Prefixes and Suffixes in English
Jill Kerper Mora
San Diego State University
Of the twenty thousand most commonly used words in English, four thousand--or 20 percent--have prefixes. Fifteen prefixes make up 82 percent of the total usage of all prefixes. They are listed below.
ab (from)--abnormal ex (out)--extract
ad (to)--adhesion in, il, un, ir (not)--inadequate
be (by)--belittle pre (before)--predict
com, con, co, col (with)--conjunction pro (in front of)--proceed
de (from)--decentralize re (back)--rebuttal
dis, di (apart)--dissect sub (under)--subway
en (in)--enact un (not)--unannounced
Other common prefixes and their meanings include:
ante (before)--antedate non (not)--non-union
anti (against)--antidote out (beyond)--outweigh
auto (self)--autobiography peri (around)--perimeter
bi (two)--bisect poly (many)--polygon
bene (well)--benefactor post (after)--postscript
circum (around)--circumnavigate retro (backwards)--retrogressive
contra (against)--contradict semi (half)--semicircle
equi (equal)--equilateral super (above)--superimpose
fore (before)--forewarn syn, sym (with)--synthesis
inter (between)--international trans (across)--transform
mono (one)--monologue tele (afar)--telescope
Common suffixes and their functions are listed below. The most common suffixes are starred.
Noun Suffixes
-ness* (state of being)--arbitrariness
-ment* (agency or instrument)--government
-ance* (quality, state of being)--disturbance
-tion* (state of being)--irrigation
-ant* (person or thing acting as agent)--descendant
-ion (results of)--fusion
-sion (the act, quality, result of)--explosion
-ation (the act of)--formation
-ity or -ty (state or condition)--electricity, unity
-ence (quality, state of being)--congruence
-hood (condition, state of being)--neighborhood
-ship (condition, state of being)--hardship
-or (state, quality, agent, doer)--elector
-ism (state of being)--nationalism
-ist (state, agent, doer)--scientist
Adjective Suffixes
-able* or -ible* (capacity, fitness, tending to, able to)--serviceable, divisible
-al* or -ial* (belonging to, pertaining to)--coastal, remedial
-ful* (full of)--fearful
-ive* (having nature or quality of)--productive
-ous* (abounding in, having)--mountainous
-ic (of, relating to)--volcanic
-ish (of the nature of)--mannish
-less (without, free from)--selfless
-ary (pertaining to, place for)--tributary
Verb Suffixes
-ize (to acquire, become like)--Americanize
-fy (to make, add to, form into)--magnify
-ate (acted upon, function, affected)--emancipate
-en (made of or belonging, cause to be)--soften
Adverb Suffixes
-ly (in manner of)--rapidly
-wise (with regard or respect to)--lengthwise
-ways (course, direction, manner)--sideways
-ward (toward, position)--southward
The most important affixes and roots for the content area teacher to consider are those that are important to the particular subject. For example, a science instructor might find the following affixes occurring commonly in the reading material:
homo- (same or like)--homogeneous pro- (forth)--progenitor
hetero- (other or different)--heterogeneous
inter- (between or among)--intercellular
hydro- (water)--hydrocarbon bi- (two)--biped
equi- (equal)--equidistant -ology (study of)--biology
aqua- (water)--aqualung -ism (state of condition)--alcoholism
A mathematics instructor might well find the following list of affixes more appropriate to develop:
hemi-, demi- (half--hemisphere, demitasse
uni-, mono- (one)--unitary, monologue
bi-(two)--bisect
tri- (three)--triangle
quadri-, tetra- (four)--quadrilateral, tetrameter
penta-, quin- (five)--pentagon, quintet
hex-, hexa- (six)--hexagonal
sept-, hepta- (seven)--septuagenarian, heptameter
octa- (eight)--octagon
nona- (nine)--nonary
dec- (ten)--decade
centi- (hundred)—centimeter
Sources:
Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M.., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.
Roe, B.D., Stoodt, B.D., & Burns, P.C. (1987). Secondary School Reading Instruction: The Content Areas. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.