PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
Learning Objectives Identify the meanings of common prefixes. Become familiar with common suffix rules. The English language contains an enormous and ever-growing number of words. Enhancing your vocabulary by learning new words can seem overwhelming, but if you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English, you will understand many more words. Mastering common prefixes and suffixes is like learning a code. Once you crack the code, you can not only spell words more correctly but also recognize and perhaps even define unfamiliar words. Prefixes A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word to create a new meaning. Study the common prefixes in Table below. Table Common Prefixes Prefix Meaning Example dis not, opposite of dis + satisfied = dissatisfied mis wrongly mis + spell = misspell un not un + acceptable = unacceptable re again re + election = reelection inter between inter + related = interrelated pre before pre + pay = prepay non not non + sense = nonsense super a
