VOCABULARY : PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

NOUN SUFFIXES
-ance, -ence: action, process, or state of
adolescence (the state of growing up from childhood to adulthood; the transitional
period between youth and maturity), dependence (the state of being
dependent)
-ian: one who is or does
comedian (one who creates comedy), politician (one who seeks or holds a political
office)
-ion: act or process; state or condition
detection (the act of detecting), election (the act or power of electing)
-ism: act, practice, or process; state or doctrine of
feminism (belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes),
materialism (the belief that the acquisition of material possessions is the
highest good)
-ist: one who performs, makes, produces, believes, etc.
dentist (one who is trained and licensed to practice dentistry), pianist (one who
plays the piano)
-ity: quality, state, or degree
equality (the state or quality of being equal), fidelity (the quality of being
faithful)
-sis: process or action
diagnosis (the process of identifying the nature or cause of a disease or injury),
paralysis (loss of sensation or ability to move or function)
-ure: act, process, function
enclosure (an area or thing that is enclosed), failure (something that has failed
to perform as expected or requested).

NUMERICAL PREFIXES
un-, mono-: one (unique, unity, monotonous, monopoly)
bi-: two (bigamy, bilateral, bicameral, bicycle)
tri-: three (trivial, trident, trinity, triple)
quad-, quar-: four (quadrant, quarter, quart, quartet)
deci-: ten (decade, decathlon, decimal, decibel)
cent-: hundred (century, centipede, centennial)
mil-: thousand (millipede, millennium, millimeter)
Common Prefixes
a-, an-: not, without
amoral (not moral), atypical (not typical)
ante-: prior to, in front of, before
anterior (placed before), antedate (to
proceed in time, come before)
circ-, circum-: around, about, on all
sides
circumference (the outer boundary of a
circle), circumstance (the conditions or
state of affairs surrounding or affecting an
event, a particular incident, or
an occurrence)
dis-: away from, apart, reversal, not
dismiss (to send away from, eject),
disobedient (not obedient)
in-: not
inaccurate (not accurate), informal (not
formal)
mal-: bad, abnormal, evil, wrong
malfunction (to fail to function properly),
malpractice (wrongdoing, especially
improper or negligent treatment of a
patient by a physician)
multi-: many, multiple
multimedia (the combined use of several
media), multiple (having several or
many parts or elements)
non-: not
nonfiction (the genre of literature that
includes all types of books other than
fiction),
ab-, abs-: from, away, off
abduct (to take by force), abnormal (away
from or apart from the standard)
anti-, ant-: opposite, opposing, against
antibiotic (substance that kills
microorganisms), antidote (remedy for
counteracting
the effects of a poison)
co-, com-, con-: with, together, jointly
cooperate (to work together, comply),
connect (to bind or fasten together)
ex-: out, out of, away from
exit (go out), expel (to drive out or away)
inter-: between, among, within
intercept (to stop someone or something
between its starting point and
destination),
intervene (to come, occur, appear, or lie
between two points of time
or things)
mis-: bad, wrong, ill; opposite or lack of
misbehave (to behave badly), misspell (to
spell incorrectly)
neo-: new, recent, a new form of
neonatal (of or relating to a newborn
child), neologism (a new word or phrase)
poly-: many, much
polygamy (the system of having more
than one wife at a time), polysyllabic
(having
nonsmoker (someone who does not
smoke)
pre-: before
precaution (something done in advance to
avoid risk), predict (to forecast, make
known in advance)
sub-: under, beneath, below
subdue (to overcome, bring under
control), submarine (a ship that can
operate
under water)
three or more syllables)
re-: back, again
rebuild (to build again after destruction),
replace (to put back in its former position;
to take the place of)
super-: above, over, exceeding
superb (grand, magnificent, of unusually
high quality, excellent), superman (a
man with powers exceeding ordinary
human capacity)
ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES
-able, -ible: capable or worthy of;
tending or liable to
dependable (worthy of being depended
on, trustworthy), incredible (not credible;
unable to be believed, improbable)
-al, -ial, -ical: having the quality of,
relating to, or characterized by
practical (of or relating to practice or
action; useful), ethical (of or relating to
ethics or morals)

-an, -ian: related to, characteristic of
humanitarian (relating to, or characteristic
of a humanitarian), vegetarian
(relating to vegetarianism)
-ic: pertaining or relating to, having the
quality of
dramatic (of or relating to drama,
theatrical), realistic (of or relating to the
representation
of things as they really are)

-ish: having the character of -ive: performing or tending towards

childish (characteristic of, pertaining to,
or resembling a child), foolish (devoid
of good sense or judgment; exhibiting
folly, in the manner of a fool)
(an action); having the nature of
cooperative (marked by a willingness to
cooperate; done with or working with
others for a common purpose), defensive
(serving to defend or protect)

-ous, -ose: full of, having the quality of,

relating to
glorious (having or deserving glory,
famous), nauseous (causing nausea,
sickening)

VERB SUFFIXES
-ate: to make, cause to be or become
deteriorate (to make worse, impair; to make inferior in quality or character),
irritate (to cause annoyance or disturbance in; to make impatient, angry,
annoyed)
-ify, -fy: to make, form into
beautify (to make beautiful), specify (to state explicitly or in detail)
-ize: to cause to be or become, to bring about
colonize (to establish a colony), democratize (to make or become democratic)
VOCABULARY: CONFUSING WORDS
accept to recognize
except excluding
access (verb) to gain entry to
access (noun) means of
approaching
excess extra
adapt to adjust
adopt to take as one’s
own
affect to influence
effect (noun) result
effect (verb) to bring about
all ready totally prepared
already by this time
all ways every method
always forever
among in the middle of
several
between in an interval
separating
assure assure someone
ensure to check for
yourself
insure financial value
beside next to
besides in addition to
bibliography list of writings
biography a life story
breath (noun) respiration
breathe (verb) to inhale and
exhale
breadth width
capital (noun) money
capital (adjective) most important
capitol government
building
complement match
compliment Praise
disinterested strong opinion
either way
uninterested having no
interest
envelop to surround
envelope paper wrapping
 for a letter
farther beyond
further additional
immigrate to enter a new
country
emigrate to leave a country
imply to hint, suggest
infer to assume, deduce
loose not tight
lose unable to find
overdo to do too much
overdue late
personal individual
personnel employees
precede to go before
proceed to continue
proceeds profits
principal (adj) main
principal (n) person in charge;
principle standard
stationary still, not moving
stationery writing material
whether if
weather climate
who substitute for he,
she, or they
whom substitute for him,
her, or
whose belonging to
whom