffixes

​Suffixes are just like prefixes but at the END of the word!

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​Suffixes will usually tell us what part of speech a word is! (Noun, verb, adjective, etc.)

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​Some popular suffixes include: -ise, -ate, -tion, -ing

​Use the Words around it

​A lot of times, we can figure out what words mean by the sentence surrounding them.

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​If a sentence is talking about how serious someone is being and then uses the word morose, we can assume that morose means something like serious.

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​Look at the words before and after the word to help try and figure out what it might mean.

​Practice

​John marveled at all the beautiful decorations that surrounded the city. Every building was lit with the most decadent white lights he had ever seen in his life. John made sure to snap as many pictures as possible to show his family back home.

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​1. Using context clues, what does "decadent" mean

​Examples of the word

​Many times when an author uses a high vocabulary word, they might give examples of what the word means.

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​If an author says: "The sarcophagus, coffin, was masterfully adorned"

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​Based on this we can assume that sarcophagus means some sort of coffin.

​Definition

​If the author is feeling extra-generous they might even throw in a definition.

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​In these cases we can just use the definition that we are given to find the meanings of a word.

Multiple Choice

What do context clues do? 

• Help us find what words mean

• Help us find out how words are spelled

• Help us find Theme

• Help us write papers

Multiple Choice

Where might we also find context clues for an unknown word? 

• In the next chapter? 

• In the Next book? 

• Behind our seats? 

• Surrounding the word in the sentence? 

Multiple Choice

Where would we find Suffixes? 

• At the Beginning of a word

• At the end of a word

• In the middle of the word

• Around a word

Multiple Choice

Where would we find Pre-fixes? 

• At the Beginning of a word

• At the end of a word

• In the middle of the word

• Around a word