Prefixes and Suffixes

 

What are prefixes and suffixes?

Prefixes and suffixes are grammatical and lingual "affixes." They are added before the based word (prefix) or at the end of the based word (suffix). They give a different meaning to the original word, prefixes and suffixes add extra information to the base word.

To learn the meaning of prefixes and suffixes will help us to expand our vocabulary and at the same time will help us to improve our writing.

For example, with the word “prehistoric” the prefix is “pre” meaning “before,” and the base word in “history” and the suffix is “ic” meaning “relating to science of”

Common prefixes

There are a lot and different prefixes, here you will see some of the most common in the English language, which are; “dis-, in-, un-” and they make the word negative. For example, adding the prefix “un-” to the word “reliable” creates the word “unreliable” which means not reliable.

Another prefix that is common is, “re-” and “sub-”. “re-” indicates repetition like adding the word “re” to the word “schedule” which mean to “schedule” again. “sub-” usually indicates “under or bellow”, like subcategorizing.

Common suffixes

One of the most common suffixes is the one we use to change regular verbs into past tense, which is “-ed” for example “I played soccer last day” which base word is “play”. The suffixes “-ing” and “-ly” are really common too. For example, the suffix “-ing” is used for present activities like “I enjoy playing soccer” and the suffix “-ly” is used more often with adjectives for describing how people do things. For example, “I did my homework quickly”, “I was waiting patiently”.

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-s, -es, -ies		plural
-s		3rd person singular present
-ed		past tense
-en		past participle
-en		plural (irregular)
-ing		progressive/continuous
-er		comparative
-est		superlative
-n't		negative (contraction)