Prefixes and Suffixes Tutorial

-IXES

AFFIX
noun |ˈaˌfiks|
an additional element placed at the beginning or end of a root, stem, or word, or in the body of a word, to modify its meaning.

prefix
noun |ˈprēˌfiks|
an element placed at the beginning of a word to adjust or qualify its meaning, e.g., ex-, non-, re-.

SUFFIX
noun |ˈsəfiks|
an element added at the end of a word to form a derivative, e.g., -ation, -fy, -ing, -itis.

This video discusses a bit about what prefixes and suffixes are and how they interact with roots.

Prefix	Meaning	Example
a-/an-	lacking in, lack of	asexual, anemic
a-	verb > predicative adjective with progressive aspect	afloat, atremble
ante-	before	antebellum
anti-	against	anti-war, antivirus, anti-human
ambi-	both	ambidextrous
auto-	self	autobiography, automatic
co-	joint, with, accompanying	co-worker, coordinator, cooperation
counter-	against, in opposition to	counteract, counterpart
de-	reverse action, get rid of	de-emphasize
dis-	not, opposite of	disloyal, disagree
dis-	reverse action, get rid of	disconnect, disinformation
en-/em-	to make into, to put into, to get into	enmesh, empower
ex-	former	ex-husband, ex-boss, ex-colleague
homo-	same	homogenous, homologous
in-/il-/im-/ir-	not, opposite of	inexact, irregular
inter-	between, among	interstate, interact
mal-	bad(ly)	malnourish
mega-, megalo-	great, large	megastar, megalopolis
mid-	middle	midlife
mini-	small	minimarket, mini-skirt
mis-	wrong, astray	misinformation, misguide
multi-	many	multi-storey
out-	better, faster, longer, beyond	outreach, outcome
over-	too much	overreact, overact
ped-/pod-	foot	pedestrian, podiatrist
poly-	many	polygon
post-	after	post-election, post-graduation
pre-	before	pre-election, pre-enter
pro-	for, on the side of	pro-life
re-	again, back	rerun, return
self-	self	self-sufficient
step-	family relation by remarriage	stepbrother
trans-	across, from one place to another	transatlantic
ultra-	beyond, extremely	ultraviolet, ultramagnetic
un-	not, opposite of	unnecessary, unequal
un-	reverse action, deprive of, release from	undo, untie
vice-	deputy	vice-president, vice-principal

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-ian/-an	related to, like	Minnesotan, amphibian
-ize/-ise	to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective	anesthetize, fantasize
-fy	to produce verbs meaning to make	horrify, liquefy
-ly	used to form adverbs	happily, angrily, manly
-ful	implies a thorough and certain possession of the quality of the noun	wakeful, beautiful
-able/-ible	relevant or suitable to, in accordance with, able to be	fashionable, moveable
-hood	a condition or state of being the thing or being in the role	childhood, brotherhood
-ness	in a state of	darkness, happiness
-less	lacking	childless
-ism	descriptive terms for doctrines or principles or ideologies in general	atheism, racism, feminism
-ist	one who follows a principle or system of belief or one who uses something or one who holds biased views.	racist, violinist
-ish	typical or similar to	childish
-ment	the action or result of what is denoted by the verb	commencement, judgment
-ed	past tense	jumped, tweeted
-ing	progressive, continuous	running, jumping
-en	past participle	awaken, taken, stolen
-er	comparative, more	better, hotter, colder
-est	superlative, most	best, hottest, coldest
-n’t	negative	didn’t, wouldn’t
-s	third person singular present	walks, runs, surfs
-s	plural	girls, boys