Root Words worksheet for educational practice.

Let’s go through each word one by one to find the root word — that’s the main part of the word without any extra bits added (like -ed, -er, -ly, etc.).

1. rainy → The base word is “rain”. We add “-y” to make it an adjective. So root = rain

2. walked → This is past tense of “walk”. We add “-ed”. Root = walk

3. helper → Someone who helps. Add “-er” to “help”. Root = help

4. untie → “Un-” means not or reverse, and “tie” is the action. Root = tie

5. redo → “Re-” means again, and “do” is the action. Root = do

6. played → Past tense of “play”. Add “-ed”. Root = play

7. premade → “Pre-” means before, and “made” is from “make”. But note: “made” is the past form of “make”, so the root is actually make. However, in this context, since “premade” is built off “made”, and we’re looking for the simplest root without prefixes/suffixes, we should consider “make” as the true root. But wait — let’s think: “premade” = pre + made. “Made” comes from “make”. So root = make

*Wait — but sometimes in these exercises, they accept the immediate base. Let me double-check common practice.*

Actually, in elementary level, “premade” might be broken as “pre” + “made”, and “made” is treated as the root here? No — because “made” itself is a changed form. The real root is “make”.

BUT — looking at example #1: “read” → “reread” — they used “read” as root even though “reread” has prefix. Similarly, “undo” → root “do”.

So for “premade”, the root should be “make”, because “made” is just the past tense form.

However, let’s look at the pattern in the worksheet:

Example given:
- read → reread → root = read
- tie → untying → root = tie
- rain → rainy → root = rain

They are using the base verb/noun before adding affixes.

For “premade”:
“pre” + “made” → but “made” = past of “make” → so root is “make”

BUT — in many school worksheets, they may treat “made” as the root if it’s directly attached. Let’s check online or standard approach.

Actually, no — the root word is the simplest form. “Make” is the root. “Made” is inflected.

However, I recall that in some curricula, for words like “premade”, they might say root is “made” because “pre-” is added to “made”. But that’s not accurate linguistically.

Let’s see another example: “harmless” → harm + less → root = harm

So for consistency, we want the core meaning unit.

“Premade” means made beforehand → so the action is “make”, done in past → “made”. But the root is still “make”.

Hmm — this is tricky. Let me think like a 3rd grader.

In the example: “tie” → “untying” → root = tie (not “tying”)

So they strip all endings and prefixes to get the base word.

Therefore, for “premade”:

Step 1: Remove prefix “pre-” → left with “made”

Step 2: “Made” is past tense of “make” → so root is “make”

Yes! That makes sense.

So root = make

8. talking → Present participle of “talk”. Add “-ing”. Root = talk

9. nicely → Adverb from “nice”. Add “-ly”. Root = nice

10. harmless → “Harm” + “less” (meaning without). Root = harm

Now let’s list them clearly:

1. rainy → rain
2. walked → walk
3. helper → help
4. untie → tie
5. redo → do
6. played → play
7. premade → make
8. talking → talk
9. nicely → nice
10. harmless → harm

I think that’s correct. Let me verify #7 again.

If a student sees “premade”, and they know “made” is from “make”, then yes — root is “make”. If the worksheet expects “made”, that would be inconsistent with their own examples (like “tie” not “tying”).

In example: “tie – ing = tying” → root is “tie”, not “tying”.

Similarly, “make – ed = made” → so root is “make”, not “made”.

Therefore, “premade” → remove “pre-” → “made” → which comes from “make” → root = make

Yes.

Final Answer:
1. rain
2. walk
3. help
4. tie
5. do
6. play
7. make
8. talk
9. nice
10. harm