Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes are letters that we add to words. Both prefixes and suffixes are grammatical elements that belong to a group of words called affixes. Affixes sometimes seem like a crazy code. Indeed, they are like a code based on ancient Latin and Greek.

The word affix means in addition to. When they are combined with words or roots they produce new words with different meanings.

Examples:

root: happy

prefix: unhappy

suffix: happily

If we learn the meaning of the most common affixes we can understand the code. We can make good guesses even we don’t know the meaning of a word based on the part we recognize.

You will be able to understand thousands of English words if you know the most common Latin and Greek roots and affixes.

Knowing roots and affixes is very handy when we have to learn vocabulary related to Science, Math and Business.

Examples of common Greek and Latin roots and affixes:

Root/affix	Language	Translation	Example
anti	Greek	against	antibacterial
astro	Greek	star	astronaut
bene	Latin	good	benefit
bi	Greek	two	biweekly
bio	Greek	life	biodiversity
chron	Greek	time	chronometer
cosm	Greek	world	cosmos
cracy	Greek	government	Democracy
cycl	Greek	circle, wheel	bicycle
dem	Greek	people	democracy
dict	Latin	say	dictate
geo	Greek	Earth	Geology
gen	Latin	birth	Genesis
mech	Greek	machine	Mechanic
mis	Latin	send	missile
ology	Greek	study	Geology
phon	Greek	sound	telephone
port	Latin	carry	portable
pyro	Greek	fire	pyrotechnics
scope	Greek	see	Telescope
terr	Latin	Earth	terrestrial
vis	Latin	See	visible

Practice time

1. Based on the following words, what do you think the root “aud” might mean? audible, auditorium, audience
2. If “scope” means to see, would you expect a spectroscope to measure light or to measure sound?
3. Can an affix appear at the end of a word? Why?
4. Think of other words that contain the root “cycle“
5. Create one new word using the roots and affixes from the table. Write down its meaning.

Share your answers in the comments below.