Prefix and suffix
Prefixes and suffixes are little groups of words that are added to a root word to give those words new meanings. A prefix is placed in front of a word, while a suffix is placed at the back.
The tables below show what prefixes mean and how they’re used in a word. Take note that there are many suffixes and prefixes, and the list that you see below provides just a few common ones:
|
Prefixes |
Meaning |
Examples |
|
anti- |
against |
anti-ageing, anti-social |
|
de- |
down, away |
degrade, derail |
|
dis- |
apart, not |
disconnect, dislike |
|
ex- |
former |
ex-teacher, ex-girlfriend |
|
pre- |
before |
pre-war, pre-order |
|
post- |
after |
post-war, post-dated |
|
re- |
again |
reclaim, remake |
|
un- |
not |
unnatural, unwanted |
|
semi- |
half |
semi-finals, semi-detached |
|
Suffixes |
Meaning |
Examples |
|
-able |
possible, capable |
separable, reliable |
|
-al |
related to |
political, economical |
|
-less |
without |
wireless, heartless |
|
-ful |
quality |
helpful, wonderful |
Take note:
Some words are tricky; they appear to have prefixes or suffixes, but they’re actually whole words!
Examples:
- return ( = give back)
- demise ( = die)
- hardly ( = very seldom)
- display ( = show)
Posted on October 25, 2009, in Word Power and tagged prefix, suffix. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Just like in the word “prefix”. “Pre” in itself means “before”. 🙂 But can it also means “fix before”? 🙂
Yes, Rose. You’re very observant, indeed. “Prefix” means “fix before” – in this case, before a word. As for “suffix”, I’ll don’t know if “suf-” is a prefix 🙂
TQ for the comment. Let others know about this page, ok? Cheers!
So post-office is after office hehe…
Hahaha… that’s a good one 🙂
“Post office” is spelt without the hyphen, and we don’t say: “See you at post-office hours.”
Instead, we say: “See you after office hours.”
TQ for the humour 😀
That reminds me of Australia where in the name card they have office tel:1234XX, fax:2345XX and ah:3456XX. Just wondering what is ah:3456XX? OIC its “After Hours:3456XX” meaning house telephone number. Those days the hand phone have not reached DownUnder yet