Vocabulary

Learn English Prefix 1: "Anti-" or "Ant-" Learn English Prefix 2: "Bi-" or "Bin-"

Meaning: The basic meaning of "anti" is "against". Be careful - in

other languages, "anti" still keeps its original meaning, "before", but not in English!

Meaning: Both "bi-" and "bin-" mean "two". Pronunciation: "Bi-" is often pronounced the same as "bye" but the
"i" sound is sometimes pronounced as the "i" in "bit" or "sit". "Bin" can also be pronounced both ways but is usually pronounced as in "bit" or "sit".

Pronunciation: Some people pronounce "anti" as "ant - I" but

others pronounce it as "ant - ee". The second pronunciation is more common in North America, but both are acceptable.

Example 1: A "bicycle" has two wheels. Example 2: A person who is "bilingual" can speak two languages
fluently.

Example 1: "antisocial" describes a person who is not friendly. "He

has been very antisocial since his wife died two years ago".

Example 2: "antislavery" describes the efforts of people to fight

against using other humans as slaves. "The antislavery movement was an effort by many people to end slavery in the 19th century".

Example 3: "Binoculars" are a set of two "glasses" that we use to

see things that are far away.

Example 3: "antiwar" means to be against a war or against all

Example 4: Computers use a "binary" system, with just two

wars. "Antiwar protesters went to Washington to persuade the President to stop sending soldiers abroad".

numbers, "zero" and "one", expressing every other possible number and letter.

Other useful words:

Other useful words:

antibacterial - kills bacteria antispam software - stops junk email antonym - an opposite word antibiotic - a kind of medicine antifreeze - stops car engines from freezing in winter antibody - something that fights disease in the human body

bifocals - glasses with two lenses bigamy - describes a man with two wives biannually - two times a year biped - describes animals that walk on two feet (humans, for example) binomial - a mathematical equation with two parts (but NOT "biology" which is based on the root "bio" or "life".)

Learn English Prefix 3: "di -" or "du-"

Learn English Prefix 4: "tri-"

Meaning: "Du-" and "di-" have the same meaning as "bi-" and
"bin-" in the last lesson. Both mean "two".

Meaning: "Tri-" means "three". Pronunciation: As with "bi-" (prefix 2) and "di-" (prefix 3), the
prefix "tri-" can be pronounced in two different ways, either as "try" or with a short "i" as in "trip".

Pronunciation: "Du-" is always pronounced like the English word

"do" while "di-" is usually pronounced "die".

Example 1: A "duo" is a team made of just two people. Example 2: To "duplicate" something means to copy it, in other
words, to make a second one. includes two oxygen atoms.

Example 1: A "tricycle" (pronounced "try") has three wheels, two

in the back and one in the front, so it is easy for children to ride.

Example 2: "Triple" (pronounced like "trip", with a short "i")

Example 3: The chemical word "dioxide" describes an element that Other useful words:
duplicity - lying (saying one thing, but meaning a second thing) a duel - a fight between two men duet - two people singing together dialogue - a talk between two people dissect - to cut something into two parts, to cut something open diverge - when a road goes off in two different directions (but NOT "diary" which has the root "dia" meaning "day".)

means that you have three times as much as something that is "single".

Example 3: A "triangle" (pronounced like "try") is a shape that has

three sides.

Other useful words:

triplets - when a mother has three babies at one time tripod - a three-legged stand for a camera triangular - descibing something in the shape of a triangle triathlon - a sports event with running, swimming and bicycling trio - a group of three people

Learn English Prefix 5: "mono-"

Learn English Prefix 6: "un-" or "uni-"

Meaning: The basic meaning of "mono" is "one" or "single". Pronunciation: The first "o" in "mono" is pronounced like "a" in
"father". The second "o" can be pronounced the same way, but can also be pronounced with a long "o" sound as in "no" or "slow".

Meaning: Both "un-" and "uni-" mean "one". Pronunciation: The "u" in both "un-" and "uni-" is pronounced
like the word "you" (just like the letter "U"!).

Example 1: A "monopoly" is when one company controls a whole

market and has no competition. Many people complain that Microsoft has a near-monopoly on computer software.

Example 1: A "unique" person or thing is one that is different from

any other in the world. "I really like our teacher, Joe. I think he is truly unique!". of that book. "Please open your books to unit 3". knowledge of the world in one place.

Example 2: "Monotony" (a noun) or "monotonous" (an adjective)

describes a feeling you have when something is not interesting at all. "That movie was so monotonous!" or "I can't live with the monotony of a typical office job".

Example 2: A "unit" of a book, especially of a textbook, is one part Example 3: A "university" is a place where we can learn all of the Other useful words:

Example 3: "Monotheism" describes a religion with one god. Other useful words:

"Christianity, Islam, and Judaeism are all monotheistic religions". monorail - a train on just one track monologue - just one person talking (as on TV) monochrome - something that has just one color monosyllabic - describing words with just one syllable monogram - a single letter, often on a suitcase or piece of clothing monogamy - having only one wife or husband monarch - a king (only one leader)

unity or united - all together as one a unicycle - like a bicycle but with only one wheel universe - the whole of space, including every planet and star unilateral - when one country acts without the cooperation of any other country unanimous - when all people agree as one group uniform (adj.) - when everything is done in the same way uniform (noun) - when everyone wears the same clothes

Learn English Prefix 7: "Semi-", "Demi-" or "Hemi-"

Learn English Prefix 8: "pre-" or "pro-"

Meaning: These three prefixes all mean "half". Pronunciation: "Semi" is either pronounced as "semee" or as "semI" while "demi" is normally pronounced as "demee" and "hemi" is pronounced with a short "i" as in "middle". as we listened to the teacher talk".

Meaning: These two prefixes mean "before" or "forward". Pronunciation: "Pre-" is usually pronounced with a long "e" as in
"see". "Pro-" can be pronounced with a long "o" as in "no" or "slow", but sometimes it is pronounced "a" as in "father". (For example, in the noun "progress".)

Example 1: A "semicircle" is half of a circle. "We sat in a semicircle Example 2: A "demigod" is someone who is so famous or so loved
that he or she is almost like a god (or half a god!).

Example 1: Of course, a "prefix" is part of word added before

another word! "We can make many new words by adding prefixes at the beginning."

Example 2: When we do something before an event so that bad

Example 3: The Earth can be divided into two "hemispheres", the

northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. "Our brain has two hemispheres, the left being very logical and the right being more creative".

things won't happen, we call it a "precaution". So we can say, "Keeping extra food and water at home is a precaution in case we have a terrible storm this winter".

Example 3: The word "proceed" means "to move forward". "If we

finish step one of our project, we can then proceed to step two".

Other useful words:

semiannual - something that happens every six months semisweet - used to describe bitter chocolate a semester - half of a year at a university a semicolon - a dot over a comma ;

Other useful words:

to precede - when something happens before another event a precedent - an example from before, often used in law predict - to guess what will happen in advance preexist - to be alive before something else progress (noun - pronounced PROgress) - good changes that have been made to progress (verb - pronounced proGRESS) - to make good changes probable - much more than "maybe" to probe - try to find out

to process (pronounced PROcess) - to change something or make it ready for something to proclaim - to say something out loud a proclamation - something important that is said out loud to procure - to get or to buy to profess - to say loudly or openly

Learn English Prefix 9: "a-"

Meaning: The basic meaning of "a" is simply "on". Pronunciation: "A-" is always pronounced like the "u" in "cup". Example 1: To be "atop" means "on top" or "on top of". So we can
be "atop a mountain". This word is quite formal, so we may only see it in writing.

Example 2: To go "aboard" means to "get on" a ship, boat or

airplane. "I said goodbye to my family, then it was time to go aboard the airplane".

Example 3: The word "awash" means to have a lot of something all

around you, as if you are washing yourself in water. "After he won the lottery, he was awash in both money and in new friends". (So the money seemed to be all around him, and so were all the people who wanted to be his friend!)

Other useful words:

ashore - to get off a ship abroad - to go across the ocean and go to another country aloft - up in the air ablaze - on fire accost - to approach a person in a rude way amid - in the middle of anew - try again, or do something in a new way arise - to get up await - to wait for something that will surely happen

Learn English Prefix 10: "as-"

Meaning: The basic meaning of "as-" is "to" or "in that direction".

It is sometimes similar to "on".

Pronunciation: The "a" in "as" is pronounced like the "u" in "cup". Example 1: To "ascend" means "to go up". So we could say, "It
took them three days to ascend the mountain".

Example 2: To "aspire" means to try to reach a goal. "She went to

Hollywood because she aspired to be an actress".

Example 3: When we "assert" something, we say it very strongly.

The noun form is "assertion". So, we can say, "He made the assertion with complete confidence, but some people still did not believe him".

Other words:

assure - tell others that you are sure, that everything is okay assault - to attack (throw yourself AT someone or something) assemble - go to the same place OR put many pieces together to make one thing assign - to give to somebody, or to give a name to something assist - to give help astound - to surprise