Word Families

NCERT anchor: NCERT English Mridang Class 1 — word building with common endings

• A word family is a group of words that end the same way — like -at, -an, -ig.
• Build new words by changing the first letter of a word family.
• Read and sort words into their correct family.

1. What is a word family?

Level 1 (Verbal): Words that share the same ending, like -at in cat, hat, mat, sat.

Level 2 (Symbolic): c + at = cat, h + at = hat, m + at = mat.

Visual: Word family house — the roof shows -at, each window shows a different first letter.

2. Common word families

Verbal: -at (cat, hat, mat), -an (man, pan, fan), -ig (pig, big, dig), -og (dog, log, jog), -un (sun, run, fun).

3. Building new words

Verbal: Start with a family ending, like -ot. Add letters: p+ot = pot, h+ot = hot, d+ot = dot.

Building words in the -ap family

Step 1 — Family ending: -ap.
Step 2 — Add c: c + ap = cap.
Step 3 — Add m: m + ap = map.
Step 4 — Add t: t + ap = tap.
Answer: cap, map, tap all belong to the -ap family.

• What is the word family for cat, hat, sat?
• Add a letter to -og to make a new word.
• Which family does hen belong to?
• Stretch: Name four words in the -ot family.

Revision tip: Draw a word family house each day with three windows to fill in.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Word Families.