Prefixes and Suffixes

The English language contains many words and it is not easy to learn all of them. There is a way to learn the most commonly used words if you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English. Once you learn prefixes and suffixes, you can not only spell words more correctly but also recognize and perhaps even define unfamiliar words. 

Let’s learn what are prefixes and suffixes.

What are Prefixes?

A prefix is a letter or a group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning. 

What are Suffixes?

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or function. 

List of Common Prefixes

Here is the list of commonly used prefixes:

prefix		meaning	examples
a-	also an-	not, without	atheist, anemic
a-		to, towards	aside, aback
		in the process of, in a particular state	a-hunting, aglow
a-		of	anew
		completely	abashed
ab-	also abs-	away, from	abdicate, abstract
ad-	also a-, ac-, af-, ag- al-, an-, ap-, at- as-, at-	movement to, change into, addition or increase	advance, adulterate, adjunct, ascend, affiliate, affirm, aggravate, alleviate, annotate, apprehend, arrive, assemble, attend
ante-		before, preceding	antecedent, ante-room
anti-	also ant-	opposing, against, the opposite	anti-aircraft, antibiotic, anticlimax, Antarctic
be-		all over, all around	bespatter, beset
		completely	bewitch, bemuse
		having, covered with	bejeweled
		affect with (added to nouns)	befog
		cause to be (added to adjectives)	becalm
com-	also co-, col-, con-, cor-	with, jointly, completely	combat, codriver, collude, confide, corrode
contra-		against, opposite	contraceptive
counter-		opposition, opposite direction	counter-attack, counteract
de-		down, away	descend, despair, depend, deduct
		completely	denude, denigrate
		removal, reversal	de-ice, decamp
dia-	also di-	through, across	diagonal
dis-	also di-	negation, removal, expulsion	disadvantage, dismount, disbud, disbar
en-	also em-	put into or on	engulf, enmesh
		bring into the condition of	enlighten, embitter
		intensification	entangle, enrage
ex-	also e-, ef-	out	exit, exclude, expand
		upward	exalt, extol
		completely	excruciate, exasperate
		previous	ex-wife
extra-		outside, beyond	extracurricular
hemi-		half	hemisphere
hyper-		beyond, more than, more than normal	hypersonic, hyperactive
hypo-		under	hypodermic, hypothermia
in-	also il-, im-	not, without	infertile, inappropriate, impossible
	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
ob-	also oc-, of-, op-	blocking, against, concealing	obstruct, occult, offend, oppose
out-		surpassing, exceeding	outperform
		external, away from	outbuilding, outboard
over-		excessively, completely	overconfident, overburdened, overjoyed
		upper, outer, over, above	overcoat, overcast
peri-		round, about	perimeter
post-		after in time or order	postpone
pre-		before in time, place, order or importance	pre-adolescent, prelude, precondition
pro-		favoring, in support of	pro-African
		acting for	proconsul
		motion forwards or away	propulsion
		before in time, place or order	prologue
re-		again	repaint, reappraise, reawake
semi-		half, partly	semicircle, semi-conscious
sub-	also suc-, suf-, sug-, sup-, sur-, sus-	at a lower position	submarine, subsoil
		lower in rank	sub-lieutenant
		nearly, approximately	sub-tropical
syn-	also sym-	in union, acting together	synchronize, symmetry
trans-		across, beyond	transnational, transatlantic
		into a different state	translate
ultra-		beyond	ultraviolet, ultrasonic
		extreme	ultramicroscopic
un-		not	unacceptable, unreal, unhappy, unmanned
		reversal or cancellation of action or state	unplug, unmask
under-		beneath, below	underarm, undercarriage
		lower in rank	undersecretary
		not enough	underdeveloped

List of Common Suffixes

1. Noun Suffixes

The following suffixes are usually found at the end of nouns: -ance, -ation, -ness, -ism, -ment, -ship. They also carry meaning. The endings -er, -or, -ist, or -yst are commonly added to words for people who perform certain tasks or activities. Examples include programmer, calculator, analyst, and abolitionist.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-ee	individual does something	referee, employee, trustee, retiree
-eer	engaged in something, associated with something	auctioneer, volunteer, engineer, profiteer
-er	someone who performs an action	helper, teacher, preacher, dancer
-ion	the action or process of	celebration, opinion, decision, revision
-ism	theory, act or belief	criticism, humanism, professionalism, patirotism
-ity	the state or condition of	probability, equality, abnormality, civility
-ment	the action or result of	movement, retirement, abandonment, establishment
-ness	a state or quality	fondness, awareness, kindness, darkness
-or	a person who is something	distributor, investigator, translator, conductor
-sion	state or being	depression, confusion, tension, compulsion
-ship	position held	worship, ownership, courtship, internship
-th	state or quality	strength, labyrinth, depth, warmth

2. Adjective Suffixes

There are lots of words with -ish because it means similar. The suffixes -al, -ar, -ed, -ic, -ical, and -ive signify having the quality of. The -ous of dangerous means full of or like, while -less means without. These suffixes work to make words that you can use to describe things.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-able, -ible	capable of being	preventable, adaptable, predictable, credible
-al	pertaining to	theatrical, natural, criminal, seasonal
-ant	inclined to or tending to	vigilant, defiant, brilliant, reliant
-ary	of or relating to	budgetary, planetary, military, honorary
-ful	full of or notable of	grateful, beautiful, wonderful, fanciful
-ic	relating to	iconic, organic, heroic, poetic
-ious, -ous	having qualities of	gracious, cautious, humorous, fabulous
-ive	quality or nature of	creative, expensive, expressive, pensive
-less	without something	hopeless, faultless, fearless, restless
-y	made up of or characterized by	brainy, fruity, tasty, grouchy

3. Verb Suffixes

By combining the ‘active’ with the suffix -ate, you create the word activate, which means to make active. Other suffixes with this meaning are -ize, -ise, -ify, and -en.

 

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-ed	past-tense version of a verb	laughed, climbed, called, missed
-en	become	soften, fasten, lengthen, strengthen
-er	action or process, making an adjective comparative	faster, bigger, fuller, longer
-ing	verb form/present participle of an action	laughing, swimming, driving, writing
-ize, -ise	to cause or to become	memorialize, authorize, commercialize, advertise

4. Adverb Suffixes

Adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. For instance, beautiful becomes beautifully. If the adjective already ends with a y as in easy, you would replace the y with -ily to form the adverb easily. There is a special rule for adjectives ending in -able, -ible, or -le: replace the -e with -y. For most words ending in -ic (with the exception of ‘public’) add -ally.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-ly	in what manner something is being done	bravely, simply, honestly, gladly
-ward	in a certain direction	backward, wayward, awkward, afterward
-wise	in relation to	clockwise, edgewise, lengthwise, otherwise

The 5 Rules of Adding Suffixes

Rule 1

When adding the suffixes –ness and –ly to a word, the spelling of the word does not change.

Examples:

• dark + ness = darkness

• scholar + ly = scholarly

Exceptions to Rule 1

When the word ends in y, change the y to i before adding –ness and –ly.

Examples:

• ready + ly = readily

• happy + ness = happiness

Rule 2

When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the silent e in the root word.

Examples:

• care + ing = caring

• use + able = usable

Exceptions to Rule 2

When the word ends in ce or ge, keep the silent e if the suffix begins with a or o.

Examples:

• replace + able = replaceable

• courage + ous = courageous

Rule 3

When the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the silent e in the original word.

Examples:

• care + ful = careful

• care + less = careless

Exceptions to Rule 3

Examples:

• true + ly = truly

• argue + ment = argument

Rule 4

When the word ends in a consonant plus y, change the y to i before any suffix not beginning with i.

Examples:

• sunny + er = sunnier

• hurry + ing = hurrying

Rule 5

When the suffix begins with a vowel, double the final consonant only if (1) the word has only one syllable or is accented on the last syllable and (2) the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

Examples:

• tan + ing = tanning (one-syllable word)

• regret + ing = regretting (The accent is on the last syllable; the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.)

• cancel + ed = canceled (The accent is not on the last syllable.)

• prefer + ed = preferred