Vocabulary and English Derivatives
Vocabulary questions test core Latin words and your ability to connect them to English derivatives. The NLE syllabus organizes vocabulary by level, so learn listed words with principal parts and common compounds rather than isolated glosses.
Learn words in families
- Record noun gender and genitive; verb principal parts; adjective stem.
- Group by prefix: ad- to or toward, con- together, in- not or into, sub- under, trans- across, re- back or again.
- Note assimilation: ad- + ferre becomes afferre; in- + portare becomes importare.
- Suffixes: -tor/-sor one who, -tio act or result, -mentum means or result, -bilis able, -osus full of.
Derivative reasoning
A derivative often preserves the root's core sense but shifts in part of speech or specializes. Dicere, say, gives dictate, dictionary, predict, and verdict; ducere, lead, gives conduct, produce, reduce, and education. Check whether the English word came through French, and watch for semantic drift.
Worked example
Latin portare means carry. In transport, trans- adds across, so the word denotes carrying across; portable uses -abilis, able to be carried; import uses im- (in-), into. The shared element is the carrying root, not port as harbor.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming a derivative has exactly the Latin meaning; confusing lookalikes such as hostis, enemy, and hospes, guest or host; ignoring prefix assimilation; and guessing from English alone when the Latin word has multiple senses, as ratio can mean reckoning, reason, or method.