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Words beginning with dec...
Protecting from attack is defence.

Words beginning with dec...

In December, the church bells went up a few decibels. Test your KS3 spelling of words beginning at dec.

"I'd probably want to teach at university, because children would drive me insane. I suspect it would be English literature, Shakespeare and so forth. I've always been deeply, deeply in love with that kind of thing." - Stephen Fry.

Have you ever wondered why the in- and un- prefixes in English do the same job? Both negate the following stem. So in- negates the following -sane, from sanus, the Latin word for "healthy". Why do we not use the word unsane? Sounds ridiculous somehow, doesn't it? And yet English includes the word "unhealthy", which has a near-identical literal meaning to "insane".

The short answer to this question is that the Latin stem requires a Latin prefix, thus the word is "insane", rather than unsane (insanus is, in fact, a Latin word). The prefix un- is Germanic in origin and was used in Old English. "Unhappy" is an example of a word created through using the English un- to negate a word which has not been derived from Latin. Inhappy just wouldn't sound right, would it?

Practise your spellings with this quiz.
1.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
Free from any doubt
definite
defernite
deffinite
definit
It can be helpful to remember that the word "finite" is contained in "definite"
2.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
A unit of measurement of temperature
dagree
degree
degrie
digree
Remember the e of the unstressed first syllable
3.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
The act of making up your mind about something
descision
decision
desishion
dessision
"Decide" and "decision" are related
4.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
Protection from attack
defence
defents
difense
deffence
"Defense" is an alternate spelling, mostly used in US English
5.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
A person who relies on another for support
deppendent
dependant
dependint
dependunt
A dependant is dependent on someone else
6.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
To remove, get rid of, erase
deylete
dalete
dilite
delete
Delete those incorrect spellings!
7.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
Decode
decifer
decipher
desifer
desipher
The c and ph are tricky here
8.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
A barren area of land especially one with little water or vegetation
dessert
desirt
desert
desurt
Be careful not to muddle "desert" and "dessert"!
9.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
An account depicting something or someone
discriptien
descriptien
description
discription
The unstressed e of the first syllable is the key letter to remember here
10.
Click the correct answer for the following definition.
A colony or a territory subject to rule by an external power
dependuncy
dependincy
deppendency
dependency
Watch out for the e of the penultimate syllable
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Spelling

Author:  Sheri Smith

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