English 1 – Study and Thinking Skills

Prefixes – are small but meaningful letter groups added in front of the base word/root
word that contribute to the meaning of the word.

MOST COMMON PREFIXES

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
1. anti- against Antifreeze
2. de- opposite Defrost
3. dis- not, opposite of Disagree
4. en-, em- cause to Encode
5. fore- before Forecast
6. in-,im- inside Infield
7. in-,im-, il-, ir- not Impossible
8. inter- between Interact
9. mid- middle Midway
10. mis- wrongly Misunderstood
11. non- not Nonsense
12. over- over Overlook
13. pre- before Prefix
14. re- again Return
15. semi- half Semicircle
16. sub- under Submarine
17. super- above Superstar
18. trans- across Transport
19. un- not Unfriendly
20. under- under Undersea
English 1 – Study and Thinking Skills

Suffixes – are small but meaningful letter groups added after the base word/root word
that contribute to the meaning of the word.

MOST COMMON SUFFIXES

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
1. –able, -ible can be done Comfortable
2. –al, -ial having the characteristics of Personal
3. –ed past tense verbs Hopped
4. –en made of Wooden
5. –er comparative form Higher
6. –est superlative form Biggest
7. –ful full of Careful
8. –ic having the characteristics of Linguistic
9. –ing verb form Running
10. –ion, -tion, -ation, -ition act/ process Attraction
11. –ity, -ty state of Infinity
12. –ive, -ative, -itive adjective form of noun Massive
13. –less without Fearless
14. –ly characteristic of Quickly
15. –ment action/process Enjoyment
16. –ness state of Kindness
17. –ous, -eous, -ious possessing the qualities of Joyous
18. –s, -es more than one Boxes
19. –y characterized by Angry
20. –er one who Worker