Understanding vocab by prefix and suffix
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.
Prefixes are added to the beginning of an existing
Suffixes are added to the end of an existing word.
Most come from Ancient Greek and Latin routes.
Prefix
Root word
Suffix
Prefix + Suffix
unkind
kind
kindness
unkindness
Prefixes
Change meaning to an opposite form such as positive (+) to negative (-)
Or add information to the root word to define its type
Suffixes
Change the root word and alter the way it functions grammatically
Adding a suffix changes a word between being a noun, verb, adjective or adverb
Or add information to the word to define its measure
If prefixes and suffixes are written alone, then they should have a hyphen before or after them
to demonstrate that they are to be attached to other letters to form words
Prefix
The word ‘prefix’ begins with the prefix pre-, which means ‘before’.
A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root word. For example, the word ‘unhappy’
consists of the prefix ‘un-’ which means ‘not’ combined with the root word ‘happy’; the word
‘unhappy’ means ‘not happy.’ Sometimes a prefix can have more than one meaning. An
example would be ‘im-’ this can mean ‘not’ or ‘into’.
Prefixes can change meaning to a contrasting form
Prefix
Meaning
Example
De-
from, down, away reverse, opposite
decode, declassify
Dis-
not, opposite, reverse, away
disagree, disappear,
disassemble
Ex-
out of, away from, lacking, former
ex-wife, explosion
Il-
not
illegal, illogical, illegitimate
Im-
not, without
impossible, improper, immoral
In-
not, without
inaction, invisible
Mis-
bad, wrong
mislead, misplace, misspell
Non-
not
nonfiction, nonsense
Pre-
before
prefix, preview
Pro-
for, forward, before
proactive, profess, program
Re-
again, back
react, reappear, revise
Un-
against, not, opposite
undo, unequal, unusual
Prefixes can add information to the word to define its type
Prefix
Meaning
Word
Meaning
New word
Ante-
before
natal
birth
antenatal
Anti-
against
aircraft
plane
antiaircraft
Circum-
around
navigate
direct, steer
circumnavigate
Co-
with
worker
employee
co-worker*
Counter-
strike
attack
counterstrike
Epi-
opposite
direction
upon, close to
centre
middle, central
epicentre
Extra-
outside beyond
terrestrial
earthly, worldly
extraterrestrial
Fore-
before
see
perceive
foresee
Hemi-
half
sphere
globe
hemisphere
Hyper-
more than
sonic
sound
hypersonic
Macro-
large
economics
money matters
macroeconomics
Micro-
small
scope
space
microscope
Mid-
middle
field
area
midfielder
Infra-
below
red
red
infrared
Inter-
between-among
net
web
internet
Sub-
under
marine
water
submarine
Trans-
across
national
nation, country
transnational
Tri-
three
angle
shape, aspect
triangle
Uni-
one
form
look like
uniform
*Prefixes often have a hyphen ( - ) but especially in British English
Suffix
A suffix is a group of letters placed after the root of a word. For example, the word lifeless
consists of the root word ‘life’ combined with the suffix ‘-less’ which means ‘without’; the
word ‘lifeless’ means ‘having no life’ or dead. Change the root word and alter the way it
functions grammatically. Adding a suffix changes a word between being a noun, verb,
adjective or adverb
Change the base word between a noun, verb, adjective or adverb.
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
complication
complicate
complicated
complicatedly
beauty
beautify
beautiful
beautifully
economy
economize
economic
economically
domination
dominate
domineering
dominatingly
softness
soften
soft
softly
clarity
clarify
clear
clearly
irritation
irritate
irritating
irritatingly
calmness
calmed
calm
calmly
*’-ise’ is most common in British English, ‘-ize’ is most common in American English
Some words don’t have a place in all categories and some words fall into more than one
category
We can see there is a common theme in spelling with suffixes as with prefixes. For example,
most adverbs end ‘-ly’ softly, slowly, happily, crazily, madly, clearly, calmly quickly etc.
Common suffixes by type
Suffix
Meaning
Noun
-acy
state or quality
democracy, accuracy, monarchy
-al
the action or process of
remedial, denial, trial, criminal
-ance,-ence
state or quality of
nuisance, essence, tolerance
-dom
place or state of being
freedom, wisdom, boredom
-er, -or
Person/object that does a
specified action
creator, singer, interpreter, inventor, teacher,
player, fighter
-ism
doctrine, belief
capitalism, scepticism, communism, racism
-ist
person or object that does
a specified action
biologist, sexist, scientist, theorist, communist,
capitalist
-ity, -ty
quality of
extremity, validity, enormity
-ment
condition
enchantment, argument, fulfilment
-ness
state of being
wilderness, highness, sickness, happiness
-ship
position held
friendship, hardship, scholarship
-sion, -tion
state of being
position, promotion, cohesion
Suffix
Meaning
Verb
-ate
become
mandate, collaborate, create
-en
become
sharpen, strengthen, loosen, happen
-ify, -fy
make or become
justify, simplify, magnify, satisfy, quantify
-ise, -ize
become
publicise, synthesise, hypnotise, criticise
Suffix
Meaning
Adjective
-able, -ible
capable of being
edible, incredible, audible, flexible
-al
having the form or
character of
radical, thermal, herbal, colonial
-esque
in a manner of or
resembling
picturesque, burlesque, grotesque
-ful
full of
helpful, playful, hopeful, skilful
-ic, -ical
having the form or
character of
psychological, hypocritical, methodical,
nonsensical, musical
-ious, -ous
characterised by
pious, jealous, religious, ridiculous
-ish
having the quality of
squeamish, sheepish, childish
-ive
having the nature of
competitive, informative, attentive
-less
without
helpless, hopeless, homeless, meaningless
-y
characterised by
beauty, airy, jealousy, gluttony
Suffix
Meaning
Adverb
-ly
related to or quality
softly, slowly, happily, carefully, quietly
-ward(s)
direction
towards, afterwards, backwards, forwards
-wise
in relation to
otherwise, likewise, clockwise
We can guess words meaning and function if we can see the suffix.
For example:
A noun with the suffix ‘-er’ usually means a job, vocation or hobby, activity
Verb
teach
write
paint
sing
bake
play
football
Noun
teacher
writer
painter
singer
baker
player
footballer
Note:
Prefixes and suffixes can often have more than one meaning. For example, we change the last
letters on a verb in different verb tenses such as verb(s) Verb(ed) Verb(ing) and we add
(+ing) to gerunds making verbs into nouns.
Suffixes ‘-er’ may not just be a job, vocation or hobby, activity
They can also be comparatives ‘-er’ and superlatives ‘-est’
Comparative taller
Superlative
tallest
smaller
longer
wider
colder
smallest
longest
widest
coldest
We can use prefixes and suffixes together to construct words Help – helpful – unhelpful
Examples of words with both prefixes and suffixes
Prefix
Root word
Suffix
Un-
friend
-ly
Im-
mortal
-ity
Anti-
capital
-ist
Counter-
terror
-ism
Cyber-
secure
-ity
Inter-
connect
-ivity
Retro-
act
-ive
Co-
defend
-ant
Word creation with prefixes and suffixes
Some prefixes and suffixes are part of our living language, in that people regularly use them
to create new words for modern products, concepts, or situations.
One
With
Noun
Common group
All together as one
Common union
Idea
Believer
Uni
Co
Common
Unity
Community
Commune
Union
Communion
Communism
Unionism
Communist
Unionist
Some examples with politics, philosophies and ideas:
-Ist (person)
capitalist
communist
fascist
sexist
racist
-Ism (idea)
capitalism
communism
fascism
sexism
racism
rulers
demos (people)
theos (god)
monarch (king)
oligarch (few)
Government
democracy
theocracy
monarchy
oligarchy
One of the longest examples of a political idea with multiple prefixes and suffixes.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
pro-establishment or conservative
Anti-dis-establish-ment-arian-ism
Against the brake up of the established order
*19th-century British word = in opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England