Week 32 of 36 · 10 words · ages 17–18

12th Grade spelling words, week 32: -ary and -ory endings

Unstressed -ary and -ory sound alike, so learn each: -ory in desultory, inflammatory, prefatory, dilatory and exploratory; -ary in the rest.
ancillary
Giving support to something more important.
preliminary
Coming before the main part or event.
incendiary
Made to start fires, or meant to stir up anger.
veterinary
Concerned with the medical care of animals.
salutary
Good for you, even if unpleasant.
desultory
Lacking a plan or purpose; aimless.
inflammatory
Likely to stir up anger.
prefatory
Serving as an introduction to a book.
dilatory
Slow to act; causing delay.
exploratory
Done to find out or investigate.

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 32’s words