Suffixes and Prefixes - Some thing for all.............just enjoy it

Noun Suffixes

These are common endings for nouns. If you see these endings on a word, then you know it must be a noun.

-dom

wisdom(n) kingdom(n)

at the end of a word means:

- state or condition

- domain, position, rank

- a group with position, office, or rank

wise+dom means the state of understanding what is good, right and lasting king+dom means the domain or area belonging to a king.

-ity

capability(n) flexibility(n)

at the end of a word means condition or quality of __________.

capable+ity means the condition of being capable. flexible+ity means the quality of being flexible.

-ment

contentment(n)

at the end of a word means act of __________; state of __________; result of __________.

content+ment means the state of being satisfied (content).

-sion, -tion

celebration (n)

at the end of a word means act of __________; state of __________.

celebrate+tion means the act of celebrating

-ness

toughness (n)

at the end of a word means state of __________.

tough+ness means the state of being tough.

-ance, -ence

assistance (n)

at the end of a word means act of __________; state of __________; quality of __________.

assist+ance means act of giving help.

-er, -or

fighter (n) actor (n)

at the end of a word means one who __________; that which __________.

fight+er means one who fights act+or means one who acts.

-ist

violinist (n)

at the end of a word also means one who __________; that which __________.

violin+ist means one who plays the violin.

Adjective Suffixes

These are common word endings for adjectives. If you see these ending at the end of a word, you can be certain it is an adjective.

-ive

extensive(adj) selective(adj)

at the end of a word means doing or tending toward doing some action

extend+ive means doing something large in range or amount select+ive means tending to select.

-en

wooden (adj)

at the end of a word means made of __________.

wood+en means made of wood. Note: When the word is an adjective, the -en means made of __________. We have seen -en at the end of a verb. There it means to make __________.

-ic

heroic (adj) poetic (adj)

at the end of a word means characteristic of__________; like __________.

hero+ic means characteristic of a hero. poet+ic means characteristic of (or like) poets or poetry.

-al

financial (adj) manual (adj)

sometimes makes an adjective; when it makes an adjective it means relating to __________.

finance+al means relating to finance. (Finance means money.) manu+al means relating to the hand. (Manus means hand in Latin.)

-able

portable (adj) pleasurable (adj)

at the end of a word means able __________; can __________; or giving __________.

port+able means can be carried; able to be carried. pleasure+able means giving pleasure.

-y

hairy (adj) rainy (adj)

at the end of a word means having __________.

hair+y means having hair (a lot of hair). rain+y means having rain.

-ous

mysterious (adj)

at the end of a word means full of __________; having __________.

mystery+ous means full of mystery.

-ful

hopeful (adj) beautiful (adj)

at the end of a word means full of __________; having __________.

hope+ful means full of hope. beauty+ful means full of beauty. Note: The suffix -ful is always spelled with one l; the word full has two.

-less

powerless (adj) homeless(adj)

at the end of a word means without __________.

power+less means without power. home+less means without a home.

Prefixes

Definition A prefix is something which goes in front of a word.

It usually a group of letters such as pre- or sub- or anti-,

The prefix usually changes the meaning of the word - or it makes a new word.

satisfied dissatisfied
spelling misspelling
necessary unnecessary

USE

A prefix never changes the root word to which it is attached.

You can work out the meanings of long words if you can spot prefixes and suffixes.

Some prefixes such as mega- and hyper- are often used in casual speech:

"My pal's got this mega collection of CDs!"
"My mum's been hyper all morning"

It's OK to use them in speech - but don't use them in formal writing.

Here are some more common prefixes - plus what they mean.

anti- means against - as in anti-clockwise, or going in the opposite direction to the fingers of a clock.

auto- means self - as in automatic, when a machine controls itself.

bi- means two - as in bilingual, or speaking two languages.

tri- means three - as in tricycle, which is a bike with three wheels.

bio- means life - as in biography, which is a written account os somebody's life.

ex- means out of - as in expire, or to breathe out.

in- means not - as in infidel, or somebody who does not believe in a religion.

dis means not - as in disagree, or not agreeing with somebody.

inter- means between or among, - as in Inter-City, or a train which travels between two cities.

mono- means one or single - as in monorail, a train which operates on a single rail.

poly- means many - as in polysyllable, or a word with lots of syllables.

pre- means before - as in prefix, something which goes before a word.

ante- means before - as in ante-room, a small room leading to one which is more important.

mega- means large or big in number - as in megabyte, or a million bytes, or a thousand kilobytes.

hyper- means beyond or excessive - as in hypercritical, or very critical, especially of small faults.

Exercises EXERCISE (1):Prefixes that make opposites Make the opposites of the words on the right by matching them with their correct prefix on the left.

1.un	A.responsible,regular,reparable
2.il	B.understand,calculate,behave
3.mis	C.logical,legal,literate
4.ir	D.successful,helpful,believable
5.im	E.credible,active,dependent
6.in	G. agree,appear,honest ,
7.dis	H.patient,polite,possible

EXERCISE (2)Write the red coloured words in the correct form by adding a prefix or suffix.1. Laser printers are prefer to other types of printers.2. The computer we have purchased does not have a big hard disk memory.3. The politician is account to Parliament and the public.4. This is a book about politic freedom.5. The programs which the government have set to fight literacy in rural areas prove difficult or impossible to achieve.6. The singer appeared for an instant on the stage and appear .He was not feeling well.7. There is nothing harm about taking this medicine while driving. It has no side effects.8. Don’t rely on him when you are in trouble.He is not that kinf of rely friend.9. “Titanic” is one of the most success films I have ever seen .10.No one can believe what you are saying, This is believe EXERCISE (3)In the following sentences, the suffixes -ible or –able are omitted. Complete each word with the appropriate ending.1. Last night's movie about the invisman was so incred2.My irrespons little brother is usually kept away from anything break3. Are these new clothes really comfort ,or do people only wear them because they are fashion?4. I think I would be less irrit if my teachers were more flex5. I don't think voting twice in national elections is permiss6. It's always valu to have a friend who is depend7. My employer said that it isn't suitto have a secretary whose handwriting is illeg EXERCISE (4) Choose the correct sentence explaining the right meaning of the added prefixes1) This newspaper is a BIWEEKLY. a) the newspaper is published once a week .b) the newspaper is published three times a week.c) the newspaper is published twice a week.2) This medicine is a nasal DECONGESTANT. a) the medicine helps to reduce nasal congestion. b) the medicine causes nasal congestion.c) the medicine makes your nose bigger.3) That shopping bag is REUSABLE. a) throw the shopping bag away, we won’t need it again .b) don’t throw away the shopping bag because we can use it again. .c) if you throw the shopping bag we cannot use it again .4) I’m sorry I MISREAD the notice and therefore MISUNDERSTOOD the message.. a) Did not read the notice correctly and therefore did not understand correctly. .b) Read the notice and understood the message correctly.c) Did not read the notice and therefore did not understand the message. .5) We usually do not publish articles we don’t PREVIEW. a) we usually read articles before publication.b) we do not read articles after publication .c) we read articles the day we publish them .6) REFORESTATION will help to RESTORE our environment. a) planting trees again will REPLENISH our environment. .b) cutting down trees will further help to worsen the environment. .c) forests should be cut to improve the worsening environmental pollution .7) DEFORESTATION will cause environmental DEPLETION. a) Means planting trees will help our environment from DEPLETION .b) Means cutting down trees will cause further environmental DEPLETION.c) Means too many forests will cause further environmental DEPLETIONKeysEXERCISE(1) 1=D 2=C 3=B 4=A 5=H 6=E 7=G EXERCISE(2): 1.preferable. 2.microcomputer 3. accountable 4. political. 5. illiteracy 6.disapear. 7. harmful. 8. reliable 9. “successful. 10. unbelievableEXERCISE(3): In the following sentences, the suffixes -ible or –able are omitted. Complete each word with the appropriate ending. 1. invisible == incredible 2. irresponsible== breakable 3. comfortable== fashionable 4. irritable== flexible 5. permissible 6. valuable== dependable 7. suitableEXERCISE(4) Choose the correct sentence explaining the right meaning of the added prefixes 1) This newspaper is a BIWEEKLY. c) the newspaper is published twice a week. 2) This medicine is a nasal DECONGESTANT. a) the medicine helps to reduce nasal congestion. 3) That shopping bag is REUSABLE. b) don’t throw away the shopping bag because we can use it again. 4) I’m sorry I MISREAD the notice and therefore MISUNDERSTOOD the message.. a) Did not read the notice correctly and therefore did not understand correctly. 5) We usually do not publish articles we don’t PREVIEW. a) we usually read articles before publication.. 6) REFORESTATION will help to RESTORE our environment. a) planting trees again will REPLENISH our environment. . 7) DEFORESTATION will cause environmental DEPLETION. b) Means cutting down trees will cause further environmental DEPLETION.