Hic… what does “prefix” mean?
What is “unhappy”? Am I
unhappy if I don’t understand
the lesson?
PREFIXESprefix :a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning Egg: happy ≠ unhappy productive ≠ unproductive possible ≠ impossible
un, = not
Don’t worry!!!
Formation: prefix + Noun/Verb/Adjective
Notes
• Prefixes are often used to give adjectives a negative meaning. Forposite of comfortable is “ uncomfortable”…
• Unfortunately, there is no easy way of knowing which prefix any adj will use to form its opposite learn by heart
• In- becomes - before a root beginning with “m” or “p”, eg: impartial, immature.
• In- becomes ir- before a word beginning with “r”, and il- before a word beginning with “l”, eg: irreplaceable, illegal…
Examples:
• She is not happy= She is unhappy
• He is not loyal because he betrayed his companion = He is disloyal because….
• They are not responsible for their work= They are irresponsible for their work
Some common prefixes:
• Un- : unlucky, unemployable…
• In- : indirect, indefinite…
• Im- : impossible, immature, impossibility…
• Dis- : discourage, disloyal, disadvantage…
• Ir- : irresponsible, irregular, irresponsibility…
Some other prefixes:
Prefix meaning examples
Anti against anti-war antisocial
bi two, twice bicycle bilingual
Ex former ex-wife ex-president
Post after postwar postgraduate
Mis badly/wrongly misunderstand mistranslate
Over too much overdo oversleep
Under not enough underestimate underworked
Wowww… I’m not unhappy anymore
because I can understand what prefix
means!!!