A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning.

This is a list of the most common prefixes in English, together with their basic meaning and some examples. You can find more detail or precision for each prefix in any good dictionary. The origins of words are extremely complicated. You should use this list as a guide only, to help you understand possible meanings. But be very careful, because often what appears to be a prefix is not a prefix at all. Note also that this list does not include elements like "auto-" or " bio-", because these are "combining forms", not prefixes.

Prefix aaalso an-

Meaning not, without to, towards in the process of, in a particular state

Examples atheist, anaemic aside, aback a-hunting, aglow anew abashed abdicate, abstract advance, adulterate, adjunct, ascend, affiliate, affirm, aggravate, alleviate, annotate, apprehend, arrive, assemble, attend antecedent, ante-room anti-aircraft, antibiotic, anticlimax, Antarctic bespatter, beset bewitch, bemuse bejewelled befog becalm combat, codriver, collude, confide, corrode contraceptive counter-attack, counteract descend, despair, depend, deduct denude, denigrate de-ice, decamp diagonal disadvantage, dismount, disbud, disbar engulf, enmesh enlighten, embitter entangle, enrage exit, exclude, expand exalt, extol excruciate, exasperate ex-wife extracurricular hemisphere hypersonic, hyperactive hypodermic, hypothermia infertile, inappropriate, impossible influence, influx, imbibe infrared, infrastructure interact, interchange intramural, intravenous non-smoker, non-alcoholic obstruct, occult, offend, oppose

a-

of completely

abadanteantibe-

also absalso a-, ac-, af-, ag- al-, an, ap-, at- as-, at-

away, from movement to, change into, addition or increase before, preceding

also ant-

opposing, against, the opposite all over, all around completely having, covered with affect with (added to nouns) cause to be (added to adjectives)

comcontra-

also co-, col-, con-, cor-

with, jointly, completely against, opposite opposition, opposite direction down, away completely removal, reversal

counterde-

diadisen-

also dialso dialso em-

through, across negation, removal, expulsion put into or on bring into the condition of intensification

ex-

also e-, ef-

out upward completely previous

extrahemihyperhypoinalso il-, imalso il-, im-, irinfrainterintranonobalso oc-, of-, op-

outside, beyond half beyond, more than, more than normal under not, without in, into, towards, inside below between, among inside, within absence, negation blocking, against, concealing

out-

surpassing, exceeding external, away from

outperform outbuilding, outboard overconfident, overburdened, overjoyed overcoat, overcast perimeter postpone pre-adolescent, prelude, precondition pro-African proconsul propulsion prologue repaint, reappraise, reawake semicircle, semi-conscious submarine, subsoil sub-lieutenant sub-tropical synchronize, symmetry transnational, transatlantic translate ultraviolet, ultrasonic ultramicroscopic unacceptable, unreal, unhappy, unmanned unplug, unmask underarm, undercarriage undersecretary underdeveloped

over-

excessively, completely upper, outer, over, above

peripostprepro-

round, about after in time or order before in time, place, order or importance favouring, in support of acting for motion forwards or away before in time, place or order

resemisubalso suc-, suf-, sug-, sup-, sur-, sus-

again half, partly at a lower position lower in rank nearly, approximately

syntrans-

also sym-

in union, acting together across, beyond into a different state

ultra-

beyond extreme

un-

not reversal or cancellation of action or state

under-

beneath, below lower in rank not enough

A suffix goes at the end of a word. A prefix goes at the beginning. A suffix is 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: 1. inflectional (grammatical): for example, changing singular to plural (dog > dogs), or changing present tense to past tense (walk > walked). In this case, the basic meaning of the word does not change. 2. derivational (the new word has a new meaning, "derived" from the original word): for example, teach > teacher or care > careful Inflectional suffixes Inflectional suffixes do not change the meaning of the original word. So in "Every day I walk to school" and "Yesterday I walked to school", the words walk and walked have the same basic meaning. In "I have one car" and "I have two cars", the basic meaning of the words car and cars is exactly the same. In these cases, the suffix is added simply for grammatical "correctness". Look at these examples: suffix grammatical change example original word example suffixed word

-s -en -s -ed -en -ing -er -est

plural plural (irregular) 3rd person singular present past tense past participle past participle (irregular) continuous/progressive comparative superlative

dog ox like work eat sleep big big

dogs oxen he likes he worked he has worked he has eaten he is sleeping bigger the biggest

Derivational suffixes With derivational suffixes, the new word has a new meaning, and is usually a different part of speech. But the new meaning is related to the old meaning - it is "derived" from the old meaning. We can add more than one suffix, as in this example: derive (verb) + tion = derivation (noun) + al = derivational (adjective) There are several hundred derivational suffixes. Here are some of the more common ones: suffix -ation -sion -er -cian -ess -ness -al -ary -ment -y -al -ary -able -ly -y -ful -ly -ize -ate adverbs verbs adjectives making nouns example original word explore hesitate persuade divide teach music god sad arrive diction treat jealous victor accident imagine tax brother ease sorrow forget helpful terror private hyphen example suffixed word exploration hesitation persuasion division teacher musician goddess sadness arrival dictionary treatment jealousy victory accidental imaginary taxable brotherly easy sorrowful forgetful helpfully terrorize privatize hyphenate