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. 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 Meaning Examples

a- also an- not, without atheist, anaemic

to, towards aside, aback

a-
in the process of, in a
a-hunting, aglow
particular state

of anew
a-
completely abashed

ab- also abs- away, from abdicate, abstract

also a-, ac-, af-, advance, adulterate, adjunct, ascend, affiliate,

movement to, change
ad- ag- al-, an-, ap-, affirm, aggravate, alleviate, annotate, apprehend,
into, addition or increase
at- as-, at- arrive, assemble, attend

ante- before, preceding antecedent, ante-room

opposing, against, the

anti- also ant- anti-aircraft, antibiotic, anticlimax, Antarctic
opposite

all over, all around bespatter, beset

completely bewitch, bemuse

having, covered with bejewelled

be-
affect with (added to
befog
nouns)

cause to be (added to
becalm
adjectives)

also co-, col-,

com- with, jointly, completely combat, codriver, collude, confide, corrode
con-, cor-

contra- against, opposite contraceptive

counter- opposition, opposite counter-attack, counteract

 direction

down, away descend, despair, depend, deduct

de- completely denude, denigrate

removal, reversal de-ice, decamp

dia- also di- through, across diagonal

negation, removal,
dis- also di- disadvantage, dismount, disbud, disbar
expulsion

put into or on engulf, enmesh

bring into the condition

en- also em- enlighten, embitter
of

intensification entangle, enrage

out exit, exclude, expand

upward exalt, extol

ex- also e-, ef-
completely excruciate, exasperate

previous ex-wife

extra- outside, beyond extracurricular

hemi- half hemisphere

beyond, more than, more

hyper- hypersonic, hyperactive
than normal

hypo- under hypodermic, hypothermia

also il-, im- not, without infertile, inappropriate, impossible

in-
also il-, im-, ir- in, into, towards, inside influence, influx, imbibe

infra- below infrared, infrastructure

inter- between, among interact, interchange

intra- inside, within intramural, intravenous

non- absence, negation non-smoker, non-alcoholic

blocking, against,
ob- also oc-, of-, op- obstruct, occult, offend, oppose
concealing
 surpassing, exceeding outperform
out-
external, away from outbuilding, outboard

excessively, completely overconfident, overburdened, overjoyed

over-
upper, outer, over, above overcoat, overcast

peri- round, about perimeter

post- after in time or order postpone

before in time, place,

pre- pre-adolescent, prelude, precondition
order or importance

favouring, in support of pro-African

acting for proconsul

pro-
motion forwards or away propulsion

before in time, place or

prologue
order

re- again repaint, reappraise, reawake

semi- half, partly semicircle, semi-conscious

at a lower position submarine, subsoil

also suc-, suf-,
sub- sug-, sup-, sur-, lower in rank sub-lieutenant
sus-
nearly, approximately sub-tropical

syn- also sym- in union, acting together synchronize, symmetry

across, beyond transnational, transatlantic

trans-
into a different state translate

beyond ultraviolet, ultrasonic

ultra-
extreme ultramicroscopic

not unacceptable, unreal, unhappy, unmanned

un-
reversal or cancellation
unplug, unmask
of action or state

under- beneath, below underarm, undercarriage

 lower in rank undersecretary

not enough underdeveloped

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 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:
example 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

past tense he worked

-ed work
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 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:

example example
suffix making
original word suffixed word

explore exploration
-ation
hesitate hesitation

persuade Persuasion
-sion
divide division

-er teach Teacher

-cian music Musician

-ess god Goddess

nouns

-ness sad Sadness

-al arrive Arrival

-ary diction Dictionary

-ment treat Treatment

jealous jealousy
-y
victor victory

-al adjectives accident Accidental

-ary imagine imaginary

-able tax taxable

-ly brother brotherly

-y ease easy

sorrow sorrowful
-ful
forget forgetful

-ly adverbs helpful helpfully

terror terrorize
-ize
private privatize
verbs

-ate hyphen hyphenate