Prefixes Suffixes

Most prefixes suffixes change the meaning of the word they are attached to.

Spelling rules can vary and make things a little confusing, but I've included spelling rules on other pages within this site to help eliminate any confusion.

The majority of prefixes and suffixes come to English via the Latin and Greek languages, but I'm sure there are many other languages represented as well.

What's interesting to note is just how common prefixes suffixes are. Look at any newspaper article and take a paragraph or two and underline just the prefixes.

Next, do the same for the words that have suffixes. Finally circle the words that have both prefixes suffixes. You'll probably find as many words with an underline as without... which simply shows just how common they are and how often they are used.

Prefixes Suffixes    Meanings        Use

a, an ab able, ible ac acer, acr ad age al ambi an, ian ance, ancy, ence, ency ant, ent, er, or, eer, ier, ante anthropo anti aqua ar, ary, ory arch aud auto bene bibl bio brev cede, ceed chron cide circum cis clar co, con, com cogni counter, contra cred crypt cycl de dent derm dia dic, dict dis dom dox duc, duct dyna dys ee ego en epi ese eu ex extra fort frater fy gamy gen geo graph, gram gress gyn hetero homo, homeo hydr hyper hypo ic, ical il, im, in, ir inter intra ion, sion, tion ish ism ist junct less logy macro magn mal man mater mega ment meter, metr micro mis mis, miso mit, miss morph mort multi nav neb non nym omni ortho pan para pater path ped, pod pel per peri phil phobia phon photo poly pon, pos port post pot pre pseudo psych pyr re rupt scrib, script scop se sect semi simil soph spect sub super syn, sym tech tele ten tend terra therm tort trans tudo ultra un under viv voc vor

without, not away (from) capable of characteristic of sour, bitter to, toward state of relating to both belonging to act of, state of one who acts before man, mankind against, opposed water relating to chief, principle hear self well, good book life short go, move time killing around cut clear together, with know against, opposite believe secret, hidden circle from, away tooth skin through, apart say apart, from, out, state, domain of praise, belief lead power hard, ill, with difficulty person who is I, self to make, become on, outer relating to well, good out, from beyond, outside strong brother to make marriage race, origin, kind earth write go, move woman other, different same, like, similar water excessive, over, above, under, below, beneath of, like in, into, on, within, not, between within state of, condition of like doctrine, practice of person who join without study of large large, great bad hand mother big state of being measure small wrong, ill hatred send form, shape death many ship, sail hazy, cloudy not name all straight, right all beside father feeling, suffering foot push, drive through, completely around love, like fear sound light many place carry after strength, ability before false mind, soul fire back, again break write see, look away, from cut half like wise see, look under over, above with, together art, skill far hold stretch earth heat twist across quality, state, result beyond, excessively not, opposing, reverse below, beneath life call, voice eat greedily

atypical absent, abstract portable, edible cardiac acerbity, acrid adhere marriage annual ambivalent suburban, Canadian assistance, dependence farmer, sailor, auctioneer anteroom, antebellum anthropoid antipathy, antisocial aquatic similar, imaginary archenemy auditory, auditorium automatic beneficial Bible autobiography brevity proceed, recede chronological pesticide, homicide circumference excise clarity cooperate, conspiracy recognize counteract, contrary credential, credible cryptic cyclical depart dentist dermatitis diagonal dictate, dictation distract kingdom orthodox aqueduct dynamic dyslexia employee, trainee egoist shorten epigram journalese euphemism, euphoria exhale, exit extracurricular fortress, forte fraternity fortify monogamy Genesis geography graphology progress gynophobia, gynecology heterogeneous homogeneous hydroplane hyperfunction hypodermic manic, numerical illegal, infiltrate interfere intrastate tension childish plagiarism dentist conjunction careless biology macroeconomics magnify malpractice, maladjusted manicure maternity megaphone improvement thermometer, speedometer microscope misinform misanthrope transmit, missile amorphous mortality multitude naval, navigate nebulous nonadjustable pseudonym pandemonium orthopedics pandemonium parallel paternal apathy pedal, podiatrist propel perforate perimeter philanthropy claustrophobia phonics photostat polygamy opponent, position porter, protable postpone potential preamble pseudoscience psychology pyromania return, redo rupture transcribe, scripture telescope seclude, segregate dissect semiprivate similar sophomore spectator submarine supersonic, supervisor synchronize, symphony technology telephone tenacity, tendon extend terrier, terrace thermal distort, contort transport servitude ultramodern unlawful underground vivacious vocation omnivorous, voracious