Language/English/Vocabulary/Prefixes-and-Suffixes

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In this lesson, you will learn how to use prefixes and suffixes in English to expand your vocabulary and improve your language skills. A prefix appears at the beginning of a word and changes the word's original meaning, while a suffix is usually attached to the end of a word to form a new word, as well as alter the way it works grammatically. Here are the main ones and their translation in several languages. 😊

After mastering this lesson, you can also explore other related pages, such as learning about French words used in English, enhancing your English vocabulary for airport situations, and discovering the fascinating world of animal sounds in English. 🌍

Feel free to complete or correct this lesson by editing the wiki page. Happy learning!


The English language is replete with numerous affixes, which are morphemes that can be added to the beginning or end of a word to alter its meaning. Two types of affixes are prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are morphemes that come before the base or root word, while suffixes come after. Prefixes and suffixes can significantly expand your vocabulary in English. This lesson will focus on suffixes and prefixes, their meanings, and usage.

I. Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or grammatical function. Suffixes are used to create new words, make a word more specific, or change its tense or part of speech.

Adjective Suffixes:

A. -able/-ible: The suffix "-able" or "-ible" means "capable of being" or "worthy of." It's used to turn a verb into an adjective. For example, the word "respect" can become "respectable" meaning worthy of respect.

B. -al: The suffix "-al" means "pertaining to" or "having the characteristics of." For example, the word "music" can become "musical" meaning having the characteristics of music.

C. -ful: The suffix "-ful" means "full of" or "characterized by." For example, the word "hope" can become "hopeful" meaning full of hope.

D. -ic: The suffix "-ic" means "pertaining to" or "having the characteristics of." For example, the word "iron" can become "ironic" meaning having the characteristics of irony.

Noun Suffixes:

A. -age: The suffix "-age" means "the act of" or "the result of." For example, the word "marry" can become "marriage" meaning the act of marrying.

B. -tion/-sion: The suffixes "-tion" or "-sion" mean "the act or state of" or "the process of." For example, the word "create" can become "creation" meaning the act or process of creating.

C. -er/-or: The suffixes "-er" or "-or" mean "a person who" or "a thing that." For example, the word "act" can become "actor" meaning a person who acts.

D. -ment: The suffix "-ment" means "the act or process of" or "the result of." For example, the word "develop" can become "development" meaning the act or process of developing.

Verb Suffixes:

A. -en: The suffix "-en" means "to make or become." For example, the word "black" can become "blacken" meaning to make or become black.

B. -ify: The suffix "-ify" means "to make" or "to cause to become." For example, the word "beauty" can become "beautify" meaning to make beautiful.

C. -ize: The suffix "-ize" means "to make" or "to cause to become." For example, the word "modern" can become "modernize" meaning to make modern.

II. Prefixes

A prefix is a group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Prefixes are used to create new words, give a word a negative meaning, or indicate the opposite meaning of a word.

Negative Prefixes:

A. un-: The prefix "un-" means "not" or "the opposite of." For example, the word "happy" can become "unhappy" meaning not happy.

B. dis-: The prefix "dis-" means "not" or "the opposite of." For example, the word "honest" can become "dishonest" meaning not honest.

C. non-: The prefix "non-" means "not" or "the opposite of." For example, the word "violent" can become "nonviolent" meaning not violent.

Meaning-Changing Prefixes:

A. pre-: The prefix "pre-" means "before." For example, the word "test" can become "pretest" meaning a test taken before the actual test.

B. post-: The prefix "post-" means "after." For example, the word "graduate" can become "postgraduate" meaning a student who has completed their undergraduate studies and is pursuing further education.

C. re-: The prefix "re-" means "again" or "back." For example, the word "do" can become "redo" meaning to do again.

Quantity Prefixes:

A. micro-: The prefix "micro-" means "small." For example, the word "organism" can become "microorganism" meaning a very small organism.

B. mega-: The prefix "mega-" means "large." For example, the word "byte" can become "megabyte" meaning a large amount of bytes.

C. multi-: The prefix "multi-" means "many." For example, the word "task" can become "multitask" meaning to do many tasks at once.

Conclusion:

Suffixes and prefixes are powerful tools that can help you expand your vocabulary in English. By understanding how they work and their meanings, you can easily create new words or change the meaning of existing ones. Suffixes and prefixes can also help you understand the meaning of unfamiliar words, making it easier for you to read and communicate effectively in English.

Summary Table

Suffixes

English
-able to drink/drinkable
-ful wonder/wonderful
-ness Sick/sickness
-less worth/worthless
-ive protect/protective

Prefixes

English
Mis- represent/misrepresent 
Over- time/overtime
Dis- infectant/disinfectants

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