When I was in school, teachers often used to say that we should know the root words in English. But woefully, I forgot how could they be handy. Can anybody here explain if remembering the root words really can help me? I assume it has something to do with acquiring a strong vocabulary, etc.
I am talking about the form in another language from which the word is derived, for example the Latin sto and stare, from which words like stance, status, and state are derived, as pointed out by StoneyB.