Universidad Central de Venezuela

Escuela de Filosofía
Inglés II

Word Formation

The basic part of any word is the root; to it, you can add a prefix at the beginning and/or a
suffix at the end to change the meaning. For example, in the word "unflattering," the root is
simply "flatter," while the prefix "un-" makes the word negative, and the suffix "-ing"
changes it from a verb into an adjective (specifically, a participle).

English itself does not use prefixes as heavily as it once did, but many English words
come from Latin, which uses prefixes and suffixes (you can use the word affix to refer
either to a prefix or a suffix) quite extensively. For example, the words "prefix," "suffix," and
"affix" themselves are all formed from "fix" by the use of prefixes:

"ad" (to) + "fix" (attached) = "affix"

"pre" (before) + "fix" = "prefix"
"sub" (under) + "fix" = "suffix"
Note that both the "-d" of "ad" and the "-b" of "sub" change the last letter.

Here are some of the most common Latin prefixes (for the meanings of the Latin roots,
look up the words in a good dictionary):

ab
(away) abrupt, absent, absolve
ad
(to) adverb, advertisment, afflict
in
(not) incapable, indecisive, intolerable
inter
(between, among) intercept, interdependent, interprovincial
intra
(within) intramural, intrapersonal, intraprovincial
pre
(before) prefabricate, preface prefer
post
(after) postpone, postscript, postwar
sub
(under) submarine, subscription, suspect
trans
(across) transfer, transit, translate

Written by David Megginson

Prof. S. Pacheco
 Ejercicios

A. Escriba la palabra en mayúscula con el prefijo correcto en cada espacio en blanco.

It is about an unfortunate ___________ between two old friends. UNDERSTANDING

1. Sam thinks his childhood mate, Colin, has ____________ him by promising him a
place in his band, a band which has just been offered a recording contract. LEAD
2. The violent ____________ in the opening scene between the naïve Sam AGREE
3. And totally __________________ Colin is a powerful piece of theatre. TRUST
4. However, much of the rest of the plot is simplistic and at times ____________
BELIEVE
5. In fact, much of what happens only ____________ the theory PROVE
6. that Jenny Hill is finally ready to _____________ Malcolm Kerr as the star PLACE
of new, naturalistic theatre. In truth, she is promising. But she is not Kerr's class.
7. One of the most ____________ aspects of this new play is the return of veteran
actor, PLEASE
8. Jack Marr, as Sam's supportive _____________ grandfather. LIKE
9. And, finally, it is worth mentioning how friendly and ____________ the staff
INFORM of the Royal Theatre are.

B. Complete la palabra con el prefijo correcto: im - ir - un - il - dis - mis - de - re

1) My grandfather found it ___possible to stop smoking.

2) Your answer is totally ___logical; it doesn't make sense at all!!
3) I wish I spoke better English. When I travel abroad, I often ___understand what
people are saying.
4) Her parents' divorce did ___reparable damage to her adult relationships.
5) Their choice of honeymoon destination was as yet ___decided.
6) There have been 2 train ___railments in the last 48 hours.
7) The rails were all rusty from ___use.
8) Please give me further instructions as to where I can ___load the dishwasher.
9) I have been given very ___exact information as to the distance to Esbjerg.
10)It is ___legal for a car to park here.
11)Yet some drivers ___obey the law.
12)The pedestrians may be at risk if the drivers are ___aware of the rules which apply
to marked-off crosswalks.
C. Cree nuevas palabras agregándole sufijos.

Root Suffix New Word Meaning Category

Origin
Happy
Understand
Like
Develop
Friend
recognize
excite
Love
accident
month
wonder