Prefix suffix

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Prefix and suffix

Lesson goals

In this lesson you will learn...

1. the meaning of prefixes and suffixes

2. a wide variety of prefixes and suffixes

3. rules about when to use prefixes and suffixes

Take a look at these examples

legal                    illegal

wanted              unwanted

regular               irregular

literate               illiterate

What's the difference between the words?

The difference is

base word        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 change the meaning of a word. We do the same in Dutch:

legaal > illegaal

gewild > ongewild

regelmatig > onregelmatig

alfabeet > analfabeet

What does Prefix mean?

A prefix is when you add a meaningful element before the base form of a word:

wise      unwise

obey        disobey

smoker             non-smoker

complete       incomplete

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.

But there must be some 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)

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

Which is the correct opposite of behave?

1. Disbehave
2. Misbehave
3. Unbehave
4. Desbehave

Which is the correct opposite of understand?

1. Ununderstand
2. Misunderstand
3. Disunderstand
4. Irunderstand

Which is the correct opposite of possible?

1. Mispossible
2. Irpossible
3. Impossible
4. Dispossible

Which is the correct opposite of sense?

1. Missense
2. Dissense
3. Irsense
4. Nonsense

prefix... suffix....easy peasy!

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Let's get to work!

Unit 1 Lesson 2: ex. 13 + 14 + 15 (page 23)

= Homework

Done? Do Lesson 3. ex 2 + 3 (page 26)