Prefixes

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Prefixes

Take a look at these examples

legal                    illegal

wanted              unwanted

regular               irregular

literate               illiterate

What's the difference between the words?

The difference is

word                  it's opposite

legal                    illegal

wanted              unwanted
regular               irregular
literate               illiterate

Another difference is

no prefix          prefix

legal                    illegal

wanted              unwanted
regular               irregular

literate               illiterate

So what do they do?

Prefixes

Prefixes (voorzetsels) change the meaning of a word. We do the same in Dutch:

legaal > illegaal

gewild > ongewild

regelmatig > onregelmatig

alfabeet > analfabeet

Are there any rules?

Not really. You can only study prefixes by studying the words they belong to. Sometimes it is easy, because you already know a lot of them. Sometimes you have to look them up in a dictionary.

Are there any rules?

There are minor rules for spelling though.

ir- is always followed by an r

im- is always followed by an m or p

a- is always followed by a consonant (medeklinker)

This does not work the other way around.

Also remember

Not every word with a prefix is negative:

alike (the same)

discuss

universe

illuminate

important

involve

Which is the correct opposite of honest?

1. unhonest
2. ilhonest
3. dishonest
4. mishonest

Which is the correct opposite of reliable?

1. irreliable
2. unreliable
3. disreliable
4. inreliable

Which is the correct opposite of agree?

1. misagree
2. unagree
3. iragree
4. disagree

For now

Continue working on your weektask and/or your presentation.

If you want to see more examples of negative words with prefixes:

https://www.lawlessenglish.com/learn-english/grammar/negative-prefixes/