PE-89: Word Formation: Prefixes and Suffixes
How one word becomes six — the prefixes that reverse meaning and the suffixes that change a word's job. The fastest way to grow your vocabulary.
PE-89: Word Formation: Prefixes and Suffixes
Learn the word care and you have learned one word. Learn how English builds on it and you get six: careful, carefully, careless, carelessly, carelessness, uncaring. This is word formation, and it is by far the fastest way to grow your vocabulary — not by memorising more words, but by understanding how the ones you know can be reshaped.
In this lesson you will learn
- The prefixes that reverse or change meaning
- The suffixes that turn a word into a noun, adjective, verb or adverb
- How to build a whole word family from one root
- Why this is the best trick for exams
1. Prefixes that mean "not"
| Prefix | Used before | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un- | the commonest one | unhappy, unfair, unusual, unable |
| in- | many Latin words | incorrect, invisible, informal |
| im- | before m and p | impossible, impatient, impolite |
| ir- | before r | irregular, irresponsible |
| il- | before l | illegal, illogical |
| dis- | reversing an action | disagree, dishonest, disappear |
| non- | neutral "not" | non-stop, non-smoking |
2. Other useful prefixes
1re- = again
rewrite, rebuild, return, repeat
2mis- = wrongly
misunderstand, misspell, mistake
3over- / under-
overcook, oversleep · underpaid, underestimate
4pre- / post-
preview, prepare · postpone, postgraduate
I misunderstood the question, so I had to rewrite my answer. It was impossible to finish, and I felt unhappy.
Savolni notoʻgʻri tushundim, shuning uchun javobimni qaytadan yozishga toʻgʻri keldi. Tugatish imkonsiz edi va oʻzimni yomon his qildim.
3. Suffixes change the word's job
| To make a… | Suffixes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| noun (thing/idea) | -ment, -tion, -ness, -ity, -ance | development, education, happiness, ability |
| noun (person) | -er, -or, -ist, -ian | teacher, actor, scientist, musician |
| adjective | -ful, -less, -able, -ive, -ous, -al | useful, useless, comfortable, creative |
| verb | -ise / -ize, -en, -ify | modernise, widen, simplify |
| adverb | -ly | quickly, carefully, happily |
She is a scientist. Her scientific work is very creative, and she works carefully.
U olim. Uning ilmiy ishi juda ijodiy va u sinchkovlik bilan ishlaydi.
4. Building a whole family
Take one root and walk around it. This is the single best exercise for vocabulary growth.
| Verb | Noun (thing) | Noun (person) | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| to educate | education | educator | educational | educationally |
| to succeed | success | — | successful | successfully |
| to decide | decision | — | decisive | decisively |
| to care | care | carer | careful / careless | carefully |
| to differ | difference | — | different | differently |
5. The -ly trap: adverbs that misbehave
Most adverbs simply add -ly, but a few important ones do not — and one pair changes meaning completely.
| Adjective | Adverb | Note |
|---|---|---|
| good | well | not |
| fast | fast | no change |
| hard | hard | works hard |
| — | hardly | = almost not! |
| late | late | arrived late |
| — | lately | = recently |
He works hard. (a lot of effort) — He hardly works. (almost never!)
U qattiq ishlaydi. — U deyarli ishlamaydi.
One -ly reverses the whole meaning. Be careful with this pair.
6. Which form does the sentence need?
- Before a noun → an adjective: a successful student.
- After a verb, describing how → an adverb: She sang beautifully.
- After the / a / an, or as the subject → a noun: The decision was hard.
- After am/is/are/was → usually an adjective: He is careful.
Her decision was surprising, but she explained it clearly and everybody accepted it.
Uning qarori hayratlanarli edi, lekin u buni aniq tushuntirdi va hamma qabul qildi.
7. Common mistakes
He is a very success businessman.
He is a very successful businessman.
She speaks English very good.
She speaks English very well. (adverb)
It's unpossible to finish today.
It's impossible to finish today.
The different between them is big.
The difference between them is big.
I disagree with your decide.
I disagree with your decision.
Practice
1 Make the opposite: possible · legal · regular · honest · usual
Show answer
impossible · illegal · irregular · dishonest · unusual.
Notice how the prefix copies the first letter in impossible, illegal, irregular.
2 Complete: She won the competition. It was a great ?. (succeed)
Show answer
success — after a great a noun is needed.
3 Complete: He explained it very ?. (clear)
Show answer
clearly — it describes how he explained, so an adverb is needed.
4 Build the family: care → noun, two adjectives, adverb.
Show answer
care · careful / careless · carefully. Also carer (person) and carelessness.
5 What does each prefix add? rewrite · misspell · oversleep
Show answer
re- = again · mis- = wrongly · over- = too much. So: write it again, spell it wrongly, sleep too long.
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Word formationsoʻz yasalishi
- Prefixoldingi qoʻshimcha
- Suffixkeyingi qoʻshimcha
- Rootoʻzak
- Word familysoʻz oilasi
- To reverseteskari qilmoq
- To misunderstandnotoʻgʻri tushunmoq
- To oversleepuxlab qolmoq
- Successfulmuvaffaqiyatli
- Decisionqaror
🎯 Remember this
- Prefixes change meaning: un-, in-, im-, ir-, il-, dis-, re-, mis-, over-.
- im-/ir-/il- copy the first letter: impossible, irregular, illegal.
- Suffixes change the job: -tion/-ment noun · -ful/-less adjective · -ly adverb.
- Learn every new word with its whole family.
- Check the slot: before a noun → adjective; after a verb → adverb.