Affixes
What Does Affix Mean?
• Affixes are groups of letters that are added to the beginning,
middle or ending of a word to change its meaning or part of speech.
Affixes: Types
There are different groups of affixes. Some of the most
common ones are:
1.Prefix: appears at the beginning of a word or stem.
2.Suffix: appears at the end of a word or stem.
Prefixes
A prefix is a group of letters that is added to the beginning of a word (nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) to change
their meaning and use.
Meaning Examples
un- not unhappy, unfair
sub- under subway, subsection
pre- before prefix, prehistory
dis- not, opposite of dislike, disappear
mis- wrongly misuse, misunderstand
re- again, back return. rebirth
anti- opposed to antivirus, anticlimax
in- not, without insecure, inability
il- not, without illegal, illogical
ex- former, out of exhale
Notes about Prefixes
Here are some tips to remember about using prefixes:
• 1. When a prefix is added to a word, the spelling of the root of word never changes.
happy → unhappy
As you can see in the examples, the prefix 'un-' did not change the spelling of the word
'happy'.
legal → illegal
• 2. If the last letter of the prefix is the same as the first letter of the root, double
letters are possible and there is no need to remove one of them..
mobilize → immobilize
As you can see in this example, when you add the prefix 'im-' to words that begin with
the same letter, you do not remove any of the letters.
natural → unnatural
• 3. Some prefixes in English have similar meanings, such as 'un-', 'in-',
and 'non-' all of which mean 'not'.
stop → nonstop
stoppable → unstoppable
secure → insecure
• 4. Be careful with words that look like they have a prefix, but in fact,
do not.
uncle
reach
relative
Suffixes
A suffix consists of a group of letters that are added to the end of the root of a word to change
its meaning and use.
Meaning Examples
-ful full of beautiful, colorful
–ness forming a noun sadness, madness
-ly forming an adverb lovely, slowly
-less without effortless, meaningless
-able able to washable, comfortable
-ing forming a gerund caring, interesting
-ed forming a past participle excited, bearded
-ous forming a noun dangerous, nervous
-ment forming a noun development,
government
-ion forming a noun election, attention
Notes about Suffixes
• 1. Some suffixes have more than one meaning, such as the suffix -er.
teacher
• Here, the suffix -er means ' someone or something that does an
action'.
worker
slower
As you can see, the suffix -er can also compare adjectives and adverbs
together.
faster
• 2. Sometimes, when a suffix is added to a word, the spelling of the root of
word changes, especially when the root of the word ends in the letter 'y' or
the silent 'e.'
make → making
crazy → craziness
Warning
This does not apply to all words ending in these letters. With
some words, we keep the 'e', as in 'changeable' and 'loveable.‘
• Infixes
• Infixes are a special type of affix that comes in the middle of a word.
However, the English language doesn’t use infixes.
