Prefixes, Suffix Root
The Automobile of the
WORD
They are our friend.
Definition of Prefix
 A prefix is a group of letters that appears at the
front of a word. A prefix affects the meaning of the
root (base) word to which it is attached. To
determine whether or not a group of letters is a
prefix, remove them from the word. The letters are a
prefix if a known word remains. For exam- ple,
remove the letters un from the following words:
unhappy, untie, uncle, uninterested. In which word are
the letters un not a prefix? Yes, these let- ters are not
a prefix in the word uncle.
Be AWARE
 1. Most prefixes have more than one meaning. For
example, the prefix un can mean “not” as in unhappy, or
“do the opposite of” as in untie. Teach the multiple
meanings of the most com- mon prefixes, and use careful
language during lessons such as, “the prefix un
sometimes means not.”
 2. Be careful of letter clusters that look like pre- fixes, but
aren’t. For example, when the letters un are removed
from uncle, no recognizable root word is left. In addition,
when the letters in are removed from invented, the word
that remains has no relation to the whole word. The
prefixes that cause the most difficulty are re, in, and dis.
One more thing
 3. Don’t rely solely on word-part clues to determine meaning. Use context clues as well to verify a word’s meaning. For example, you might
think the word unassuming means “not assuming/not supposing” instead of its actual meaning
“modest.” It is estimated that about 15 to 20% of the
prefixed words stu- dents will encounter share this
complexity (White et al., 1989).
Most used prefixeswrite in GRAMMAR
FIND PREFIXES
 Go to your novel and find prefixes
 Write a list or words that you find with prefixes
under the definition list or table you copied, FIND
at least 6…
 Write down what you think the word means based
on the prefix definition table you wrote
SPOKES
 Take the wheel copy that Mrs. Albright gave you.
 Divide it into 6 sections.
 Each person in class will pick a different prefix which
will go in the middle circle on your wheel.
 Each spoke will have a word that is from that prefix
 Watch out for words that might contain your prefix but it
is a word and not a prefix-root word situation.
 Mrs. Albright will model the prefix un.
 This is due tomorrow. If you don’t get done- it is
homework.
Continue another wheel
 Write the most common suffix in your notebook
along with prefix list.
 After you are done with your list, make another
wheel with suffix That is the part of the word that
is on the end. Like the word teacher. ER is the suffix.
Er means “one who” so teacher is one who teaches.
Suffix
Suffix
-acy
-al
-ance, -ence
-dom
-er, -or
-ism
-ist
-ity, -ty
-ment
-ness
-ship
-sion, -tion
Noun Suffixes
Meaning
Example
state or quality
privacy
act or process of
refusal
state or quality of
maintenance, eminence
place or state of being
freedom, kingdom
one who
trainer, protector
doctrine, belief
communism
one who
chemist
quality of
veracity
condition of
argument
state of being
heaviness
position held
fellowship
state of being
concession, transition
-ate
-en
-ify, -fy
-ize, -ise
become
become
make or become
become
-able, -ible
-al
-esque
-ful
-ic, -ical
-ious, -ous
-ish
-ive
-less
-y
Adjective Suffixes
capable of being
edible, presentable
pertaining to
regional
reminiscent of
picturesque
notable for
fanciful
pertaining to
musical, mythic
characterized by
nutritious, portentous
having the quality of
fiendish
having the nature of
creative
without
endless
characterized by
sleazy
Verb Suffixes
eradicate
enlighten
terrify
civilize
ROOTS
 Root words are the base of the word.
 A root word is the main part of a word that contains its
core meaning. Sometimes it is a word on its own, as in
unbelievable (believe is the root word), and sometimes it
cannot stand alone, as in relocation (loc is the root word).
In either case, prefixes and suffixes can be added to root
words, which might change either the meaning of the
word (reactivate, deactivate) or its grammatical function
(transports = present tense, transported = past tense,
transportation = noun). Sometimes spelling changes when
suffixes are added to root words (noise, noisy).
The base of your car is
your root word
 Put 6 root words as the base of the car
 The wheels are the prefix and suffix
 This makes up your car named WORD