Week 29 of 36 · 10 words · ages 16–17

11th Grade spelling words, week 29: -ory adjectives

Many adjectives end in -ory, not -ary or -ery. The vowel before the r is unstressed, so memorize the ending.
derogatory
Insulting; showing disrespect.
perfunctory
Done quickly with little care.
compulsory
Enforced by law, as school is.
obligatory
Binding as a duty.
retaliatory
Meant as payback for a harm.
laudatory
Full of praise.
conciliatory
Meant to calm anger and make peace.
preparatory
Done beforehand as groundwork.
cursory
Quick and not thorough.
predatory
Hunting and killing other animals for food.

Ten minutes a day this week

Short and daily beats long and once. A word met on five separate days is remembered; a word met five times on Thursday night mostly is not.

  1. Monday

    Read the list together. Say each word, clap its syllables and find the pattern in it.

  2. Tuesday

    Look, say, cover, write, check — each word once from memory, then check the letters.

  3. Wednesday

    Use every word in a sentence, out loud or on paper, so each one means something.

  4. Thursday

    Practice test: a grown-up reads each word aloud. Circle the misses for tomorrow.

  5. Friday

    The test. One try per word, no letters given. The circled words go first.

Practise these 10 words, free

One tap puts this week’s list in SpellChirp. It reads each word aloud, checks the spelling, brings back the ones that went wrong, and can write them into a story your child stars in. No account needed to start, and no advertising.

Add week 29’s words