PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES When and How to use them...

Prefixes and Suffixes Prefixes and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of another word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence: if they are printed on their own they have a hyphen before or after them. Prefixes are added to the beginning of an existing word in order to create a new word with a different meaning.

Prefixes and Suffixes Suffixes are added to the end of an existing word and the addition of a suffix often changes a word from one word class to another, such as, an adjective can be a verb, a noun can be an adjective or an adverb. Look at the most important prefixes and suffixes in English.

Prefixes and Suffixes A) ANTI: against 1) VIRUS – ANTIVIRUS 2) AIRCRAFT – ANTIAIRCRAFT 3) BODY – ANTIBODY

Prefixes and Suffixes B) DE- : opposite of 1) INCREASE – DECREASE 2) ASCEND – DESCEND 3) COMPOSE – DECOMPOSE

Prefixes and Suffixes C) DIS- : opposite of, against, not 1) LIKE – DISLIKE 2) PROOF – DISPROOF 3) AGREE – DISAGREE

Prefixes and Suffixes D) IM-, IN-, IR-, UN- : not 1) POSSIBLE – IMPOSSIBLE 2) CORRECT – INCORRECT 3) REGULAR – IRREGULAR 4) HAPPY – UNHAPPY

Prefixes and Suffixes E) MIS- : wrong form 1) CALCULATED – MISCALCULATED 2) SPELLED – MISSPELLED 3) UNDERTAND – MISUNDERSTAND

Prefixes and Suffixes F) RE- : again, once more 1) ABSORB – REABSORB 2) DO – REDO 3) ALIGN – REALIGN 4) ELECTION – REELECTION

Prefixes and Suffixes Look at some important SUFFIXES in English: A) –ABLE: form adjectives from verbs 1) ACCEPT – ACCEPTABLE 2) ADORE – ADORABLE 3) AFFORD – AFFORDABLE

Prefixes and Suffixes B) -FUL: “lots of...” 1) PAIN – PAINFUL 2) USE – USEFUL 3) MEANING – MEANINGFUL

Prefixes and Suffixes C) -ION, -TION, -ATION, ITION: in process of something 1) ACT – ACTION 2) CONSTRUCT – CONSTRUCTION 3) OBSERVE – OBSERVATION

Prefixes and Suffixes D) - LY: form adverbs 1) HARD – HARDLY 2) QUICK – QUICKLY 3) CERTAIN – CERTAINLY

Prefixes and Suffixes E) -HOOD, -SHIP: form abstract nouns 1) CHILD – CHILDHOOD 2) LEADER – LEADERSHIP 3) NEIGHBOR – NEIGHBORHOOD 4) FRIEND – FRIENDSHIP

Prefixes and Suffixes F) –ER: form nouns from verbs 1) SING – SINGER 2) PLAY – PLAYER 3) HUNT – HUNTER