What Is An Affix in English Grammar and Morphology

08/07/2023, 15:17 What Is an Affix in English Grammar and Morphology?
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What Are Affixes, Prefixes, and

Suffixes in English Grammar?
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By Richard Nordquist
Updated on May 30, 2019
In English grammar and morphology, an affix is a word element that can be

attached to a base or root to form a new word or new form of the word, usually
occurring as either a prefix or suffix. Put simply, an affix is a group of letters
that are generally added to the beginning or the end of a root word that can
change the word's meaning.
As their names would entail, prefixes like pre-, re-, and trans- are attached to
the beginnings of words such as predict, reactivate, and transaction,
while suffixes like -ism, -ate, and -ish are attached to the ends of words such as
socialism, eradicate, and childish. In rare cases, an affix may be added to the
middle of a word and is therefore called an infix, which occurs in such words as
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-affix-grammar-1689071 1/9
cupsful and passersby, where the additional "-s-" affix pluralizes the words
cupful and passerby, thus changing their form.
What Is a Prefix?
A prefix is a letter or group of letters attached to the beginning of a word that
partly indicates its meaning, including such as examples as "anti-" to mean
against, "co-" to mean with, "mis-" to mean wrong or bad, and "trans-" to mean
across.
The most common prefixes in English are those that express negation like "a-"
in the word asexual, "in-" in the word incapable, and "un-" in the word
unhappy. These negations immediately alter the meaning of the words they are
added to, but some prefixes merely change the form. The word prefix itself
contains the prefix pre-, which means before, and the root word fix, which
means to fasten or place. Thus, the word itself means "to place before."
Prefixes are bound morphemes, which means they can't stand alone. Generally,

if a group of letters is a prefix, it can't also be a word. However, prefixation, or
the process of adding a prefix to a word, is a common way of forming new
words in English.
What Is a Suffix?
A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word or root—
its base form—serving to form a new word or functioning as
an inflectional ending. The word suffix comes from the Latin, "to fasten
underneath."
There are two primary types of suffixes in English:
Derivational, such as the addition of "-ly" to an adjective to form

an adverb, indicating what type of word it is.
Inflectional, such as the addition of "-s" to a noun to form a plural telling

something about the word's grammatical behavior.
Difference Between Affixes and Compound Words

Affixes are bound morphemes, which means that they can't stand alone. If a
group of letters is an affix, it usually can't also be a word. However, Michael
Quinion's 2002 book, "Ologies and Isms: Word Beginnings and Endings,"
explains the importance of these affixes to the English language and its ever-
evolving usage.
Although quite similar to compounds—which combine two words with separate

meanings to form a new word with a new meaning—affixes must be attached to
other words in order to have meaning in and of themselves, says Quinion.
Still, affixes can often be stacked together in clusters to create complex

words much more easily than compounds can, as David Crystal explains in his
2006 book, "How Language Works." He uses the example of nation, which can
become national as well as nationalize, nationalization, or denationalization.
Source
Crystal, David. "How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages
Live or Die." 10/16/07 edition, Avery, November 1, 2007.
Quinion, Michael. "Ologies and Isms: A Dictionary of Word Beginnings and Endings." Oxford Quick
Reference, Oxford University Press, November 17, 2005.
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08/07/2023, 15:17 What Is an Affix in English Grammar and Morphology?

What Are Affixes, Prefixes, and

Isabel Pavia / Getty Images

In English grammar and morphology, an affix is a word element that can be

Prefixes are bound morphemes, which means they can't stand alone. Generally,

There are two primary types of suffixes in English:

Derivational, such as the addition of "-ly" to an adjective to form

Inflectional, such as the addition of "-s" to a noun to form a plural telling

Difference Between Affixes and Compound Words

Although quite similar to compounds—which combine two words with separate

Still, affixes can often be stacked together in clusters to create complex

Cite this Article

Elderly woman in red jacket sitting

Making New Words With Affixation

What Are Derivational Morphemes?

Woman reading old book

Greek and Latin Roots

Stacks of books against wall

Word Stems in English

Boy using stepladder on

100 Key Terms Used in the Study of Grammar

Suffixes in English Grammar

The Function of the Prefix

Noun, verb, and adjective suffix

A List of 26 Common Suffixes in English

colored puzzle piece completing a

Inflection Definition and Examples in English Grammar

word morpheme printed on paper

Definition: Bound Morphemes

running in the surf

What Is Inflection in the Spanish Language?

Compound Tenses in English Grammar

Illustrated depiction of common

A person morphed with a cat head

Definition and Examples of a Morph in Linguistics

Science, Tech, Math Humanities

Careers Privacy Policy

Editorial Guidelines Contact

ThoughtCo is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.

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