Series ID: EDKS-BASIC-ZH-0035 · Lesson No.035 · 零基础英语第三十五课 · A1 → A2 Vocabulary Growth

Growing Vocabulary by Word Families | 用词族扩展词汇

Do not learn one word alone. Learn its useful family, partners, opposites and sentence frames.
不要孤立地学一个词。一起学它常用的词族、搭配、反义关系和句型。

Vocabulary grows faster when words are connected. If you know help, you can learn helpful. If you know teach, you can recognise teacher. If you know safe, you can connect safely and safety.

But word building is not a guessing game. English has regular patterns and irregular exceptions. Learn the family members that are common and useful.

Chinese Edition Hub · 中文版入口 · ← Lesson No.034 · Everyday Grammar Patterns

The vocabulary-growth map | 词汇扩展路线

word families
noun / verb / adjective / adverb
common prefixes and suffixes
opposites
collocations
semantic categories
synonyms with limits
high-frequency chunks
context before dictionary definition
active vs passive vocabulary
spaced retrieval
Mandarin-English word-building differences

1. What is a word family? | 什么是词族？

A word family contains related forms built around a common root or meaning.

help → helpful → helpless
teach → teacher → teaching
safe → safely → safety

2. Learn useful family members, not every possible form | 学常用，不求全

Some roots have many rare forms. Beginners should focus on common forms that appear in real English.

3. Verb → person with -er | 动词 + -er 表“做这件事的人”

teach → teacher
work → worker
drive → driver
write → writer

This pattern is useful, but not every profession follows it.

4. Verb → noun with -ing | 动作名词 / 活动

read → reading
shop → shopping
learn → learning

-ing can have several grammatical jobs. At beginner level, learn common noun/activity uses in context.

5. Adjective → adverb with -ly | 形容词 + -ly

slow → slowly
careful → carefully
quiet → quietly

Not every adverb follows this rule: fast can be adjective and adverb.

6. Adjective → noun with -ness | 形容词 + -ness

kind → kindness
happy → happiness

Spelling may change.

7. Verb → noun with -ment | 动词 + -ment

improve → improvement
move → movement

Useful recognition pattern, but not universal.

8. Verb → noun with -tion/-sion | 动词变名词

communicate → communication
decide → decision
invite → invitation

Spelling can change significantly. Learn each common family.

9. Noun → adjective with -ful | -ful

help → helpful
care → careful
use → useful

-ful often means “having” or “full of” the quality.

10. Noun → adjective with -less | -less

help → helpless
care → careless
use → useless

-less often means “without”.

11. Prefix un- | un- 否定

happy → unhappy
clear → unclear
safe → unsafe

Do not add un- to every adjective. Learn accepted forms.

12. Prefix im-/in-/ir- | 否定前缀认识

possible → impossible
correct → incorrect
regular → irregular

These are recognition patterns, not free-building rules.

13. Prefix re- | 再次

write → rewrite
send → resend
start → restart

re- often means again.

14. Prefix mis- | 错误地

understand → misunderstand
spell → misspell

15. Help family | help 词族

help — verb/noun
helpful — adjective
helpless — adjective

Frames:

Can you help me?
This is helpful.

16. Use family | use 词族

use — verb/noun
useful — adjective
useless — adjective

I use this every day.
This guide is useful.

17. Care family | care 词族

care
careful
carefully
careless

Be careful.
Read carefully.

18. Safe family | safe 词族

safe — adjective
safely — adverb
safety — noun
unsafe — adjective

19. Work family | work 词族

work — noun/verb
worker — person
workplace — place

Not all forms are built with a simple suffix; compounds also grow vocabulary.

20. Teach family | teach 词族

teach
teacher
teaching

21. Learn family | learn 词族

learn
learner
learning

22. Communicate family | communicate 词族

communicate
communication
communicative — recognition

23. Decide family | decide 词族

decide
decision

I need to decide.
It’s an important decision.

24. Improve family | improve 词族

improve
improvement

My listening is improving.
I can see an improvement.

25. Different family | differ 词族

different — adjective
difference — noun
differ — verb, more formal recognition

These are different.
What’s the difference?

26. Possible family | possible 词族

possible
possibly
impossible

27. Happy family | happy 词族

happy
happily
happiness
unhappy

Note the spelling change: y → i in some forms.

28. Create family | create 词族

create
creative
creation
creator

This is useful beyond A1, but learn it as a family.

29. Act family | act 词族

act
action
active
activity

Related words can change form more than expected.

30. Collocation is as important as word family | 搭配同样重要

Knowing decision is not enough. Learn:

make a decision
important decision
final decision

31. Verb + noun collocations | 动词名词搭配

make a decision
take a break
have lunch
do homework
catch a train

32. Adjective + noun collocations | 形容词名词搭配

heavy rain
strong wind
busy day
clear answer

33. Adverb + adjective | 副词 + 形容词

very useful
really important
quite busy

34. Learn opposites | 学反义关系

hot ↔ cold
early ↔ late
open ↔ closed
cheap ↔ expensive
easy ↔ difficult

Opposites double retrieval pathways.

35. But opposites are not always exact | 反义不总是一一对应

young ↔ old works in many contexts, but real descriptions may need more precise language.

36. Learn categories | 分类学习

Transport category:

bus
train
taxi
bicycle
car

Category structure helps memory and retrieval.

37. Food categories | 食物分类

fruit
vegetables
drinks
meals
snacks

38. People categories | 人物分类

family
work
school
service staff

39. Location categories | 地点分类

home
school
work
transport
shops
health services

40. Synonyms need context | 近义词要看语境

big / large
job / work — not true synonyms in every use
shop / store — regional variation

Do not assume two dictionary translations are interchangeable.

41. One word, several meanings | 一词多义

light can mean:

not heavy
illumination
pale colour

Learn the word inside a sentence.

42. Polysemy and chunks | 多义词靠语块区分

turn on the light
a light bag
light blue

43. Active vs passive vocabulary | 主动词汇 vs 被动词汇

Passive vocabulary: you recognise it.

Active vocabulary: you can use it quickly.

Not every recognised word needs to become active immediately.

44. Promote words into active use | 把词转成主动词汇

For one word:

understand it
hear it
say it
use it in a chunk
write it
retrieve later

45. Learn frequency first | 高频优先

High-frequency everyday words and chunks should come before rare synonyms.

Example: learn help before assist for ordinary beginner speech.

46. Learn concrete before abstract when possible | 先具体再抽象

Words like ticket, station, water, shirt are easier to anchor than abstract words. Build outward gradually.

47. Word cards need context | 单词卡需要语境

Weak card:

delay = 延误

Better card:

The train is delayed by ten minutes.

48. One word, one useful sentence | 一词一句

Every new word should enter at least one useful sentence.

49. One word, one collocation | 一词一搭配

New word: decision

Collocation: make a decision

50. One word, one contrast | 一词一对比

New word: cheap

Contrast: expensive

51. Word-family notebook | 词族笔记

Root	Family	Chunk
help	helpful	That’s helpful.
safe	safety/safely	travel safely
decide	decision	make a decision

52. Mandarin transfer: Chinese compounds vs English derivation | 构词方式不同

Chinese often builds meaning through compounds. English also uses compounds, but frequently uses prefixes and suffixes. Learn each system rather than forcing one onto the other.

53. Mandarin transfer: one Chinese word may map to several English forms | 一个中文词对应多种词性

Example “帮助”:

help — verb/noun
helpful — adjective

Sentence position tells you which form you need.

54. Grammar tells you the word form | 语法提示词形

It is very ______. → adjective likely
She speaks ______. → adverb often possible
I need a ______. → noun likely
I want to ______. → verb likely

55. Do not invent forms blindly | 不要乱造词

English allows productive word formation, but not every logical-looking form exists or is common. Check a reliable dictionary when unsure.

56. Reading practice: identify families | 阅读词族

The teacher gave a helpful explanation. The students understood the lesson better, and their communication improved.

Find words related to:

teach
help
explain
communicate
improve

57. Writing practice: family expansion | 写词族

Choose five roots and write:

one family member
one collocation
one sentence

58. Speaking practice: category race | 分类提取

In 30 seconds, name five words from:

transport
food
home
work
weather

59. Error clinic | 常见词汇错误

Error	Better English	Problem
She speaks careful. ✗	She speaks carefully. ✓	adverb needed
This is help. ✗	This is helpful. ✓	adjective needed
I made a decide. ✗	I made a decision. ✓	noun form
very use ✗	very useful ✓	adjective form
a good advices ✗	good advice / some good advice ✓	uncountable noun

60. First weak link diagnosis | 第一个卡点诊断

I know meaning but wrong form → word-family grammar.
I know word but unnatural combination → collocation.
I recognise but cannot produce → active retrieval.
I forget quickly → spaced return.
I learn too many rare words → frequency priority.
I assume synonyms are interchangeable → context problem.

61. Retrieval lab | 提取练习

help → adjective: ______
safe → noun: ______
careful → adverb: ______
decide → noun: ______
improve → noun: ______
teach → person: ______
possible → opposite: ______
happy → opposite: ______
make + ______ → 做决定
heavy + ______ → 大雨

Suggested answers: helpful / safety / carefully / decision / improvement / teacher / impossible / unhappy / decision / rain.

62. Ten-minute daily practice | 每天十分钟

2 min	five old words	旧词
2 min	word families	词族
2 min	collocations	搭配
2 min	category retrieval	分类提取
2 min	new sentences	造句

63. Seven-day training cycle | 七天训练

Day 1	-er/-ing families	人物活动
Day 2	-ful/-less	形容词
Day 3	-ly/-ness	副词名词
Day 4	-ment/-tion families	抽象名词
Day 5	collocations	搭配
Day 6	opposites/categories	关系网络
Day 7	50-word active review	主动词汇

64. Self-test: 30 questions | 30 题自测

Define word family.
Give two -er person words.
Give two -ly adverbs.
Give one -ness noun.
Give one -ment noun.
Give one -tion noun.
Give two -ful adjectives.
Give two -less adjectives.
Give one un- opposite.
Give one re- word.
Give help family.
Give safe family.
Give decide family.
Give improve family.
Give three verb+noun collocations.
Give three adjective+noun collocations.
Give three opposites.
Name one transport category set.
Explain active vs passive vocabulary.
Explain why frequency matters.
Explain why context matters for polysemy.
Give one word with several meanings.
Explain why synonyms are not always interchangeable.
Correct: She speaks careful.
Correct: This is help.
Correct: I made a decide.
Build one word-family notebook row.
Promote one passive word to active use.
Build five sentences from one category.
Explain one Mandarin-English word-building difference.

Answer key | 答案

1 related forms around root/meaning; 2 teacher/worker/driver/writer; 3 slowly/carefully/quietly; 4 kindness/happiness; 5 improvement/movement; 6 communication/decision/invitation; 7 helpful/useful/careful; 8 helpless/useless/careless; 9 unhappy/unsafe; 10 resend/restart/rewrite; 11 help/helpful/helpless; 12 safe/safely/safety/unsafe; 13 decide/decision; 14 improve/improvement; 15–23 answers vary; 24 She speaks carefully; 25 This is helpful; 26 I made a decision; 27–30 answers vary.

65. For parents and teachers | 给家长和老师

Do not assign giant isolated vocabulary lists. Connect new words to families, collocations and sentence frames.

Teach productive morphology cautiously. Show patterns, but also teach learners to check whether a derived word is actually common English.

For Mandarin speakers, explain that English often changes word form for grammatical role, while Chinese may keep the same lexical form or use different constructions.

Track active vocabulary. Recognition alone does not guarantee speaking or writing access.

66. Final real-world challenge | 最终真实任务

Build ten useful word families.
Add one collocation to each.
Add one opposite where useful.
Sort fifty words into categories.
Use noun/verb/adjective/adverb forms correctly.
Recognise five common prefixes.
Recognise five suffix patterns.
Turn ten passive words into active vocabulary.
Write twenty new sentences.
Review the words one week later without the list.

Next: Lesson No.036 | 下一课

The learner now has a functioning A1 system and tools for grammar, chunks and vocabulary growth. The next lesson maps the transition toward A2: longer interactions, wider topics, stronger past/future control and increasing independence from Chinese support.

Lesson No.036 · From A1 to A2 · 从 A1 走向 A2

Reference floor: British Council A1–A2 Vocabulary · Cambridge English Vocabulary in Use: Elementary.

Small Group Tutorials

How to Learn Basic English (Chinese Edition) | Lesson No.035 | Growing Vocabulary by Word Families | 用词族扩展词汇