When it comes to learning English language, we need to learn a lot of words, their meanings and applications. But let’s face it, at times we do come across words that are not simply in our mind’s dictionary! It is not possible for one to memorize every word and it meaning out there . But there are ways for us to analyze the closest meaning of a word through group of words which have a certain meaning.
SUFFIXES: Group of letters with special meaning found at the end of a word. Each suffix has a general meaning, so you will be able to understand what a word with a suffix means more easily.
The table below has some common suffixes, their meaning, and an example word.
Suffix |
Meaning |
Example word |
-able, -ible |
able to be |
terrible |
-ful |
full of |
beautiful |
-less |
not having, without |
toothless |
Suffix |
Meaning |
Example word |
-dom |
place or state of being |
freedom |
-er |
a person who does |
worker |
-ment |
action or process |
payment |
-ness |
state of being |
happiness |
PREFIX: A prefix is a set of letters that is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Each prefix has a general meaning, so you will be able to understand what a word with a prefix means more easily.
Prefix |
Meaning |
Example word |
dis- |
not, opposite of |
disagree |
in-, im- |
not |
incorrect, impossible |
mis- |
incorrectly |
misunderstand |
re- |
again |
redo (do again) |
un- |
not |
uninteresting |
under- |
below, lower, not enough |
underwater |