PREFIX AND SUFFIX
Prefixes
and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of
another word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their
own in a sentence: if they are printed on their own they have a hyphen before
or after them.
PREFIXES: Prefixes are added to the beginning of
an existing word in order to create a new word with a different meaning.
For example:
Word Prefix New Word
Happy Un- Unhappy
Cultural Multi- Multicultural
Work Over- Overwork
Space Cyber- Cyberspace
Market Super- Supermarket
1. Negative and positive prefixes:
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Prefix
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Meaning
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Examples
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Negative:
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un-
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not
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Uncover,
undo, uncertain
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in-
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not
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Incomplete,
injustice, incorrect
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im-
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not
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Impossible,
immeasurable, impure, immature
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il-
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not
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Illegal,
illegitimate
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ir-
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not
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irregular,
irrelevant, irreversible
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non-
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not connected
with
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non-programmable,
non-performer
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mis-
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bad, wrong
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Misdirect,
mislead, misguide
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mal-
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bad, wrong
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Malfunction,
malnutrition, malpractice
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dis-
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opposite feeling
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Disagree,
dislike, dishonest
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dis-
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opposite action
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Disconnect,
disarm, disable, disapprove
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anti-
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against
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antiglare,
antistatic, antivirus, antidote
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de-
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reduce, reverse
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demagnetize,
decode, demark
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under-
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too little
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Underestimate,
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Positive:
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re-
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do again
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Reorganize,
redo, rearrange
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over-
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too much
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Overload,
overdue, overachiever
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