Hic… what does “prefix” mean?

What is “unhappy”? Am I

unhappy if I don’t understand

the lesson?

PREFIXESprefix :a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning Egg: happy ≠ unhappy productive ≠ unproductive possible ≠ impossible

un, = not

Don’t worry!!!

Formation: prefix + Noun/Verb/Adjective

Notes

• Prefixes are often used to give adjectives a negative meaning. Forposite of comfortable is “ uncomfortable”…

• Unfortunately, there is no easy way of knowing which prefix any adj will use to form its opposite learn by heart

• In- becomes - before a root beginning with “m” or “p”, eg: impartial, immature.

• In- becomes ir- before a word beginning with “r”, and il- before a word beginning with “l”, eg: irreplaceable, illegal…

Examples:

• She is not happy= She is unhappy

• He is not loyal because he betrayed his companion = He is disloyal because….

• They are not responsible for their work= They are irresponsible for their work

Some common prefixes:

• Un- : unlucky, unemployable…

• In- : indirect, indefinite…

• Im- : impossible, immature, impossibility…

• Dis- : discourage, disloyal, disadvantage…

• Ir- : irresponsible, irregular, irresponsibility…

Some other prefixes:

Prefix meaning examples

Anti against anti-war antisocial

bi two, twice bicycle bilingual

Ex former ex-wife ex-president

Post after postwar postgraduate

Mis badly/wrongly misunderstand mistranslate

Over too much overdo oversleep

Under not enough underestimate underworked

Wowww… I’m not unhappy anymore

because I can understand what prefix

means!!!