Affixes

Suffixes and Prefixes

What are Suffixes and Prefixes
 Prefixes and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the
beginning or end of another word.

 They are not words and cannot stand on their own in a

sentence: if they are printed on their own, they have a hyphen
before or after them.
 Suffixes
 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:
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.

derivational (the new word has a new meaning, "derived" from the
original word):
for example,
 teach → teacher
 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 the same.
 In these cases, the suffix is added simply for grammatical
"correctness".
 Look at these examples:
 Example

Suffix Grammatical Change Original Word Suffixed Word

-s plural dog dogs

-en plural (irregular) ox oxen
-s 3rd person singular present like he likes
(simple present tense)
-ed past tense work he worked
past participle he has worked
-en past participle (irregular) eat he has eaten
-ing continuous/progressive sleep he is sleeping
-er comparative big bigger
-est superlative big 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 suffixes and create different parts of speech, there is no limitation to
this;
 For example:
we can take a noun → make a verb
We can take a verb → make an adjective
We can take an adjective → make an adverb
 There are several hundred derivational suffixes. Here are some of the more
common ones:
 Suffix Making Example - Original Word Example - Suffixed Word
-ation Explore / hesitate Exploration / hesitation

-sion Persuade / divide Persuasion / division

-er teach teacher

-cian music musician
-ess nouns god goddess
-ness sad sadness
-al arrive arrival
-ary diction dictionary
-ment treat treatment
-y Jealous / victor Jealousy / victory

-al accident accidental

-ary imagine imaginary
-able tax taxable
-ly adjectives brother brotherly
-y ease easy
-ful Sorrow / forget Sorrowful / forgetful

-ly adverbs helpful helpfully

-ize Terror / private Terrorize / privatize
verbs
-ate hyphen hyphenate
Prefixes
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.
 Youcan find more detail or precision for each prefix in
any good dictionary.
 Prefix Meaning Examples
a- also an- not, without Atheist, anaemic
a- to, towards aside, aback
in the process of, in a particular state a-hunting, aglow

a- of anew
completely Abashed
ab- also abs- away, from Abdicate, abstract
ad- also a-, ac-, af-, movement to, change into, addition or advance, adulterate, adjunct, ascend, affiliate,
ag- al-, an-, ap-, increase affirm, aggravate, alleviate, annotate,
at- as-, at- apprehend, arrive, assemble, attend
ante- before, preceding Antecedent, ante-room
anti- also ant- opposing, against, the opposite anti-aircraft, antibiotic, anticlimax, Antarctic

be- all over, all around Bespatter, beset

completely bewitch, bemuse
having, covered with Bejeweled
affect with (added to nouns) Befog

cause to be (added to adjectives) becalm

de- down, away descend, despair, depend, deduct
completely denude, denigrate
removal, reversal de-ice, decamp
dia- also di- through, across diagonal
dis- also di- negation, removal, expulsion disadvantage, dismount, disbud,
disbar
en- also em- put into or on engulf, enmesh
bring into the condition of enlighten, embitter
intensification entangle, enrage
ex- also e-, ef- out exit, exclude, expand
upward exalt, extol
completely excruciate, exasperate
previous ex-wife
extra- outside, beyond extracurricular
hemi- half hemisphere
inter- between, among interact, interchange
hyper- beyond, more than, more than hypersonic, hyperactive
normal
hypo- under hypodermic, hypothermia
in- also il-, im- not, without infertile, inappropriate, impossible
also il-, im-, in, into, towards, inside influence, influx, imbibe
ir-
infra- below infrared, infrastructure