2. WHAT ARE THESE?
PREFIXES ARE LETTERS WHICH WE ADD TO THE BEGINNING OF A WORD TO MAKE A
NEW WORD WITH A DIFFERENT MEANING. PREFIXES CAN, FOR EXAMPLE, CREATE A
NEW WORD OPPOSITE IN MEANING TO THE WORD THE PREFIX IS ATTACHED TO.
THEY CAN ALSO MAKE A WORD NEGATIVE OR EXPRESS RELATIONS OF TIME, PLACE
OR MANNER. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
3. THERE ARE FOUR COMMON PREFIXES
PREFIXE SPANISH EXAMPLE
DIS- NO DISINTEGRATE
IL-, IM-, IN-, IR NO, SIN IMPOTENT, IRREGULAR
RE- OTRA VEZ REUSE
UN- NO UNHELPFUL
4. • PREFIXE IT REFERS TO SOMETHING OLD, ABOVE. USUALLY IT IS FOLLOWED
BY A HYPHEN.
• WIFE / EX-WIFE
• BOYFRIEND / EX-BOYFRIEND
• PREFIXE DENOTES COMPANY, COAUTHORED.
• STARRING/CO-STARRING
• PRODUCER/CO-PRODUCER
5. • PREFIXE IT MEANS DENIAL. WIDELY USED FOR ADJECTIVES AND
NOUNS (NOUNS) ENDING IN TY (DAD):
• -ADEQUATE/INADEQUATE
• -DIRECT/INDIRECT
• PREFIIXE IT IMPLIES RELATION TO BIOLOGY
• -CHEMISTRY/BIOCHEMISTRY
• -WEPONS/BIOWEPONS
• PREFIXE DO SOMETHING WRONG.
• -REPRESENT/MISREPRESENT
• -PRINT/MISPRINT
• PREFIXE IT MEANS BELOW, LOW. IT HAS THE SAME MEANING AS
THE UNDER PREFIX:
• -MARINE/SUBMARINE
• -WAY/SUBWAY
6. • PREFIXE MEANS AGAIN, RETURN OR REPETITION OF AN ACTION.
RE PRESENTS ACCOMPANYING VERBS.
• -DIRECT/REDIRECT
• -COME/RECOME
• PREFIXE TYPE CAUSE DENIAL CONTRARY TO THAT INDICATED BY
THE ROOT OF THE WORD. IT MEANS IN, ANTI SHORTLY. IT APPLIES TO
ADJECTIVES, NOUNS AND VERBS.
• -EQUAL/UNEQUAL
• -HAPPY/UNHAPPY
• -FAITHFUL/UNFAITHFUL
• PREFIXE PRECEDES NOUNS AND MEANS BEFORE
• MARITAL/PREMARIAL
• -HISTORIC/PREHISTORIC
• PREFIXE DENIAL THAT MEANS THE OPPOSITE, WITHOUT, IN:
• -POSSIBLE/IMPOSSIBLE
• -MATERIAL/IMMATERIAL
7. PREFIXE “SEMI”
CIRCLE/SEMICIRCLE=
CÍRCULO/SEMÍCIRCULO
-FINAL/SEMIFINAL = FINAL/SEMIFINAL
PREFIXE “UNDER”
IT MEANS SWEAT LESS UNDER
-
PRODUCTION/UNDERPRODUCTI
ON =
PRODUCCIÓN/SUBPRODUCCIÓN
-DEVELOPED/UNDERDEVELOPED
=
DESARROLLADO/SUBDESARROLL
ADO
PREFIXE “IL”
• LEGAL/ILLEGAL = LEGAL/ILEGAL
• LEGITIMATE/ILLEGITIMATE =
LEGÍTIMO/ILEGÍTIMO
8. EXAMPLES WITH SENTENCES.
• PRE- = BEFORE
• PREPAID – “I BOUGHT A PREPAID PHONE CARD WITH $20 WORTH OF CREDIT.”
• PREDICT – “I PREDICT THAT BRAZIL WILL WIN THE NEXT WORLD CUP.”
• PREVENT – “SEAT BELTS CAN PREVENT SERIOUS INJURIES IF YOU GET INTO A CAR
ACCIDENT.”
• POST- = AFTER
• POSTGRADUATE – “THERE ARE 200 STUDENTS IN THE POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM IN
MARKETING.”
• POSTWAR – “THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY STRUGGLED DURING THE POSTWAR
PERIOD.”
9. MULTI- = MANY
• MULTICULTURAL – “OUR GROUP OF FRIENDS IS QUITE
MULTICULTURAL – WE KNOW PEOPLE FROM FIVE CONTINENTS.”
• MULTIMILLIONAIRE – “HE STARTED A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS AND
BECAME A MULTIMILLIONAIRE.”
MONO- = ONE
• MONOPOLIZE – (ONLY ONE PERSON OR ENTITY HAVING CONTROL OF
SOMETHING): “THAT COMPANY IS TRYING TO MONOPOLIZE THE
MARKET BY SIGNING EXCLUSIVITY CONTRACTS WITH DISTRIBUTORS.”
• MONOLOGUE – (ONLY ONE PERSON TALKING): “MY FRIEND LAUNCHED
INTO A 15-MINUTE MONOLOGUE ABOUT WHAT SHE THINKS OF THE
NEW PRESIDENT.”
10. SUPER- = EXTRA, EXTREME, OVER, ABOVE
• SUPERMODEL – (A REALLY FAMOUS, HIGHLY-PAID MODEL): “GISELE BÜNDCHEN IS A
BRAZILIAN SUPERMODEL.”
• SUPERCOMPUTER – (AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL COMPUTER): “NASA’S
SUPERCOMPUTERS CONTROL THE ROCKET LAUNCH.”
• IMPOSSIBLE
• IMPLAUSIBLE
• IMPERFECT
BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN P WORDS WHOSE OPPOSITE IS PREFIXED WITH UN,
SUCH AS:
• UNPOLLUTED
• UNPOLISHED
THE PREFIX UN IS COMMONLY USED TO NEGATE A
WORD, BUT IS QUITE RARE WITH WORDS THAT
START WITH THE LETTER P; THE PREFIX IM SEEMS
MORE COMMON. FOR EXAMPLE:
