Identify: Prefix, Suffix, & Root word
Impatient
Adventurous
Reread
Benefit
Biology
Solidify
Im patient
[not]-patient
Re read
[again]-read
Bio logy
[life]-[the study of]
Adventur ous
adventure-[characterized by]
Bene fit
[good/well]- [condition]
Solid ify
[not gas or liquid]-[to make/to form
into]
Prefixes, Suffixes, & Root
Words
Root Words
 Most originate from Latin and Greek
 Serve as the basis for a new word, and often
cannot stand alone
love + -ly = lovely
vs.
bene + volent = benevolent
“bene”= Latin for good
Common Latin Roots
Latin Root
ambi
aqua
aud
bene
cent
circum
contra/counter
dict
duc/duct
fac
form
fort
fract
ject
jud
Definition
both
water
to hear
good
one hundred
around
against
to say
to lead
to do; to make
shape
strength
to break
throw
judge
Examples
ambiguous, ambidextrous
aquarium, aquamarine
audience, audition
benefactor, benevolent
century, percent
circumference, circumstance
contradict, encounter
dictation, dictator
conduct, induce
factory, manufacture
conform, reform
fortitude, fortress
fracture, fraction
projection, rejection
judicial, prejudice
Common Greek Roots
Greek Root
Definition
Examples
anthropo
man; human;
anthropologist, philanthropy
humanity
auto
self
autobiography, automobile
bio
life
biology, biography
chron
time
chronological, chronic
dyna
power
dynamic, dynamite
dys
bad; hard;
dysfunctional, dyslexic
unlucky
gram
thing written epigram, telegram
graph
writing
graphic, phonograph
hetero
different
heteronym, heterogeneous
homo
same
homonym, homogenous
hydr
water
hydration, dehydrate
hypo
below;
hypothermia, hypothetical
beneath
logy
study of
biology, psychology
meter/metr
measure
thermometer, perimeter
micro
small
microbe, microscope
Prefix
 A letter or group of letters that is added at
the beginning of a word to change its
meaning
A Few Common Prefixes
 anti- = opposing, against -- ex. antibiotic
 pre- = before in time/place/order– ex. preface, prelude
 un- = not or reversal–- ex. unacceptable, unhappy,
unplug
 re- = again – ex. repaint, redo, reread, repeat
 in-/il-/im- = not, without – ex. inappropriate, illegal,
impossible
 de- = down, reduce – ex. descend, despair, deduct
Suffix
 A group of letters placed at the end of a word to
make a new word. A suffix can make a new word in
one of two ways:
 Inflectional: the suffix can change a word from
singular to plural or can change the tense:
dog  dogs
or
walk  walked
 Derivational: creates new meaning, new word is
“derived” from original word:
teach  teacher
or
care  careful
Common Inflectional Suffixes
 -s = plural – dog  dogs
 -en = plural (irregular) – ox  oxen
 -ing = present tense – sleep  sleeping
 -ed = past tense – work  worked
 -er = comparative – big  bigger
 -est = superlative – big  biggest
Common Derivational Suffixes
 -er = changes to noun – teach  teacher
 -ation = changes to noun – explore  exploration
 -ness = changes to noun – sad  sadness
 -ary = changes to adjective – imagine  imaginary
 -y = changes to adjective – ease  easy
 -ly = changes to adverb – helpful  helpfully
 -ize = changes to verb – terror  terrorize
So, why do we need to know this?
 Breaking down words can help us understand word
meanings
 Prefix, suffix, and root word knowledge can be as
helpful as using context clues