WORD FORMATION: ADJECTIVES
Adjective Prefixes
Prefixes are added to the front of the base of the word and they usually don’t
change the kind of word.
structure: negative prefix + adjective  negative adjective
Prefi Meaning
x
un- it means ‘not’ and it is used
before adjectives that start
with a vowel or a consonant
in- it means ‘not’ or ‘without’
and it used with consonants
and vowels, but not ‘i’ or ‘u’
im- used before words beginning
with ‘b’, ‘m’ and ‘p’
ir- used before words starting
with ‘r’
il- used before words beginning
with ‘l’
Examples
fortunate  unfortunate
comfortable  uncomfortable
just  unjust
forgettable  unforgettable
reliable  unreliable
interesting  uninteresting
helpful  unhelpful
convenient  inconvenient
expensive  inexpensive
variable  invariable
complete  incomplete
sane  insane
mature  immature
patient  impatient
probable  improbable
balanced  imbalanced
perfect  imperfect
possible  impossible
replaceable  irreplaceable
rational  irrational
responsible  irresponsible
regular  irregular
legal  illegal
logical  illogical
 literate  illiterate
non- ‘not’ or ‘without’ political  non-political
magical  non-magical
neutral  non-neutral
essential  non-essential
dis- ‘not’ or ‘the opposite of’ loyal  disloyal
similar  dissimilar
honest  dishonest
mis- ‘wrongly’ informed  misinformed
calculated  miscalculated
aligned  misaligned

Adjective Suffixes

Prefixes are added to the front of the base of the word and they usually don’t
change the kind of word.

structure: verb or noun + suffix    adjective

Suffi Examples
x
-al center  central
politics  political
nation  national
option  optional
profession  professional
-ent differ  different
depend  dependent
excel  excellent
-ive attract  attractive
effect  effective
imagine  imaginative
repeat  repetitive
-ous continue  continuous
danger  dangerous
fame  famous
 mystery  mysterious
-ful beauty  beautiful
peace  peaceful
care  careful
meaning  meaningful
-less end  endless
pain  painless
care  careless
thought  thoughtless
-able drink  drinkable
count  countable
avoid  avoidable
believe  believable