What is added to the beginning of a word or root word?

On a recent program, nosotros explained that knowing just a few root words in English tin can assist you sympathise the significant of hundreds more than words.

To refresh your memory, a root word is the simplest form of a word. For example, ii forms of the root for the word "meet" are vis- and vid- such as in the words "boob tube" and "video."

Today, nosotros will tell y'all almost prefixes and suffixes – groups of letters that appear at the beginnings and endings of words.

Learning the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes tin assistance yous understand unknown English words you come up beyond. It can also help y'all become better at spelling words.

Prefixes

Allow's kickoff with prefixes.

A prefix is a alphabetic character or a group of messages that we add to the start of a word. Prefixes change the meanings of words. For case, the prefix united nations- (or u-n) tin hateful "non," "remove," or "reverse." Calculation united nations- to the word "happy" gives you the give-and-take "unhappy," which means not happy.

U-due north and r-eastward (or re-) are the ii most common prefixes in the English language. Re- means "again" or "dorsum," such equally in the words "rethink" "redo" and "repay."

Here are a few things to remember when learning prefixes:

1. Unlike prefixes in English tin can have similar meanings, such as un-, in- and not- all of which hateful "not" or "opposite of." Also, the prefixes mis- and ir- hateful "incorrect," "wrongly," or "incorrectly."
2. Discover that double letters are possible. For example, when you add the prefix im- to words that begin with the alphabetic character "m," y'all become ii "m"s equally in "immeasurable." That's also true when y'all add un- to words that brainstorm with the letter "n," every bit in "unnoticeable." The aforementioned is true for many other prefixes.
3. When calculation a prefix to a discussion, the spelling of the base of operations discussion never changes. For instance, the prefix un- did not change the spelling of the word "happy." And, the prefix re- would non change the spelling of the word "live" in "relive."
4. Watch out for "lookalikes" – words that look like they contain prefixes but, in fact, do not. For example, the un- in the word "uncle" is non a prefix, nor is the re- in the words "achieve" or "real."

Suffixes

Now, let'south turn to suffixes.

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word. Suffixes are commonly used to evidence the part of speech of a give-and-take. For instance, adding "ion" to the verb "human activity" gives u.s. "activity," the noun grade of the word. Suffixes likewise tell us the verb tense of words or whether the words are plural or singular.

​Some common suffixes are -er, -southward, -es, -ed, -ing and -ly.

Hither are a few things to remember when learning suffixes:

1. Some suffixes take more than than one meaning. For example, the suffix -er may propose a person who performs an action, like a teacher. But "er" is also unremarkably added to the ends of adjectives and adverbs. They compare two things and show that i is "more" than the other, such as in "faster" and "stronger."
2. The spelling of a base word can change when a suffix is added. This is true of most base words catastrophe in the letter "y." For case, when we add together the suffix -ness to the give-and-take "crazy" to brand "craziness," nosotros replace the "y" with an "i." This rule is likewise true of many base words catastrophe in a silent "e" when the suffix begins with a vowel. For example, in the words "write," "brand" and "manage," we driblet the "e" in the words when nosotros add -ing to make: "writing," "making" and "managing." Nosotros too often drop the silent "east" before the suffix -able such equally in "usable." Exist careful, though, because with some words, nosotros go along the "e," such as in "changeable" and "loveable."

There are additional suffix rules, only they bargain with spelling and can be learned with time and practice.

A thing to keep in listen virtually both prefixes and suffixes is that some are only used with some words. For example, we add together the suffix -ful to some nouns to mean "full of," such as in the words "cute" or "helpful." Just, we cannot add together -ful to simply any noun. Yous could not, for instance, say "loveful" to mean full of honey.

So, what are some ways that yous can do mutual prefixes and suffixes?

One way is to employ online flashcards from websites like Quizlet. You tin choose sets of cards that are already made or create and use your own sets. Or, you can make your own flashcards with pieces of newspaper.

Once y'all've spent time practicing, take a news story or page in a volume and look for words that have the prefixes and suffixes y'all learned. Then, use what y'all know well-nigh the meaning of the root words to guess the meanings of those words.

Learning prefixes and suffixes will non only build your vocabulary only can make unfamiliar English words a lot less frightening.

I'm Phil Dierking. And I'm Alice Bryant.

Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English language. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

spell – v. to say, write, or impress the letters of a give-and-take (gerund: spelling)

practice – n. to exercise something again and again in order to go amend at it

vowel – n. i of the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y

flashcard – n. a card that has words, numbers, or pictures on it and that is used to help students learn near a subject

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Source: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/learn-prefixes-and-suffixes-to-expand-your-vocabulary/4140658.html

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