Prefixes and suffixes give information about the meaning of a word. A small selection of common prefixes and suffixes are given below, but there are many more.
Prefixes
Some prefixes give adjectives the opposite meaning:
un- – unhappy (un- is the most common prefix for opposites for nouns, adjectives or adverbs)
dis- – dissatisfied (for nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs. Note: sometimes it is not opposite in meaning e.g. display)
in- – inability (in- is common with nouns, adjectives and adverbs)
de- – destabilize (de- is common with verbs and reverses the verb’s action)
ir- – irregular (ir- is common for words that begin with ‘r’)
il- – illegal (il- is common for words that begin with ‘l’)
im- – impossible (im- is common for words that begin with ‘m’, ‘p’ or sometimes ‘b’)
Some prefixes make a word negative:
anti- – antisocial
non- – non-profit (Sometimes it means ‘doesn’t have’)
The prefix ‘mis-‘ is used to show something is done badly or wrongly
mis- – misspell / mistake
NOTE: Some words have different ‘negative’ prefixes with different meanings – unable, inability, disable / unstable, destabilize, instability
NOTE: some words with ‘il-‘ or ‘in-‘ are not negatives. They mean ‘very’. ‘Illuminate’ means ‘very bright light’, ‘invaluable’ means ‘very valuable’.
There are many prefixes for location or direction:
circum- – circumference (around)
inter- – international (between)
intra- – intravenous (inside)
mid- – midday (middle)
sub- – subway (under)
super- – superhuman (above, more than)
tele- – telephone (far, distant)
trans- – transport (across, beyond)
There are also prefixes for number:
poly- – polygon (many)
semi- – semicircle (half, part)
over- – oversized (too much)
omni- – omnivore (all)
multi- – multilingual (many)
mono- – monochrome (one)
Other common prefixes include:
auto- – automatic (self)
bio- – biology (life)
co-, con- – cooperate, conversation (with)
ex- – ex-wife (out of, former)
fore-, pre- – forecast, preview (before)
post- – postgraduate (after)
macro- – macroeconomics (large)
micro- – microcomputer (small)
Suffixes
Suffixes can tell you what type of word it is, e.g. nouns often end in -ment (enjoyment), -ness (happiness) or -ion (education).
These are some common suffixes for nouns:
-ance – importance / instance
-cy – privacy
-er/-or – actor / teacher
-ism – communism / racism
-ment – entertainment / arrangement
-ness – happiness / wellness
-ship – friendship / hardship
-tion – communication / education
Common suffixes for verbs:
-ate – create / activate
-ify – verify / solidify
-ise/-ize – authorise / categorise
Common suffixes for adjectives:
-able – reliable / comfortable
-al – accidental / communal
-ful – useful / wonderful
-ive – active / sensitive
-ic – athletic
-less – homeless / timeless
-ous/-ious – dangerous / curious / religious