This document discusses prefixes, suffixes, and roots and how understanding their meanings can help with comprehending unknown words. It provides examples of common prefixes like "dis", "ex", and "super" and suffixes like "-able", "-ive", and "-less". Root words are the base form of a word and may come from Latin or Greek. Knowing the meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and roots allows readers to better understand words even if they contain an unfamiliar affix or root.

1. Prefixes, suffixes, and roots

2. Prefixes are a part of a word placed
at the beginning of a root word to
change the root word’s meaning.
 Knowing the meaning of a prefix can help you understand
or guess the meaning of an unknown word.
 Sample prefixes are:
Dis discover, disembark, dislike
Ex explore, exasperate, explain
Super supernova, superhero, superstar
Extra extraordinary, extraterrestrial, extraneous
Ab abnormal, abscent, abscond

3. Suffixes are a part of a word placed
at the end of a root word to change
the root word’s meaning.
 Knowing the meaning of a suffix can help you
understand or guess the meaning of an unknown
word.
 Sample suffixes are:
-Able debatable, relatable, despicable
-Ive active, talkative, expressive
-less painless, heartless, speechless
-logy biology, geology, astrology

4. Root words are the smallest form of
the word that still has meaning
 Knowing the meaning of a root word can help you understand the
whole word, even if there is an unknown prefix or suffix
 Sometimes root words do not look like a whole word because they
come from Latin or Greek words, for example:
 Cand – which means glowing or iridescent
Examples are: candle or candid
 fac, fact, fic, fect, fy all mean “to do” or “to make”
Factory, fiction, affect, nullify
 Others are easier to see:
 Comfort
 Happy
 Path
 photo

5. Words with all three parts – a prefix,
root, and suffix
 Some words have a prefix, a root word, and a suffix. For example:
uncomfortable
 Can you identify the root word by separating the word from its
prefix and suffix?
 Your answer should be “Comfort.”
Un comfort able
Un happ(i) ness
em path y
Un photo genic

6. The more prefixes, suffixes, and roots
you know, the greater your vocabulary
 Knowing the meaning of a prefix, suffix, or root word helps
you understand unknown words such as:
 Abscond
 The prefix ab means away from, so the word abscond
must mean?
Abscond means to run away
 Tactless
 The suffix less means “without,” so the word tactless
must mean?
Tactless means without sensitivity
 Geo
 The root “geo” mean earth