Affixes

Affixes

By Raul Amatto

What are affixes?

Definition

It is an additional element placed at the beginning or end of a root, stem, or word, or in the body of a word, to modify its meaning.

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Root: the elemental part of a word.​

Examples

They can be used at the end, known as suffixes

danger -> dangerous

poison -> poisonous​

reason -> reasonable

afford -> affordable

​

adventure -> adventurous

help -> helpful​

use -> useful

afford -> affordable

​

They can be used before the word, known as prefixes

patient -> impatient

moral -> immoral

experienced -> inexperienced

tolerant -> intolerant

regular -> irregular

relevant -> irrelevant

​

satisfied -> dissatisfied

obedient -> disobedient

lucky -> unlucky

reliable -> unreliable

​

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Verbs into nouns

winner

boxer

listener

organizer

player

runner​

spectator

competitor

participant

rider

contestant

flyer​

Making the opposite:

​unlucky

​unconcerned

​incompetent

illegal​

​immodest

imperfect

​irrelevant

​irresponsible

dishonest

disobedient

Adding information to the root:

​undercook

​microelectronics

​overeat

misspell

prehistoric

postgraduate

rewrite

ex-wife

hypermarket

extraterrestrial

​

Exam relevance:

The use of affixes can define a word, its meaning and how a whole sentence/ paragraph can be understood. Besides it can be found in the Word formation part.

Time to work!

For the following sentences consider:

• The word required to complete the sentence.

• How is that word connecting with the rest of the sentence. (Which word is modified or affected by it)

• The meaning and coherence of the sentence (affirmative, negative, etc.)

• The tense required (past, present particle, etc.)

Fill in the Blanks

Most of what you've written in your answer has nothing to do with the question and is therefore

. (RELEVANT)

Fill in the Blanks

There was some

about who should be captain and it took quite a while to reach a decision. (AGREE)

Fill in the Blanks

You obviously

when I set the homework. (UNDERSTAND)

Fill in the Blanks

He claimed he had won the lottery, but most people who knew him suspected he had obtained the money

. (HONEST)

Fill in the Blanks

Derek is so

. You can never trust him to arrive on time for anything. (RELY)

Fill in the Blanks

His childish and

behaviour often gets him into trouble at school. (MATURE)

Fill in the Blanks

I keep telling you you're

; those trousers are far too tight for you now! (WEIGH)

Fill in the Blanks

The potatoes are

; you should have boiled them for a bit longer. (COOK)

Fill in the Blanks

The parents, who had left the two young children alone in the house, were accused of behaving

. (RESPONSIBLE)

Fill in the Blanks

He always asks me what I think he should do. He seems

of making his own decisions. (CAPABLE)