Memory Game 3: Convert Reverses to Wins!

Memory Game 3 lets you exercise your memory with words that come from from the Latin root vertere, which means 'to turn.' 

A picture of Roots Memory Game 3. Some cards are already turned over & matched. The card labeled 'reverse' is also turned over, and the caption asks 'Which card will give the definition for 'reverse?'

If you know the most common prefixes, you may be able to guess many of these.

For example, sub- means 'under' or 'underneath,' so to subvert means to try to overthrow a government. Subversive actions are when people work beneath the surface to try to overturn it.

To reverse is to turn around, and a reversible jacket can be worn with either side out-- it works even when turned around. On the other hand, to revert is to go back to an earlier condition.

If you want to play this game from a mobile phone and your screen is too small to show the regular 4x3 card grid, try the mobile version of this page. It has a long, narrow (2x6) grid of cards to turn over. (You'll just need to scroll a little to play.)

Roots Memory Game 3 Instructions

Your goal is to turn over 2 cards that belong together: a word and a simple version of its meaning. There are twelve cards in 3 rows. Players (if you are playing with someone) take turns choosing two cards to turn over. If the cards match, they will stay face up, and the player who chose them wins that pair. 

If they do not match, they will turn back over. (Try to remember their locations. If you find a match for one of them later, you want to be able to find it again.) Continue to turn over two cards at a time until all have been matched. The player with the most matches wins. (If you are playing alone, see how quickly you can find all the matches. 

Play it again to watch your speed go up. (Card locations will be different. Memorize meanings, not locations!)

Click to find the matching cards:

play again
Good Job !


Important Latin Roots has more information on words made from vertere and six other very useful roots. Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes (and its links to other pages) explain how words are put together.

Try some other concentration games: Memory Game 1, with the root quaerere, Memory Game 2 with cedere, Custom Memory Game 1 or Game 2 to practice phrasal verb idioms, or a simple kids' matching game just for fun. You can also practice irregular past tenses with Irregular Verb Memory Game 1 (with links to Games 2 & 3 and their mobile versions.)

Home>ESL Games>Memory Game 3.

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