Affix Notes
Created by: Ms. Brezek
Affix
A word part that is attached to a base
word or a root word that changes the
meaning of the word.
2 kinds of affixes
Prefixes - A prefix
is a word part that
is attached to the
beginning of a
word.
Suffix - A suffix is
a word part that is
attached to the
end of a word.
suffix
reviewing
prefix
review
Root Words vs. Base Words
A root word is a word
part that is left when the
affixes are removed.
Root words cannot
stand alone.
Example: except
Prefix - ex
root - cept
(cept is not a word by
itself, it cannot stand
alone.)
A base word is a word
that can stand alone
when the affixes are
removed.
Example: inside
Prefix - in
Base - side
(side is a word, it can
stand alone.)
Top 5 Prefixes
prefix
meaning
example
un-
not, opposite of
unable
re-
again
reread
in-, im-, ir-, ill-
not
Inactive,
immature,
irregular, illegal
dis-
not, opposite of
Dishonest
en-, em-
cause to
enable, empower
Top 5 Suffixes
suffix
meaning
example
-s, -es
plurals (more than
one)
cats, dishes
-ed
past-tense verbs
landed, smelled,
wished
-ing
verb form happening right
now
Laughing
-ly
characteristic of
gladly
-er, -or
person who
painter, director,
teacher
Top 5 Suffixes
suffix
meaning
example
-s, -es
plurals (more than
one)
cats, dishes
-ed
past-tense verbs
landed, smelled,
wished
-ing
verb form happening right
now
Laughing
-ly
characteristic of
gladly
-er, -or
person who
painter, director,
teacher
How the meaning changes…
If you can understand what the word read
means, you can figure out what reread
means. Re- means to do again, so reread
means to read again.
If you can understand what jump means, you
can figure out what jumped means. -ed
means it happened in the past, so someone
must have jumped in the past.
Now…
Go back to the website and follow the
directions.