Identify: Prefix, Suffix, & Root word Impatient Adventurous Reread Benefit Biology Solidify

Im patient Adventur ous [not]-patient adventure-[characterized by] Re read Bene fit [again]-read [good/well]- [condition] Bio logy Solid ify [life]-[the study of] [not gas or liquid]-[to make/to form into]

Prefixes, Suffixes, & Root Words

Root Words Most originate from Latin and Greek Serve as the basis for a new word, and often cannot stand alone love + -ly = lovely vs. bene + volent = benevolent “bene”= Latin for good

Common Latin Roots Latin Root Definition Examples ambi both ambiguous, ambidextrous aqua water aquarium, aquamarine aud to hear audience, audition bene good benefactor, benevolent cent one hundred century, percent circum around circumference, circumstance contra/counter against contradict, encounter dict to say dictation, dictator duc/duct to lead conduct, induce fac to do; to make factory, manufacture form shape conform, reform fort strength fortitude, fortress fract to break fracture, fraction ject throw projection, rejection jud judge judicial, prejudice

Common Greek Roots Greek Root Definition Examples anthropo man; human; anthropologist, philanthropy humanity auto self autobiography, automobile bio life biology, biography chron time chronological, chronic dyna power dynamic, dynamite dys bad; hard; dysfunctional, dyslexic unlucky gram thing written epigram, telegram graph writing graphic, phonograph hetero different heteronym, heterogeneous homo same homonym, homogenous hydr water hydration, dehydrate hypo below; hypothermia, hypothetical beneath logy study of biology, psychology meter/metr measure thermometer, perimeter micro small microbe, microscope

semi- + circle= semicircle Prefix A letter or group of letters that is added at the beginning of a word to change its meaning semi- + circle= semicircle

A Few Common Prefixes anti- = opposing, against -- ex. antibiotic pre- = before in time/place/order– ex. preface, prelude un- = not or reversal–- ex. unacceptable, unhappy, unplug re- = again – ex. repaint, redo, reread, repeat in-/il-/im- = not, without – ex. inappropriate, illegal, impossible de- = down, reduce – ex. descend, despair, deduct

Suffix A group of letters placed at the end of a word to make a new word. A suffix can make a new word in one of two ways: Inflectional: the suffix can change a word from singular to plural or can change the tense: dog  dogs or walk  walked Derivational: creates new meaning, new word is “derived” from original word: teach  teacher or care  careful

Common Inflectional Suffixes -s = plural – dog  dogs -en = plural (irregular) – ox  oxen -ing = present tense – sleep  sleeping -ed = past tense – work  worked -er = comparative – big  bigger -est = superlative – big  biggest

Common Derivational Suffixes -er = changes to noun – teach  teacher -ation = changes to noun – explore  exploration -ness = changes to noun – sad  sadness -ary = changes to adjective – imagine  imaginary -y = changes to adjective – ease  easy -ly = changes to adverb – helpful  helpfully -ize = changes to verb – terror  terrorize

So, why do we need to know this? Breaking down words can help us understand word meanings Prefix, suffix, and root word knowledge can be as helpful as using context clues