Most words in English are simple, but you may need to add additional syllables to convey a stronger or more precise meaning, or to shorten an idea that might take multiple words to address. These syllables are called suffixes and prefixes.
Prefix:
They are added to the start of the word to change the original meaning,
Here are some examples:
The Prefix and The Use/Meaning |
The Example |
re-Meaning to do the same thing again |
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dis-, un-, anti-Meaning the opposite of something |
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over-Meaning "above" or "excessive" |
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under-Meaning: below |
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semi-Meaning "half" or "partially" |
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misMeaning "wrong" or "badly" |
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trans-Meaning "across" or "beyond". |
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sub-Meaning "under" or "below". |
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pre-Meaning "before" or "before". |
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in-Meaning "not" or "into". |
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inter-Meaning "between" or "among". |
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bi-Meaning "two" or "twice". |
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co-Meaning "together" or "jointly". |
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de-Meaning "opposite of" or "down". |
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ex-Meaning "former" or "out of". |
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micro-Meaning "small" or "tiny". |
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multi-Meaning "many" or "much". |
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non-Meaning "not" or "opposite of". |
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post-Meaning "after" or "behind". |
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tri-Meaning "three". |
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Suffix:
Suffixes are syllables added to change the use of the word rather than the meaning, "what uses that suffixes have?" you may ask,
here are some examples:
The Suffix and The Use/Meaning |
The Example |
-nessThis means the amount of something |
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-fulused to indicate a noticeable amount of an adjective |
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-lyused to convert an adjective into an adverbor from trades into ways/adverbs, for example: "quickly! turn of the stove." |
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-able/-ibleused to convey the ability to do something or a verb. in other words, tell people how much someone can do something |
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-mentused for an action or resulting state as a noun |
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-lessused in opposite cases of "ful", used to indicate a not-so-noticeable amount of something |
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-ishmeans "the property/characteristic that comes from" something. |
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-ify/fyused as "cause to be [something]" or "reason of"Example: "This thing can be classified" Classify: means caused to be a class, the meaning of this sentence is "this thing can be a class". |
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-ologymeans "the science" that is related to something,for example: "geo" means earth, so "geology" means the science of earth |
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-icMeaning: "of" or "relating to" |
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-erthere are two use cases:
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-estused to indicate something that holds an adjective better than any of a group,example: "I am the tallest of my friends"," the room is cleanest among before" |
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-ionmeans "the act of" something. |
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-ingwhat is a gerund?a gerund is used to indicate an action (as a noun).a gerund is written like this: verb+"ing" |
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-edEnglish verbs are classified into 2:
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-iveused to indicate the tendency to perform a particular action |
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-izeindicating the action or process of making somethingin other words, the action that is needed so an adjective is achieved |
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-almeans "related to",example: "historical" means: related to history |
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Example:
this will show you how to use suffixes and prefixes in real-life speechMy day at work:
I work as a baker. I love meeting new customers. Our working time is between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. We sell cakes at relatively average prices with freshly brought ingredients. These ingredients are harder to transport and store. We are looking to discover new recipes.
- What does "baker" mean?
- What does "working" mean?
- What does "relatively" mean?
- What does "freshly" mean?
- What does "discover" mean?
- "baker" means someone who bakes.
- "working" means a gerund for work. means the action of working.
- "relatively" means the adjective of the noun relative. the adjective form of "relative".
- "freshly" means the adjective of the noun fresh. the adjective form of "fresh".
- "discover" means the opposite of covering or knowing about more things.
the rest is left as an exercise for the reader.