4th Grade Spelling Words
Fourth grade is where morphology matters: prefixes, suffixes and words you cannot sound out — definitely, curiosity, government.
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Tip: keep this page open on a phone and pass it around.
4th Grade Spelling Words — full list (50 words)
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- accomplish
- achievement
- address
- advantage
- advertisement
- ambition
- appreciate
- argument
- association
- athlete
- audience
- autumn
- benefit
- boundary
- brilliant
- business
- campaign
- category
- challenge
- character
- community
- company
- competition
- concentrate
- conclusion
- confidence
- conversation
- courageous
- curiosity
- decision
- definitely
- delicious
- department
- describe
- develop
- dictionary
- difference
- difficult
- disappoint
- discipline
- discover
- discussion
- distance
- education
- elevator
- emergency
- employee
- encourage
- energy
- engineer
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Download your printable pack →How to play
- Teach the word parts rather than the whole word: de + scribe, dis + cover, com + plete.
- Have the child build a word family list around each root (scribe: describe, scribble, prescription).
- Dictate full sentences — by 4th grade, spelling, grammar and punctuation should be practised together.
- Mark errors by type (prefix, suffix, vowel) so the child sees the pattern in their mistakes.
FAQ
What spelling rules are taught in 4th grade?
Prefixes and suffixes, Latin and Greek roots, doubling the final consonant before a suffix, and changing y to i.
How many words per week in 4th grade?
15-20 words, usually grouped by a root or spelling rule rather than a theme.
Why does my 4th grader still misspell easy words?
Usually because they are writing faster and editing less. A two-minute proofreading habit fixes more than a longer word list.