UNIVERSIDAD NUEVA ESPARTA

CATEDRA DE INGLS TCNICO

Prof. Alicia Avila A.

WORD FORMATION: AFFIXES

Learning the use and meaning of words in English can be made easier, and even enjoyable, if
you understand something about one way in which many English words are formed.
The stem or base of a word is its basic form, the fundamental element which is common to
all the others forms of the word. Affixes are word-parts that are added either at the end or at
the beginning of another word or word-part, to form a new word. A prefix is a form which is
fixed to the beginning of a stem; a suffix is a form which is fixed to the end of a stem. For
example:

stem = measure

suffix = measurable

prefix = immeasurable

A prefix usually changes the meaning of a word, while a suffix usually changes its part of
speech. For example, the prefix im- changes the meaning to the opposite: measurable means
capable of being measured; immeasurable means not capable of being measured.
The suffix -able changes verbs into adjectives (breakable, enjoyable).

There are two kinds of suffixes in English: Inflectional and derivational. The inflectional
suffixes are added to almost any word of a class, according to the rules stated. For example,
we have the suffixes er and est, which are added to adjectives of one or two syllables to
form the comparative and the superlative. The derivational suffixes are many, and an
understanding of them will be helpful to the students in enlarging his vocabulary. But the
student must not attempt to make up new words on the basis of what we say about
derivational suffixes. He can use only those words that he has actually read or heard, or that
he has found in a dictionary. Many English words are built of parts that have been borrowed
from other languages, particularly from Greek and Latin, and those borrowed elements may
appear as stems, prefixes or suffixes. An example is the stem path meaning feeling; then we
have many common words such as sympathy, empathy, pathos and antipathy. The English
language makes frequent use of this method of word formation. Notice the numerous words
formed on the stem: act.

Prefix + act act + suffix prefix + act + suffix

React action reaction

Enact active enactment

Reenact actively reenactment

Interact actionless reactor

Transact actable reactive

activity reactivate

activate reactivation

activation interaction

actor transaction

actress inactive

inaction

By learning only a few prefixes and suffixes, you will be able to recognize or guess the
meaning of hundreds of English words.
 PART ONE .- ENGLISH SUFFIXES

Suffixes that change verbs into nouns.

-URE Ex: to depart the departure

to proceed
to please

-MENT Ex: to agree the agreement

to measure
to develop

-ANCE / -ENCE Ex: to refer the reference

to ignore
to occur

-ATION / -TION Ex: to consider the consideration

to inform
to execute

-SION Ex: to confuse the confusion

to convert
to divide

-ER / -OR Ex: to teach the teacher

to learn
to program

Suffixes that change adjectives into nouns.

-NESS Ex: happy happiness

beautiful
clean
-ITY Ex: active activity
electric
able

-ISM Ex: ideal idealism

magnet
social

Suffixes that change adjectives into adverbs

-LY Ex: private privately

soft
quiet

Suffixes that change verbs into adjectives

-IVE Ex: to create creative

to act
to offend

-ENT / -ANT Ex: to please pleasant

to differ
to exist

-ABLE / -IBLE Ex: to remark remarkable

to agree
to enjoy

Suffixes that change nouns into adjectives

-ISH Ex: the child childish

the boy
the fever

-Y Ex: the dirt dirty

the milk
the oil
-LY Ex: the friend friendly
the brother
the coward

-AL Ex: the region regional

the origin
the industry

-OUS Ex: the danger dangerous

the adventure
the religion

-ARY / -ORY Ex: the revolution revolutionary

the honor
the satisfaction

-IC / -ICAL Ex: the history historic

the democrat
the comic

-LESS Ex: the power powerless

the care
the fear

-FUL Ex: the power powerful

the hope
the pain

-AN / -IAN Ex: Africa African

music
Venezuela

-LIKE Ex: the child childlike

the lady
the war
-AR Ex: the circle circular
the pole
the triangle

-ATE Ex: the college collegiate

the fortune
the proportion

-EN Ex: gold golden

silk
wood

Suffixes that change nouns or adjectives into verbs

-IZE Ex: computation to computarize

colony
authority

-ATE Ex: active to activate

calculation
celebration

-FY Ex: simple to simplify

identification
satisfaction

- EN Ex: deafness to deafen

wide
strength
 ACTIVITIES

I .- Indicate whether the following words in the list are verbs, nouns, adjectives
or adverbs. Underline the corresponding suffix.

1. useless __________ 11. endure _________

2. possibility ________ 12. criticism ________
3. strangeness _______ 13. powerful ________
4. assembly _________ 14. progress ________
5. stabilize __________ 15. efficiently _______
6. honest ___________ 16. frighten _________
7. close ____________ 17. experiment _______
8. sympathize ________ 18. originally _________
9. preferable _________ 19. cloudy ___________
10.manager __________ 20. urgently __________

II.- Try to give the meaning of the following words using the suffix form.

1. hostile _________________ 7. competitive ________________

2. anger __________________ 8. intentionally ________________
3. colonize ________________ 9. thankful ___________________
4. quietly _________________ 10. safety _____________________
5. thoroughness ____________ 11. compete ___________________
6. survive _________________ 12. jealously __________________

III.- Use a dictionary when necessary:

A.- Change these nouns to adjectives: joy fear peace cleverness victory
secret - value truth height luck loyalty pain.

B.- Change these verbs to nouns: strengthen - introduce approve prepare

produce excel operate employ educate resist profit decide.

C.- Change these verbs to nouns expressing DOER or agent: employ

program test react observe accelerate fly design invent build
elevate administrate.
IV.- Here are some noun forms that correspond to the underlined adjectives in
the following sentences. Fill each blank with the appropriate noun.

NOUNS: health death

length truth
strength faith
wealth height
depth warmth

1. Marys father was dead when she returned. Her fathers_____________

caused her a lot of troubles.

2. In our village just few people are wealthy, so as you can see, there isnt
much______________

3. I gave the police a true picture of the situation, because it was important to
know the ____________ about everything.

4. Hercules was a very strong man, his _______________ was given by the
length of his hair.

5. The teachers were faithful to their ideals, they expressed their __________
in their leader.

6. The Venezuelan are warm people, they appreciate the ____________ in

everyone.

7. Cristopher Columbus and his men took a long route, they didnt know
exactly the _____________ of this trip.

8. Exercises provide you a healthy complexion, also eating well helps to your
_______________

9. We saw many high mountains, but we didnt know their exact _________

10.The children found a deep well in the old castle, they were afraid of
its_____________
V.- Complete the following table with the correct form of the word. Use a
dictionary if necessary. Then, try to make sentences with each word.

NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB

persuasion
respect
hopefully
protective
horrify
joy
doubt
serviceable
familiarly
dry
volunteer
reliability
complete
secure

VI.- Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the correct alternative
given.

Theres (1)______________ no cure for AIDS. Medicines such as AZT have

prolonged the lives of some people with AIDS. There is a hope that
additional (2)________________ will be found.

1. a) present b) presence
c) presented d) presently

2. a) treat b) treatments
c) treatable d) treated

There is also no vaccine to prevent uninfected people from getting the (3)
________________. (4)_______________ believe it may take years for an
(5)______________ , safe vaccine to be found. The most effective way to
prevent AIDS is avoiding exposure to the virus, which you can control by
your own (6)__________________ .
 3. a) infect b) infected
c) infecting d) infection

4. a) researchers b) research
c) researching d) researched

5. a) effect b) effectively
c) effective d) effects

6. a) behaviorist b) behave
c) behavioral d) behavior

VII.- In the following sentences circle or underline the appropriate word in

parentheses.

1. The airfield was (muddiness / muddy / mud).

2. The fog was very (thick / thickly / thickened).
3. He (maintaining / maintenance / maintained) control of the plane.
4. The scenery in some areas is (spectacular / spectacle / spectacularly).
5. He had a (strange / strangeness / strangely) feeling.
6. Theres no (compare / comparison / comparably) at all.
7. The currents moved around (invisible / invisibility / invisibly).
8. He tied the rope (tight / tightly / tightness).
9. This (unequally / unequal / inequality) in the population has to finish.
10. Word appear in a dictionary in (alphabetically / alphabetical / alphabet)
order.
11. Her (sadness / sad / sadly) was apparent.
12. My father is a (bravely / brave / bravery) person.
13. The situation wasnt (hope / hopefully / hopeless).
14. They didnt have much (skillful / skill / skillfully) in hunting.
15. He (excelled / excellence / excellent) in lecturing.
VIII.- Use the words below to complete the sentences. You may use each word
only once.

a. able b. ecology
c. ability d. example
e. advertise f. gas
g. brush h. metal
i. business j. product
k. cheap l. reason
m. create n. society
o. active p. general
q. age r. guess
s. certain t. job

1. I do not know his_________________, but he seems to be about forty.

2. A student of___________________ studies the effects of animals and
plants on each other and on their environment.
3. For many years man used hot air or________________ to fly.
4. At four years old he was___________________ to do some arithmetic.
5. A________________ cup is not good for a hot drink. Try to find a glass.
6. Everyone relies on her__________________ to organize things.
7. Because of his hard work, his small_______________ developed quickly.
8. Every successful_______________ creates some type of government.
9. I cannot see any_______________ for the argument. What caused it?
10.They should_________________ a new system for office management.
11.Nowadays even museums sometimes_______________ in the
newspapers.
12.They are quite rich. For_________________, they have three houses.
13.In ______________, the best pictures are in museums.
14.These clothes are very_______________, so lets buy a lot of them.
15.He was very_______________ in school organizations. This caused
problems because he never had time to study.
16.He asked for a________________ to get the dirt off his coat.
17.Use your brains to find the right answer. Dont just_________________
18.This coffee is a ________________ of Colombia.
19.Fertilization can occur only on_________________ days each month.
20.He left school and looked for a ________________
 Chart with the meaning of some common English suffixes.

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE

-able / -ible Capaz de ser, que tiende durable, comfortable
a ser
-acy Estado o cualidad de accuracy
-al / -ial Relacionado con, tiene political, circular
-ar la cualidad de economic, specific
-ic / -ical grammatical
-ance / -ence Un estado, accin de tolerance, corpulence
-ary / -ory Lugar para, que trata de seminary, revolutionary
-ate Accin de (verbo) activate
-ate Perteneciente a, collegiate
poseedor de (adj)
-cide Extincin de, asesinato insecticide
-dom Condicin de freedom, wisdom
-ed Que, que est related
-en Cualidad o resultado de harden, golden
una accin (adj)
-en Accin de deafen
-ent / -ant Tiene la cualidad de pleasant
-er / -or Una persona que, una farmer, governor
cosa que
-ess Sufijo femenino hostess, waitress
-fold Divisin tenfold
-ful Lleno de , abundante colorful, plentiful
-fy / -ify Hacer, llevar a cabo fortify, simplify
-hood Condicin de, ser childhood, brotherhood
miembro de una clase
-ian / -an Practicante, habitante de politician, Parisian
-ion Condicin o accin de persuation, adoration
-ing Actividad (como teaching
sustantivo)
-ing Cualidad de (adj) interesting, exciting
-ish Similitud o relacin con childish, foolish
-ism Creencia o doctrina de socialism, realism
-ist / -yst Alguien que practica o chemist, pianist,analyst
 se dedica a
-itis Inflamacin de bronchitis
-ive De naturaleza creative, receptive
-ity Consecuencia de una activity
accin
-ize Accin de computarize
-less Que carece de, que no toothless
tiene
-like Condicin de childlike
-logy Ciencia o estudio de biology
-ly Manera como (adv) logically
-ly Condicin de (adj) softly
-ment Acto o condicin de government
-meter Instrumento que mide barometer
-metry Ciencia o proceso que geometry,photometry
mide o estudia
-mony Condicin resultante testimony, matrimony
-ness Condicin de cleanliness
-ous / -ouse Que posee, que est anxious, grandiose
lleno de
-osis Proceso o condicin de metamorphosis
-scope Instrumento para telescope
observar o detectar
-ship Condicin o estado de relationship, frienship
-sion Resultado de una accin confusion
-tion / -ation Resultado de una accin sanction, information
-tude Cualidad o grado de altitude, gratitude
-ure Resultado de una accin departure
-ward Direccin, sentido backward, outward
-wise Manera como, sentido clockwise
-y Condicin de Difficulty, dirty
 PART TWO.- ENGLISH PREFIXES

PREFIXES OF SIZE
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Semi- a mitad, en parte semiconductor
Equi- igual equidistant
Mini- / Micro- pequeo Minicomputer, microcard
Mega- / Macro- grande Megalomania,
macroeconomics
Maxi- grande maximun

PREFIXES OF PLACE AND POSITION

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Inter- entre, mutuo interactive
Intra- dentro intravenous
Super- sobre, por encima de superordinate,
superhuman
Trans- a travs transoceanic
Tele- distante, lejos telescope
Ex - fuera exhume, exclude
Extra- fuera, mas all extraordinary
Sub- debajo subsoil, substation
Infra- por debajo del rango Infrared, infrahuman
Ultra- por encima del rango ultramodern
Peri- alrededor perimeter
Down- hacia abajo downstairs, downgrade
Up- hacia arriba Upstairs, uphill
De- bajar, descender Depress, decrease

PREFIXES OF TIME AND SEQUENCE

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Ante- / Pre- antes antecedent, premodifier
Post- despus postgraduate, postwar
Retro- Hacia atrs en el tiempo retroactive, retrocede
o en el espacio
Ex - anterior Ex -minister
Mid- en la mitad midwinter, mid-july
Proto- / prime- Primero en el tiempo Prototype, primary

QUANTITATIVE PREFIXES
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Mono- uno monoxide, monogamy
Uni- uno unicellular, unilateral
Bi- dos, doble bilingual, binary
Tri- / Ter- tres tertiary, tripod
Tetra- / Quad- cuatro tetrachloride, quadruped
Hex- seis hexagon
Oct- ocho octopus
Penta- cinco pentagon
Dec- diez decimal
A- / An- sin, falta de atypical, anarchy
Hyper- sobre, exceso hypertoxic,
hypersensitive
Hypo- menos que, por debajo hypodermic
I- igual, el mismo isomorphs
Multi- / Poly- muchos Multicolored,
polynuclear
Semi- mitad semicircle

PREFIXES OF OPPOSITION
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Un- / Il- / In- / Im- / No, opuesto a, falta Unnecessary,
Ir- de invalid,imposible,illegal,irrelevant
Non- No relacionado con, Non-toxic
no
Mis- Malo, incorrecto, Misunderstanding, misbehave
falta de
Dis- Accin opuesta, Dissatisfy, disconnect
quitar
Counter- No, contrario a counterargument
Anti- Contrario a Antinuclear, antisocial
De- Revertir, opuesto Decentralize, decode
Re- Volver a hacer, Rewrite, reorganize
regresar
Under- Debajo de Underdevelopment,
undergraduate
Over- Demasiado, sobre Overcooked, overconfident
Un- Sin, falta de Undo, unfair
OTHER COMMON PREFIXES
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
Arch- El principal, posicin Archbishop, archenemy
mas alta
Co- Junto con, en Coexist, coauthor
colaboracin con
En- / Em- Producir o causar un Enlarge, enrich
nuevo estado
Pro- A favor de Pro-abortion
Hydro- / Acqua- Relacionado con agua Hydroenergy, acqueous
Meta- Que tiene que ver con Metaphysical,
metalanguage
Self- / auto- Por s mismo, de l Self-consciousness,
mismo automatic
Thermo- Relacionado con Thermometer, thermostat
temperatura
Neo- nuevo neoclassical
Pan- De todos panamerican
 ACTIVITIES

I.- Match the definitions with the corresponding words. Pay attention to the
prefixes.

1. transversal a) not permitted.

2. impoverish b) relating to, or affecting one side of a subject.
3. extramarital c) not having action.
4. equilibrate d) not capable of being recovered or rectified.
5. undereducated e) a line that intersects a system of lines.
6. incapable f) a student continuing his education after
7. unilateral graduation from high school or college.
8. minimize g) to issue reservations for (airplane flight) in
9. illicit excess of the space available.
10.irrecoverable h) to free from infection.
11.misinform i) to make poor.
12.overbook j) lacking capacity, ability or qualification for
13.reduce doing or performance.
14.decongestant k) of or relating to a married persons sexual
15.antifreeze intercourse with other than his or her spouse.
16.disinfect l) care taken in advance.
 17.non-action m) to diminish in size, amount, extent or
18.postgraduate number.
19.semiliterate n) to give untrue or misleading information.
20.precaution o) an agent that relieves congestion.
p) a substance that lower the freezing point of
water.
q) able to read and write on an elementary
level.
r) poorly educated.
s) to reduce in size.
t) to bring into or keep in balance.

II.- Try to match the prefixes in column A to the words in column B. There
are more than one word with the same prefix. Consult your dictionary.

A B

Un- practical
Over- act
Mis- do
In- sensitive
Dis- secure
Im- develop
Ir- orient
Co- real
Re- moral
III .- Write the corresponding negative prefix (dis- il- im- in- non- un- ir) to the
following words. Check your answers in the dictionary.

1. _______count 11._______loyal
2. _______convenient 12._______rigid
3. _______licit 13._______regular
4. _______resistible 14._______pure
5. _______violent 15._______separable
6. _______probable 16._______logic
7. _______believable 17._______favorable
8. _______relevant 18._______reverent
9. _______limitable 19._______appropriate
10._______capable 20._______soluble