ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
IIº medio
WORD FORMATION
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ____________
Affixes and roots:
Adding affixes to existing words (the base or root) to form new words is common in English.
Prefixes are added to the front of the base (like dislike)
Suffixes are added to the end of the base (active activate).
Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class
of the word.
VERBS
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
Re- Again or back Restructure, revisit, rebuild
Dis- Reverses the meaning of the Disappear, disarm, disconnect
verb
Over- Too much Overlook, oversleep,
overwork
Un- Reverses the meaning of the Unbend, undress, unfasten
verb
Mis- Badly or wrongly Mislead, misinform, misplace
Out- More or better than others Outshine, outperform
Be- Make or cause Befriend, belittle
Co- Together Co-exist, co-operate, co-work
De- Do the opposite of Devalue, deselect, dehydrate
Fore- Earlier, before Foreclose, foresee
Inter- Between Interact
Pre- Before Pretest, prejudge, pre-expose
Sub- Under/below Subcontract, subdivide
Trans- Across, over Transform, transcribe,
transplant
Under- Not enough Underfund, undersell
NOUNS
The most common prefixes used to form new nouns in academic English are: co- and sub-. The
most common suffixes are: -tion, -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, -ment, -ant, -ship, -age, -ery. By far the most
common noun affix in academic English is -tion
Example: prefix + noun noun
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
Anti- Against anticlimax, antidote, antithesis
Auto- Self autobiography, automobile
Bi- Two bilingualism, biculturalism,
bi-metalism
Co- Joint co-founder, co-owner, co-
descendant
Counter- Against counter-argument, counter-
example, counter-proposal
Dis- The converse of discomfort, dislike
Ex- Former ex-chairman, ex-hunter
Hyper- Extreme hyperinflation, hypersurface
In- The converse inattention, incoherence,
incompatibility
In- Inside inpatient,
Inter- Between interaction, inter-change,
interference
Kilo- Thousand kilobyte
Mal- Bad malfunction, maltreatment,
malnutrition
Mega- Million megabyte
Mis- Wrong misconduct, misdeed,
mismanagement
Mini- Small mini-publication, mini-theory
Mono- One monosyllable, monograph,
monogamy
Neo- New neo-colonialism, neo-
impressionism
Out- Separate outbuilding,
Poly- Many polysyllable
Pseudo- False pseudo-expert
Re- Again e-organisation, re-assessment,
re-examination
Semi- Half semicircle, semi-darkness
Sub- Below subset, subdivision
Super- More than, above superset, superimposition,
superpowers
Sur- Over and above surtax
Tele- Distant telecommunications,
Tri- Three tripartism
Ultra- Beond ultrasound
Under- Below, too Little nderpayment, under-
development, undergraduate
Vice- deputy vice-president
Example: Suffix added to a verb (V), noun (N) or adjective (A) Noun
SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
alteration, demonstration
-tion / -sion action/instance of V-ing expansion, inclusion,
admission
person who V-s something advertiser, driver computer,
-er
used for V-ing silencer
development, punishment,
-ment action/instance of V-ing
unemployment
-ant / -ent person who V-s assistant, consultant student
-age action/result of V breakage, wastage, package
denial, proposal, refusal,
-al action/result of V
dismissal
preference, dependence,
-ence / -ance action/result of V interference attendance,
acceptance, endurance
action/instance of V-ing place bribery, robbery, misery
-ery /-ry
of V-ing refinery, bakery
-er person concerned with N astronomer, geographer
Marxism, Maoism,
-ism doctrine of N
Thatcherism
friendship, citizenship,
-ship state of being N
leadership
-age collection of N baggage, plumage
ability, similarity,
-ity state or quality of being A
responsibility, curiosity
darkness, preparedness,
-ness state or quality of being A
consciousness
urgency, efficiency,
-cy state or quality of being A
frequency
ADJECTIVES
Many adjectives are formed from a base of a different class with a suffix (e.g. -less, - ous).
Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives, especially by the negative prefixes (un-, in-
and non-). The most common suffixes are -al, -ent, -ive, -ous, -ful, -less.
Example: suffix added to verbs or nouns adjective
SUFFIX MEANING
-al central, political, national, optional, professional
-ent different, dependent, excellent
-ive attractive, effective, imaginative, repetitive
-ous continuous, dangerous, famous
-ful beautiful, peaceful, careful
-less endless, homeless, careless, thoughtless
-able drinkable, countable, avoidable,
Example: negative + adjective adjective
PREFIX MEANING
un- unfortunate, uncomfortable, unjust
immature, impatient, improbable, inconvenient,
im-/in-/ir-/il-
irreplaceable, illegal
non- non-fiction, non-political, non-neutral
dis disloyal, dissimilar, dishonest
