WORD -ER
FORMATION RE-
PROCESSES
PREFIX, SUFFIX, AND ROOT
WORDS
Learning Objectives
Understand the function of root
words, prefixes and suffixes.
Create new words by adding
prefixes and suffixes to root words.
Increase vocabulary understanding
by applying prefix and suffix
knowledge.
THINK ABOUT IT: THE WORD-FORMATION
PROCESS IS THE PROCESS BY
WHICH NEW WORDS ARE
WHAT IS WORD PRODUCED EITHER BY
FORMATION MODIFICATION OF EXISTING
WORDS OR BY COMPLETE
PROCESSES? INNOVATION, WHICH IN
TURN BECOME A PART OF
THE LANGUAGE.
Morpheme
Smallest meaningful units of
meaning.
Sometimes doesn’t stand
alone.
When it stands by itself, it’s
considered as root because
it has a meaning of its own.
It is an affix when it
depends on another
morpheme to express an
idea.
Two Types of Morpheme
Roots Affixes
Exist independently; an additional element placed
at the beginning or end of a
can occur alone in a root, stem, or word, or in the
sentence. body of a word, to modify its
meaning.
AFFIXES
Prefix Suffix
letters added before letters added after a
the root at the root at the end of a
beginning of a word. word.
FUNCTIONS
Root: A root gives a word meaning.
Prefix: Changes the word’s meaning.
Suffix: Changes the word’s meaning or part
of speech.
Prefixes
There are many prefixes. Some prefixes create words
that mean the opposite of the base word. Some
prefixes pertain to time. Others pertain to place or
location (above, below, etc.). Still other prefixes
indicate number of quantity (mono-, tri-, etc.).
Prefixes that Mean “Not”
Negative prefixes are among the most commonly used
prefixes. When they are added to words, they create a
word that means the opposite of the base word.
1. un- unhappy, unsafe, undo, unwrap, unbutton
2. non- nonstop, nonfiction, nondrinker, nonfat,
nonverbal
3. dis- disagreement, dissimilar, dislike, disable,
disobey
4. in- incorrect, indirect, inactive, injustice, inhuman
also appears as il-, im-, ir-, as in illegal, immortal,
impossible, irresponsible
PREFIXES THAT INDICATE LOCATION OR SPATIAL
RELATIONSHIPS
in- in, into inhale, include, income, ingredient
e-, ex- out, away exhale, exit, expire, exception, expel
pro- forward, forth progress, proceed, project, protrude
re- back, return react, refund, recede, retreat
sub- below, under subway, submarine, subcommittee, subdue
super- over, above supervise, superhighway, superior, supreme
inter- between interrupt, Internet, interfere, interject
tele- far, distant telephone, television, telemarketing
circum- around circumference, circumstance, circumnavigate
PREFIXES THAT DENOTE QUANTITY
unicycle, universe, union, uniform,
uni-, mono- 1 monotone, monocle, monogram,
monochromatism, monopoly
bicycle, bisexual, bipedal, binary,
bi-, di- 2 bisect, bifocal, bilingual, dipthong,
dissect, digital, divide
tricycle, triathlon, tripod, triglyceride,
tri- 3 triangle, trigonometry, triangulation,
trilingual, triumvirate, trillion
quadruple, quadrillion, quadrant,
quadratic, quartet, quarter,
quad-, quart-, tetra- 4 quarterfinal, quartile, tetrameter,
tetrachloride, tetragram, tetragonal
pentagon, pentacle, quintessential,
penta-, quint- 5 quintile, quintuplet, quintain
sextet, hexidecimal, hexameters,
sext-, hex- 6 hexachord, hexagram
septuagenarian, September,
sept-, hept- 7 septennial, septuplets, septarian,
heptameter, heptagonal, heptane
octagon, octopus, October,
oct- 8 octosyllabic, octapeptide, octameter,
octuplet
nonagon, novenas (9 days before
non-, nov-, ennea- 9 Christmas in Mexico), nonapeptide,
enneagon, enneadic
decathlon, decade, December,
dec- 10 decahedron, decaliter, decapod
cent- 100 century, centennial
kilometer, kilogram, kilocalories,
kilo 1000 kilojoules, kilowatt, kilobar, kilobyte
multipurpose, multiply,
multi-, poly- many multifunctional, multiregional,
polygamy, polynomial
PREFIXES THAT DENOTE TIME
In English, there are six main prefixes which denote
position in time. They have no special grammar or
spelling rules and can sometimes be used
interchangeably.
Ante- = before (antebellum, antecedent, antenatal)
Fore- = before (forethought, forewarn, foreknowledge)
Pre- = before (pretext, prevent, prescient)
Post- = after (postoperative, postwar, postindustrial)
Re- = again (reflect, reconsider, retain)
OTHER IMPORTANT PREFIXES
pro- for, in favor for pro-life, pro-choice, pro-war, pro-
American
anti-, contra- opposed to, agains anti-war, antibiotic, contraception,
contradict
mal-, mis- bad, wrong malnutrition, malpractice,
misfortune, misplace
bene-, eu- good, well benefit, benign, eulogy, euphemism,
euphoria
co-, (col-, com-, con-) together, with coworker, collaborate,
communicate, connect
ex- former ex-wife, ex-employee, ex-
president
hyper- too much, excessive, hyperactive, hypersensitive,
overly hyperventilate
REMEMBER THIS
Some prefixes have the same meaning but are not interchangeable. Some of these
prefixes include "non," "un," "il." Adding them before a word would make the word's meaning
opposite. However, you can't use "non-" in place of "un-." Non-happy is not a word; the
correct word is unhappy.
Adding a prefix must not alter the spelling of the base word. Even if it results in repetition of
letters. For example: “un-“ attached to 'natural' becomes 'unnatural'
Some words might look like a prefix is attached to them, but that's not so. For example,
reach is a word on its own. You cannot break up the word into "re-" and "-ach" as these
words alone do not hold any meaning.
You should use a hyphen when joining a prefix to a proper noun, as in pro-American. There
should always be a hyphen after the prefix self- (as in self-esteem), and after the prefix ex-
when it means former (as in ex-husband). Hyphens can also prevent misreading,
mispronunciation, or confusion with other words. For example, you should hyphenate re-
cover (to cover again) to avoid confusing it with recover (to regain or repair).
ROOTS
Roots are fun, and they can give you the power
to unlock and remember hundreds—or even
thousands—of words! Roots are the base word
that prefixes and suffixes are added to. Once
you know the meaning of a root word, you have
the key that opens up a whole set of English
words that comes from it.
helpful roots
audible, auditorium, audience, audio-
aud hear
visual
automobile, autograph, autonomy,
auto self
autocrat
bio life, living biology, biography, biopsy, bionic
credit, incredible, credentials,
cred belief, faith
credulous
dict say, speak, tell dictionary, dictate, indicate, predict
ject toss, throw reject, eject, dejected, projectile
manufacture, manual, manicure,
manu hand, make, do
manuscript
mit, miss send, put remit, transmit, emission, mission
pel, puls push, drive repel, compel, expulsion, propeller
portable, import, export, deport,
port carry
support
helpful roots
inspect, spectacle,
spec, spi see, look
despise, circumspect
attract, contract, tractor,
tract pull, draw
traction,
prevent, event, convene,
ven, vene, vent come
intervention
convert, controversial,
vert turn, twist
introvert, extrovert
visible, review, videodisc,
vid, view, vis see, look
vision, revise
Suffix
Suffix have two types:
Inflectional suffixes provide additional information but don’t
change meaning. There are only a small number of them:
1. the -s that marks plurality;
2. -‘s that marks possession;
3. -er and -est that mark the comparative and superlative forms of
adjectives (taller, tallest);
4. the -s and -ed that mark the third person and past tense
respectively on verbs.
Suffix
Derivational suffix change
meaning and/or word class.
Example: adj.- adv.
1. Suffixes that indicate nouns
These mean state of, condition of, or quality of
(what the base word indicates):
Suffix Example
-ance, -ence reliance (rely), dependence (depend)
-dom freedom (free)
-hood adulthood (adult)
-ity, -y maturity (mature), honesty (honest)
-ive relative (relate)
-ment retirement (retire)
-ness kindness (kind)
-ship friendship (friend)
-tion, -sion, -ion isolation (isolate), suspension (suspend)
-tude solitude (solitary)
These mean a person who (does what the root indicates): -er, -or reader
(read), inventor (invent) -ist soloist (solo)
2. Suffixes that indicate verbs and mean to
make (what the base word indicates)
Suffix Example
-ate automate (automatic)
-ify liquefy (liquid)
-ize socialize (social)
-en cheapen (cheap)
3. Suffixes that indicate adjectives
These suffixes mean full of (what the base word indicates):
Suffix Example
-ful colorful (color)
-ous, -ious joyous (joy)
-ate fortune (fortune)
-y roomy (room)
3. Suffixes that indicate adjectives
These suffixes mean relating to or pertaining to (what the
base word indicates):
Suffix Example
-al musical (music)
-ic comic (comedy)
-ish childish (child)
-ive corrective (correct)
Other adjective suffixes:
Suffix Example
-able, -ible: able to be or do reasonable (reason); sensible (sense)
-less without homeless (home)
Other helpful suffixes
Suffix
-ly, -ily: like, in the manner of
Example: friendly (friend), sloppily (sloppy) (creates an adverb)
-ology: study or science (of whatever the root says)
Example: biology, psychology
-ism: philosophy or belief in (whatever the root says)
Example: terrorism, communism
1. Some suffixes might also hold the same
meaning but are not interchangeable. For
example, the suffix "-er" and "-or" both are added
to show the person who does the work. One
example is the word 'worker.' However, the word
Remember
'workor' is wrong.
2. Adding a suffix at the end of a word sometimes
This
alters the base word's spelling. For example,
when "-al" is added to the word "globe," you drop
the "e," becoming 'global' instead of "globeal." If
the original word is one syllable and ends with a
single consonant, double the last letter. For
example, tip becomes tipping or tipped, and run
becomes running. If the word ends in multiple
consonants, as in the word bank, last letter
doesn’t get doubled.
Root Words With Both Prefixes and
Suffixes Examples
Prefix Root Word Suffix New Word
dis- Agree -ment disagreement
un- Success -ful unsuccessful
re- Create -tion recreation
mis- Lead -ing misleading
what do you think of these
words?
Invaluable
Priceless
Spotting the C
lues
At first glance,
you would thin
means "not va k that invaluable
luable." But to
meaning, you'd u nderstand its
have to know t
formed from th hat it was
e prefix in- "no
value, plus the t" plus the verb
suffix –able "ab
something inva le to be." So
luable has suc
that its value c h great value
an't be calcula
ted.
