Thirty (30) root words, prefixes and suffixes provide the basis for more than
14,000 commonly used words in the English language!
Root, Prefix, Suffix
Ab
Ad
Co, con, com, col, cor
De
Dis
Ex
In,im,il.ir
Pre
Pro
Re
Un
Able
Ance, ence, ancy, ency
Er, or
Ful
less
Ly
Ment
Tion, sion, xion
Phon
Tele
Meter
Cap
Audio
Vid,vis
Spect
Inter
Sub
Mis
Trans
Tenere
Mittere
Facere
scribere
Meaning
Away from
To, toward
Together, with
Away, down, out of
Not, opposite
Out of, formerly
In, not
Before
Forward
Back, again
Not, opposite
Capable of, worthy of
Act or fact of doing, state, quality
Person or thing connected with,
agent
Full of, abounding in
Without, free from
Like, characteristic of
State of, quality of
Action, state result
Sound, speech
distance
Measure
To seize, take or contain
To hear
To see or look at
To observe, watch
Between
Under
Wrong
Across or beyond
To have, hold
To send, launch
To do, make
To write
Examples
Absolve, absent
Adhere, advent
Collaborate, congregate
Depose, deposit
Disagreeable, disappointing
Exhausted, expatriate
Imbedded, illegible
Prehistoric, presume
Proactive, productive
Reunite, revisit
Unworthy, unreal
Possible, culpable
Innocence, dependency
Thinker, surveyor
Thoughtful, bountiful
Shameless, homeless
Quietly, humbly
Excitement, enjoyment
Realization, apprehension
phonology, phonograph
Telepathy, telemarketer
Barometer, metrics
Capitalize, incapacitate
Inaudible, audience
Video, invisible
Inspect, spectator
Interview, interval
Submarine, sub par
Misguided, misaligned
entrance, transcribe
Tenacious, tenant
Missile, message
Manufacture, artifact
Scribble, script
Source: The Threads of Reading: Strategies for Literacy Development, K. Tankersley (2003)