Suffixes and Prefixes: A Guide to Word Structure

Suffixes and Prefixes

A suffix is a group of letters placed after the root of a word. For example, the word flavourless consists of the root word "flavour" combined with the suffix "-less"[ which means "without"]; the word "flavourless" means "having no flavour."

A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word. For example, the word "unhappy" consists of the prefix "un-" [which means "not"] combined with the root word "happy"; the word "unhappy" means "not happy."

1.0Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-able	able to, having the	capable, comfortable, quality of flammable, payable, portable, presentable, taxable
-acy	state or quality	lunacy, privacy
-age	action or process, rank,	drainage, orphanage, leverage, marriage, mileage, peerage, postage, spillage, suffrage, village, voyage, wreckage
-al	relating to	annual, arrival, comical, disposal, educational, historical, refusal, regional, rehearsal, reversal, social, tidal
-ance	state or quality of, denoting an action	allegiance, appearance, perseverance, maintenance, utterance
-ant	being	arrogant, deodorant, expectant, important, miscreant, propellant
-ary	like, connected with	adversary, budgetary, dictionary, dignitary, honorary, library, primary
-itis	an inflammatory disease	arthritis, laryngitis, tonsillitis
-ive	tending to, having the nature of	active, cooperative, corrosive, sensitive, supportive
-ize	to make or become,	demonize, fossilize, pasteurize, to treat in a manner carbonize
-less	without, not affected by	clueless, endless, fearless, flavorless, friendless, sleepless, tireless
-ly	forming an adjective	clearly, closely, hourly
-ment	the results of an action	amusement, entertainment, excitement, treatment
-ness	denoting a state or condition	kindness, sadness, wilderness
-oid	resembling	android, ovoid
- ology	the study of	biology, geology, theology
-or	condition, state, a person doing an action	elevator, governor, terror, valor
-ose	having the quality of	comatose, verbose
-ous	characterized by	adventurous, aqueous, curious, dangerous, generous, mountaineous
-ship	denoting a condition,	companionship, citizenship, quality, skill or group fellowship, workmanship, membership
-tude	in the state of	fortitude, multitude, solitude
-ure	an action or process	exposure, legislature, procedure, scripture
-y	full of, denoting a condition, or a diminutive	glory, hungry, messy, jealousy, sleepy, victory

▪ The suffixes - ful, -ious, -able, - less, -ish, -ing, -y, -en and -ic are commonly used to make words into adjectives. Example: fool-foolish, religion- religious.▪ Following suffixes are used to form abstract nouns-hood, -ity, -ance, -ment, -tion, -ness, -ery, -ory, -ence .Example: Man - Manhood, human - humanity, rely - reliance, amaze - amazement, express - expression, happy - happiness, brave - bravery, advise - advisory, insist - insistence.

2.0Prefixes

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
a-	not, without	achromatic, asymmetric, asymptomatic, atypical
ab -	away, from	abduct, abnormal
acro-	high or top	acrobat, acronym, acrophobia
ambi-	both	ambidextrous, ambiguous, ambivalence
amphi-	both, on two sides	amphibian, amphitheater
ante-	before	anterior, antediluvian (before the flood)
anti-	against, opposite	antibody, antisocial, antifreeze, antivirus
aqua-	water	aquamarine, aquarium
arch-	highest, worst	archangel, archenemy, archetype
astro-	star	astrology, astronomer, astrophysics
auto-	self	autobiography, automatic, automobile, autonomy
be-	covered with, equipped with	bedazzle, bedevil, bewitch
bi-	two	biannual, bicycle, bifocals, bisect, bivalve, biweekly
bio-	life	biology, biography
centi-	one hundredth, hundred	centigrade, centimeter, centipede
co-	with, joint	coordinate, cooperate, co-worker
com-	with, together	combine, command, commend
con-	with, together	concord, condescend, confide, conserve
contra-	against, opposite	contradict
counter-	against, in opposition to	counteract, counter clockwise, counterpart, counterproductive
de-	from, down, away, reverse, opposite	decode, decrease, deflate, degenerate, depress
dec-	ten	decade, decathlon, December
deci-	one tenth	deciliter, decimal, decimate
demi-	half	demigod, demilune
di-	two	dicot, dioxide
dia-	across, between, through	diagnose, diagonal, dialogue, dialect, diameter
dis-	not, opposite, reverse, away	disagree, disallow, disarray, disconnect, disloyal, disrespect
dodeca-	twelve	dodecahedron
dorm-	sleep	dormant, dormitory
ec-	out of, outside	eclectic, eclipse
eco-	relating to the economy or the environment	ecology, economics, ecosphere

Direct and Indirect Speech

You may often be required to report what you have heard somewhere. There are two ways of doing that. You can reproduce the exact words of the speaker or report the speaker without quoting his exact words. So there are two ways of saying the same thing.

Articles

An article is usually placed before a noun. But indefinite articles are also placed before adjectives and adverbs.

The Fun They Had

Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920. He was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science.

Dust Of Snow

Robert Frost (26 March 1874-29 January 1963) was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1884 following his father's death.

Determiners

All determiners perform only one grammatical function: determinative. Determiners express the reference, the relationship or position of a noun within a specific context to the speaker of the sentence.

Verbs and Tenses

A verb is used to say or assert something about a person or thing. It says what a person or thing does, what a person or thing is, or what a person or thing has. A verb denotes doing, being or possessing.

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