Prefixes and suffixes help forming new words

 Prefixes and suffixes help forming new words 

Prefixes and suffixes play a very important role in English language. Prefixes are added before  root words to form the opposite words or antonyms. But by adding suffixes we get different parts of speeches. In this lesson we are going to discuss about prefixes only.

Prefixes are not complete words but they convey a certain meaning. So when we add a prefix to a word we get a meaningful word. Let us take an example. Take the word responsibilty. The word has a definite meaning. Now let us add the prefix-ir before it. We will get a new word--ir+ responsibilty= irrresponsibilty which is the opposite of responsibilty. The most common prefixes in English language are in. im, il, and ir. We can also add  un to this list and we will get almost 97% words in the English language with these prefixes.( Those words that have been formed using prefixes.) You will find below a list of common prefixes and their meanings with key words.

       Prefix                                    Meaning                                                 Key word

1. anti                                       against                                                     antithesis
2. de                                        opposite                                                    defrost
3. dis                                       not/opposite of                                         disagree
4. en/em                                 cause to                                                     encode/embrace
5. fore                                    before                                                         forecast
6. in/im                                 in                                                                      infield      
7. in/il/im/ir                          not                             indecision/impossible/illiterate/irresponsible
8. inter                                 between                                                   interact
9. mid                                     middle                                                  midway
10. mis                                    wrongly                                                 misfiree                             
11. non                                   not                                                          nonsense
12. over                                  over                                                       overlook
13. pre                                    before                                                    prefix/preposition
14. re                                       again                                                     remove/return
15. semi                                  half                                                        semifinal
16. sub                                   under                                                      submarine
17. super                                above                                                      superstar
18. trans                                 across                                                     transport
19. un                                     not                                                          uncommon/unfriendly
20. under                                under                                                      undersea
21. ex                                     out of/ away from/lacking                      exhale/explosion
22. pro                                   for/before/forward                                  proactive/programme
23. cyber                                                                                               cyberspace

I hope you will be able to identify many words in English language if you study them closely how prefixes and suffixes have added meaning to them. Many words are formed by adding both prefixes and suffixes. How the meaning of the key or root words change with the addition of prefixes and suffixes is an interesting study. Let us take an example here to illustrate our point:

Let us take the root word CONDITION. We are adding the suffix -al to it. It is now CONDITIONAL. Let us add the prefix UN and we will get UNCONDITIONAL. We shall again add another suffix to it-LY. Now we get the word UNCONDITIONALLY.

The original root word CONDITION was a noun. By adding the suffix -al we got CONDITIONAL which is an adjective. When we addded the prefix un we got another adjective UNCNDITIONAL but when we added another suffix -ly to it we got the word UNCONDITIONALLY which is an adverb. Is it not fascinating ?

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                           Phrasal verbs for MP students
 Page no-742

1. She crumpled the letter into a ball.( She screwed up the letter into a ball.) =screw up
2. The workers kept demanding a hike in the wage.( The workers kept pressing for a hike in the wages. )=press for
3. Many men sacrificed their lives for their country. ( Many men laid down their lives for their country. )= lay down
4. The rumour gradually dissappered. ( The rumour gradually died down. )=die down

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1. He spoke so fast that I could not understand what he was saying. ( He spoke so fast that I could not make out what she was saying.)=make out
2. Please do not go near the room because that is where patients with infectious diseases are treated. ( Please keep away from .............treated.)= keep away from
3. It is no use making new laws and regulations unless they are enforced. (It is no use.....put into effect. )=put into effect
4. You should try to get a first division.( You should aim at getting a first division.

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