Prefixes and Suffixes

Common Prefixes and Suffixes: A Quick Reference Guide 

Prefixes and suffixes are essential components of the English language. Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word and change the meaning of the word, while suffixes are added to the end of a word and change its category. For instance, the prefix ‘un’ can be added to the word ‘happy’ to make it ‘unhappy,’ and the suffix ‘-ly’ can be added to the word ‘quick’ to make it ‘quickly.’ Knowing how to use prefixes and suffixes correctly can help to improve a person’s understanding of the English language and help them to become more proficient in their writing.

TABLE OF CONTENT

• What are Prefixes
• What are Suffixes
• List of Common Prefixes
• List of Common Suffixes

What are Prefixes

Are a group of letters that come at the beginning of a word, and they change its meaning :

Example: 

• Happy/unhappy 
• War/postwar

What are Suffixes

Are a group of letters that come at the end of a word and they change its category ( verb – noun – adjective – adverb….) :

Example:

• Child (NOUN) / childish (ADJECTIVE)
• Help (VERB) / helpful (ADJECTIVE)
• lazy (ADJECTIVE) / lazily (ADVERB)

Generally speaking, there are three types of suffixes:

Verb Suffixes

These are suffixes added to adjectives or nouns to make verbs.

• Dark (adjective) → Darken
• Center (noun) → Centralize

Noun Suffixes

These are suffixes added to verbs, adjectives, or nouns to make nouns.

• Manage (verb) → Management
• Serious (adjective) → Seriousness
• Friend (noun) → Friendship

Adjectival Suffixes

These are suffixes added to nouns, adjectives, or verbs to make adjectives.

• Beauty (noun) → Beautiful
• Economic (adjective) → Economical
• Excite (verb) → Excited

NOTE: a word without any prefix or suffix is called the root

List of Common Prefixes

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
a-	not, without	amoral, atheist, apolitical
anti-	against, opposed to	antibiotic, antiwar, anti-virus, antifreeze
auto-	self/by oneself	autobiography, autograph, autodidact, automatic
bi-	two	bicycle – bilingual – bilateral
co-	with – together	co-worker, co-producer, co-author
counter-	against, opposing	counter-clockwise, counteract, counter-attack
de-	undo / opposite action / remove	depress, demotivate, decode, degenerate
dis-	not / the opposite of	dislike, distrust, disable, disagree, disorganized, disarm, disadvantage, disable, disobey
en-	cause to be or become	enlarge, enrich, endanger, enable, enact
ex-	former / previous	ex-teacher, ex-president, ex-student, ex-wife
il-	not ( used before a word beginning with the letter “L” like legal)	illegal, illogical, illicit, illegitimate
im-	not ( used before a word beginning with the letter “m” like mature or “p” like possible)	immature, impossible, improbable, imperfect, impersonal, immodest, immobile
in-	not / opposite to	indistinct, inaccurate, indecent, inhuman, incorrect, incapable, insufficient, incomprehensible, incomparable
in-	in, movement to	insert, instill, inbuilt
inter-	among / between / connected	international, inter-ship, intercontinental, internet
ir-	not ( used before a word beginning with the letter “r” like rational)	irrational, irregular, irresistible, irresponsible, irrelevant
macro-	large, great	macroeconomics, macrocosm, macroscopic
micro-	small	microchip, microscope, microbe
mid-	middle	midday, midnight, midpoint
mis-	wrongly / badly	mislead, mistake, misunderstand
mono-	one / having one	monolingual, monosyllabic
multi-	many	multicultural, multilingual, multimedia
neo-	new / based on something old but in a new form	neocolonialism , neoclassic , neonatal ,non-conservative
non-	below / beneath / not enough, insufficient	non-governmental, nonsense, non-essential
out-	more / to a greater extent	outnumber, outlive, outrage, outlaw
over-	above / too much	overcook, overheat, overdo, overeat, overpaid
poly-	many	polyglot ,polyclinic ,polygamy
post-	after /come after	postwar, post-conflict, post-communism, post-colonialism
pseudo-	false	pseudonym ,pseudo-scientist
pre-	before / come before	prehistoric, prefix, pretest, predict, prepare
pro-	in favor of	pro-American, pro-capitalist, proactive
re-	back / do again	redo, rewrite, rename, revisit
semi-	half	semicircle, semiannual, semiconscious
self-	by oneself	self-made, self-sufficient, self-service, self-taught, selfish
half-	semi	half-baked, halfway, half-time
sub-	under / beneath	the submarine, subject, subordinate, subway
super-	above / beyond	superpower, superman, superstar
tele-	far	telephone, telescope, telecommunicate, telescope
trans-	across	transcontinental, transatlantic, transfer, transform
un-	not	unknown, unjust, unkind, unsafe, unable
under-	below / beneath / not enough , insufficient	underline, under-age, underemployed, underpaid

List of Common Suffixes

Noun Suffixes	Meaning	Examples
-ance	state /condition or quality	acceptance, inheritance, performance, assistance
-ary	like / connected with / belonging to	stationary, legendary, imaginary, necessary
-dom	state or condition	freedom, boredom, wisdom
-cy	state or quality	literacy, accuracy, frequency, fluency, democracy
-ence	quality or state	reference, conference, residence, difference
-ent	one who	resident, president
-er	one who	teacher, writer, painter, worker, player
-hood	state / condition / period	fatherhood, girlhood, neighborhood, adulthood
-ion	act / process	action, prediction, pollution, solution, addition,
-ism	act / action / doctrine	tourism, cubism, criticism, socialism, feminism
-ist	a person with specific knowledge,	optimist, typist, specialist, stylist, socialist, novelist,
-ity	state/quality or condition	sanity, ambiguity, ability, purity, fraternity, dignity
-ment	action / process	enjoyment, employment, development, movement
-ness	quality/state of being	kindness, openness, darkness, awareness, happiness
-or	the person who	actor, doctor, advisor, counselor, governor, sailor
-ship	state of having a position	leadership, relationship, championship, citizenship

Adjective Suffixes	Meaning	Examples
-able/-ible	that can be of /capable of	drinkable, washable, disposable, believable
-ai/ial	has the property of	personal, industrial, financial, critical, musical
-ant	quality or state / full of	assistant, distant, important, pleasant, ignorant
-ent	quality or state	fluent, innocent, prudent, silent, different, confident
-ar	one who / thing which / from	regular, muscular, solar, lunar, similar
-ary	like / belonging to	stationary, legendary, imaginary, necessary
-en	made of (adjective)	golden, wooden
-er	comparative	taller, shorter, bigger, smaller, faster
-ish	like /of a nationality	childish, girlish, mannish, Spanish, British, foolish
-ive	disposition / character /quality	destructive, impressive, massive, productive,
-ful	full of/with	hopeful, painful, careful, joyful, skillful, peaceful
-less	without	homeless, childless, fearless, toothless, sleepless
-ic	having the property of /	heroic, economic, automatic, periodic, allergic, fantastic
-ory	the state of being/relating to	satisfactory, discriminatory, contradictory
-ous	full of / having	marvelous, religious, famous
-y	the state of / having	sunny, rainy, happy

Verb Suffixes	Meaning	Examples
-ate	to make	cooperate, procrastinate, coordinate, decorate,
-en	to make (verb)	lengthen, widen, shorten, soften, threaten
-ify, -fy	make / become / cause	Terrify, clarify, justify, purify, solidify,
-ize / -ise	bring about / make	modernize, colonize, advertise, summarise, analyze
-ed	past form	turned, collected, cooked, killed

Adverb Suffixes	Meaning	Examples
-ly	every	daily, weekly, monthly
wards	indicate direction or movement.	upwards, downwards, backwards, homewards
-wise	indicating manner or direction	clockwise, lengthwise, otherwise