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Why do Americans write “color”? Verbs made with mis-, re-, over-, -ize, -ify and -en

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches prefixes and suffixes that make verbs through Noah Webster, whose speller and 1828 dictionary spread American spellings such as color and center.

Grammar
Prefixes that change a verb's meaning (mis- wrongly, re- again, over- too much, under- not enough) and suffixes that make verbs from adjectives and nouns: -ize, -ify, -en.
Topic
Webster's speller and 1828 dictionary, and why American spelling differs from British, with words such as definition, edition and book tour.
Activities
An explainer, a museum visit and a teacher's voice memo, self-checking drills, a style-guide chat and boxes about changing spelling.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: spell it out

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: inside the dictionaryVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Why Desk: the teacher who dropped the u

    • Look at the photo: a dictionary in the makingPictureUnlock
    • Read Harper's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: an e where the a should be

    • Listen to Harper and Rhoda at the Noah Webster HouseListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Rod's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: misspell, rewrite, simplify

    • Study the scheme: making new verbsGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: make a verb from the word in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: what does the new verb mean?Fill in the tableTry it
    • Choose the correct answer: what does it mean?QuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: which verb has the right meaning?Drag and dropUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: the style guide strikes back

    • Choose the right replies: the style guide checkChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: should spelling change?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: add mis-, re-, over- or under- to the verb in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence means the same?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Leona's editor's noteChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Harper answers RodDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • speller
  • book tour
  • definition
  • pronunciation
  • origin
  • edition
  • volume
  • skunk
  • chowder

Grammar: verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten

A prefix at the front of a verb changes what it means, and a suffix at the end turns an adjective or a noun into a verb. Webster shortened “musick” to “music,” and his books helped standardize spelling, so his story is full of these verbs. Learners read the meaning from the prefix or suffix, spell the new verb and give it the right forms.

misspell, rewrite, overuse, simplify, standardize, shorten

A prefix at the start changes a verb's meaning. A suffix at the end makes a new verb from an adjective or a noun.

mis-, re-, over-, under-: the same verb, a new meaning

Read the prefix first: mis- means wrongly (misspell, mishear), re- means again (rewrite, reopen), over- means too much or too long (overuse, oversleep) and under- means not enough (underestimate, undercook).

PrefixMeaningVerbsFor example
mis-wronglymisspell, misunderstand, misread, mispronounce, mishearmisspell a name
re-againrewrite, reread, reopen, redo, rebuildrewrite a headline
over-too much, too longoveruse, overcook, oversleep, overestimateoveruse a word
under-not enough, too littleunderestimate, undercook, underuseunderestimate a job

-ize, -ify, -en: make it standard, simple, short

Each suffix means “make it …”: standard → standardize, simple → simplify, short → shorten. Not every word takes every suffix: it's clarify, not clearify, and shorten, not shortize. -en can join a noun too: strength → strengthen.

Suffixes: a new verb from an adjective or a noun

SuffixMeaningWord → verb
-izemake it …standard → standardize, modern → modernize, popular → popularize
-ifymake it …simple → simplify, clear → clarify, pure → purify
-enmake it (more) …short → shorten, wide → widen, weak → weaken, strength → strengthen

In West Hartford and at The Why Desk

  • Harper misspelled “dictionary” on her sign.
  • Webster wanted to simplify spelling, and his books helped standardize it.
  • He shortened “musick” to “music.”
  • Leona had Harper rewrite the headline.
  • Don't overuse exclamation points in a news story.
  • Don't underestimate Webster's speller: its sales are estimated at nearly 100 million copies.

Spelling changes

Some words lose or change letters: simple → simplify, clear → clarify, wide → widen, and lengthen comes from the noun length. Misspell keeps both s's: misspelled, misspelling. The -y of -ify changes before endings: simplifies, simplified, but simplifying.

WordVerbWhat changesOther forms
simplesimplifythe e goes, + ifysimplifies, simplified, simplifying
clearclarifyear → ar, + ifyclarifies, clarified, clarifying
widewidenthe e goes, + enwidens, widened, widening
long / stronglengthen / strengthenthe noun + en: length, strengthlengthened, strengthened
standardstandardize+ ize; the e goes before -ed and -ingstandardizes, standardized, standardizing
mis- + spellmisspellkeep both s'smisspells, misspelled, misspelling

A prefix keeps the irregular forms

Understand becomes understood, so misunderstand becomes misunderstood, never misunderstanded. The prefix leaves the past forms alone: rewrite, rewrote, rewritten; oversleep, overslept; mishear, misheard.

A prefix doesn't change the verb's forms

Irregular verbs stay irregular: understand → understood, so misunderstand → misunderstood. write → wrote → written, so rewrite → rewrote → rewritten. sleep → slept, so oversleep → overslept; hear → heard, so mishear → misheard. And the -y of -ify becomes -ie before -s and -i before -ed: simplifies, simplified (but simplifying).

American English: -ize, not -ise

American spelling uses -ize: standardize, organize, realize, apologize. Standardise is British, so it's a mistake in an American text. A few verbs end in -ise in America too: advise, revise, surprise, exercise.

American English: -ize, and real words only

In American English, these verbs end in -ize: standardize, organize, realize, apologize. -ise is British spelling, so standardise is a mistake here. A few verbs end in -ise in America too: advise, revise, surprise, exercise. And not every word takes every suffix: simplify (not simplificate), shorten (not shortize), clarify (not clearify).

Common mistakes

  • I'm sorry, I misunderstanded you.

    I'm sorry, I misunderstood you.

    the prefix keeps the irregular form

  • His books helped standardise spelling.

    His books helped standardize spelling.

    American English: -ize

  • Can you simplificate this rule?

    Can you simplify this rule?

    simple → simplify

  • Please shortize your answer.

    Please shorten your answer.

    short → shorten

More lessons on this grammar: Word formation lessons and exercises

Try the prefixes and suffixes exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • change a verb's meaning with a prefix: misspell (wrongly), reread (again), overcook (too long), underestimate (not enough)
  • make verbs from adjectives and nouns with -ize, -ify and -en: standardize, simplify, clarify, shorten, strengthen
  • spell the new verbs and their forms the American way: simplified, misspelled, standardize (not standardise), misunderstood (not misunderstanded)
  • avoid words that don't exist: Can you simplify this rule?, not simplificate; Please shorten your answer, not shortize
  • argue whether spelling should change again: Webster wanted to simplify spelling, and his books helped standardize it.

Lesson 26 is the second lesson of Language and communication, unit 7 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It builds on lesson 17, where students made comment adverbs such as apparently from other words, and on the irregular verbs they already know, which keep their forms in misunderstood and rewrote. Lesson 27 returns to past modals. A dictionary maker who shortened and simplified spellings gives every new verb a real job.

Students spin a wheel of questions about spelling and dictionaries, then learn twelve words, from misspell and standardize to skunk and chowder, with pictures and audio. They read Harper's explainer on Webster's speller and dictionary, then hear Harper argue with Rhoda, a guide at the Noah Webster House, about a misspelled sign and simpler spelling, and Rod, a teacher from Connecticut, defend spelling rules; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a table that turns a meaning into a verb. In the speaking chapter, students check Harper's story against a style guide in a chat and open boxes about changing spelling.

The homework has ten tasks, and all of them check themselves: a word match, an anagram, word gaps and a memory game, then verb forms to choose, prefixes to add, sentences to order, a quiz on sentences that mean the same, Leona's editor's note with forms to choose and Harper's answer to Rod with words to drag in.

Grammar:
word formation · prefixes mis-, re-, over-, under- · suffixes -ize, -ify, -en · verb formation
Topic:
Noah Webster · American spelling · dictionaries · West Hartford · Connecticut · language · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Write color and colour side by side before the reading. Students guess why the American word lost its u, then read to find out that Webster spread spellings some Americans already used.
  • Turn the prefixes into gestures: a circle in the air for re-, a thumbs-down for mis-, a hand held high for over- and low for under-. Call out verbs, and students show the meaning.
  • Play the museum dialogue twice: first to hear who wants simpler spelling and who doesn't, then for every verb with a prefix or suffix. Students write each one next to its root: simplify ← simple.
  • Ask for the past forms first: misunderstand, rewrite, oversleep, mishear. Students who know understood, wrote, slept and heard find the answers at once.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26 · you're hereWhy do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What are prefixes and suffixes?
A prefix goes at the start of a word and a suffix at the end. Both make a new word from an old one: spell → misspell changes the meaning, and simple → simplify turns an adjective into a verb. The B2 lesson Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai teaches the ones that make verbs: mis-, re-, over-, under-, -ize, -ify and -en.
What do the prefixes mis-, re-, over- and under- mean?
Mis- means wrongly (misread, mispronounce), re- means again (reread, rebuild), over- means too much or too long (overcook, oversleep) and under- means not enough (undercook, underestimate). So We underestimated the job means it was bigger than we thought. In Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai, a drag-and-drop drill asks which verb has the right meaning.
What are verb suffixes?
Verb suffixes turn adjectives and nouns into verbs that mean “make it …”: -ize (standard → standardize, modern → modernize), -ify (simple → simplify, clear → clarify) and -en (short → shorten, wide → widen, strength → strengthen). Each word takes its own suffix, so learn them as pairs. The scheme in Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai lists the spelling changes too.
Is it “standardize” or “standardise”?
In American English, it's standardize, with a z, like organize, realize and apologize. Standardise is the British spelling. A few verbs end in -ise in America as well: advise, revise, surprise and exercise. In the chat of Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai, Leona finds standardise in a story, and the student fixes it for an American style guide.
Is it “misunderstood” or “misunderstanded”?
It's misunderstood. A prefix doesn't change a verb's past forms: understand → understood, so misunderstand → misunderstood. The same goes for rewrite → rewrote → rewritten, oversleep → overslept and mishear → misheard. Why do Americans write “color”?, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, tests these forms in its drills and its homework.
Why do Americans spell color without a u?
Noah Webster's books helped make it the American spelling. Webster wrote color and center in his 1828 dictionary and shortened musick to music. He popularized these spellings rather than inventing them: some Americans already used them, and his speller and dictionary spread them across the country. Not every idea stuck, since readers rejected tung for tongue. Harper's explainer in Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai tells the story.
What was Noah Webster's dictionary?
An American Dictionary of the English Language came out in 1828 in two volumes, when Webster was nearly 70. It had more than 65,000 words, about 70,000 in most sources, with word origins, pronunciations the way Americans said them and clear definitions with examples. Sales were slow, and the first edition sold out by 1836. After Webster died in 1843, George and Charles Merriam got the rights, as Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai explains.
How do I teach prefixes and suffixes to B2 students?
Teach them through meaning, not lists: give a meaning such as “to cook too long,” and students build the verb. Then check spelling and past forms. Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai moves from Harper's explainer and her museum visit to the scheme, a table that turns meanings into verbs and a quiz on what each verb means in a sentence.
What's a good game for practicing prefixes and suffixes?
Play prefix dominoes: half the cards show a prefix or suffix, the other half a verb or adjective, and players may only lay down a pair that makes a real word, such as re + build or wide + en. A rival can challenge a made-up word like shortize. One of the boxes in Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai then asks which English word students would rewrite first.
What's good homework for prefixes and suffixes?
Good homework asks for the prefix from the meaning: The steak was black and dry: the cook ___ (cook) it. Add form choices and a quiz that swaps a long phrase for one verb. All ten homework tasks in Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai check themselves, ending with Leona's editor's note and Harper's answer to a teacher who wrote in.
How do you practice prefixes and suffixes one-to-one?
Edit a text together: the teacher writes a short paragraph with a few long phrases, such as read it again or make it shorter, and the student replaces each one with a single verb. The chat in Why do Americans write “color”? on edio.ai works without a partner: Leona and the student check Harper's story against the magazine's style guide.
Are there interactive exercises for prefixes and suffixes?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Why do Americans write “color”?, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, without an account: Harper's visit to the Noah Webster House; a table where each meaning becomes a new verb; and the style-guide chat. Everything else needs an account.
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