Free Year 3 Base words, prefixes and suffixes Practice | Skillo
Year 3 students sitting their first NAPLAN need to be confident with base words, prefixes and suffixes. Apply knowledge of common base words, prefixes, suffixes and generalisations for adding a suffix to a base word. Skillo has targeted practice questions for this exact skill, mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0, free and ready to go.
Start Free Practice →What is tested: Base words, prefixes and suffixes
- ✓Apply knowledge of common base words, prefixes, suffixes and generalisations for adding a suffix to a base word.
- ✓Questions present words in sentence context
- ✓Australian English spelling conventions apply throughout
Sample questions
Question 1 — Easy
Priya was _______ her pencil case for her ruler. Choose the correct spelling to complete the sentence.
Answer: The base word is 'search', which ends in 'ch'. When adding -ing to a base word ending in a consonant digraph like 'ch', you simply add -ing without any changes. 'Searching' is the correct spelling. 'Serching' drops the 'a', 'searchhing' wrongly doubles the 'h', and 'searcing' removes the 'h' from the digraph.
Question 2 — Medium
Priya was ___ her pencil case on the classroom shelf.
Answer: When adding -ing to a base word ending in silent 'e' (place), the 'e' is dropped before adding the suffix: place → placing. 'Placeing' incorrectly keeps the 'e'. 'Plassing' replaces 'c' with 'ss', which is a phonetic error. 'Placcing' wrongly doubles the 'c', which is not needed because the vowel before it is long.
Question 3 — Hard
Priya was __________ her favourite book to her little brother. Choose the correct spelling to complete the sentence.
Answer: The base word 'read' ends in a vowel followed by a consonant, but the final consonant is not doubled before adding '-ing' because 'read' ends in two vowels then 'd'. The correct spelling is 'reading' — simply add '-ing' to the base word 'read' with no changes. 'Readding' wrongly doubles the 'd', 'reeding' changes the vowel spelling, and 'readeing' incorrectly inserts an 'e' before '-ing'.
How to use Skillo for Year 3 Spelling
- Select Year 3 and Spelling on the home screen
- Use Quick Practice — questions on base words, prefixes and suffixes will appear as part of the session
- Check the Skill Breakdown on your profile to track your accuracy on base words, prefixes and suffixes specifically
- Review explanations after each question to understand the reasoning behind correct answers
Skillo is free, requires no email or account details, and is built specifically for Australian students. Every question is mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0 and filtered by skill so your child practises exactly what they need.
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