PREFIXES and
SUFFIXES
And Understanding our
ROOTS
Root
• The element that carries the main
component of meaning in a word and
provides the basis from which a word is
derived by adding affixes*; the form of a
word after all affixes are removed
*To place at the end or beginning
Pretending
Prefix
•
•
To put or attach before or in front
of.
To settle or arrange in advance.
Preclude*
*root word meaning to close
Suffix
• An affix added to the end of a word
or stem, serving to form a new word
or a functional ending, such as
-ness in gentleness, -ing in walking,
or -s in sits.
thankful
Procession
• ion – the act of
• cess – to go
• pro – for, forward
–pro (forward) cess (going)
ion (the act of)
Meaning? The act of moving along or
forward; progression
• Many of the words in the English
language have three parts: a prefix, a
root, and a suffix.
• If you learn some prefixes, some roots,
and a few suffixes, you can multiply
your vocabulary rather than merely
add to it word by word.
• You might benefit more from
memorizing a hundred roots and how
to use them than from memorizing five
thousand individual words.
• Of the more than six hundred thousand
words in our language, almost half
come from about eight hundred roots.
• The two ancient languages that
provide the roots for many of our
words are Latin and Greek. Ten
Latin verbs provide roots for more
than two thousand of our words.
ROOTS FOR ENGLISH WORDS LATIN VERB
MEANING
1. cap-(cip-) capt-(cept-) capio take, seize
2. duct- duc- duco lead
3. fac-(fic-)fact-(fect-) facio do, make
4. fer- lat- fero carry, bear
5. mit- mitt- miss- mitto send
6. -plica- plicat-(plect-)(plex-) plico fold
7. pon- posit- pono place, put
8. tend- tent- tendo stretch
9. tene- tent- teneo have, hold
10. spec-(spic-)speci- spect- specio observe, see
Inconceivable
• Prefixes
– In – not
– Con - with
Root
- Ceiv - take
Suffix
-able – able to be
1.Receive
2.Conceive
3.Conceivability
Inconceivable adj. – impossible to
comprehend or grasp fully