What is Prefix? Prefixes List and Examples

What is Prefix? Prefixes List and Examples

Prefixes

Prefixes, consisting of syllables or syllables added to the beginning of a word or the root of a word, to change the meaning of another word, enable English-speaking people to create new words and make these newly created words easy to understand. Learning these prefixes, which make English quite colorful and somewhat complex, helps you learn new words. For this reason, you should learn these prefixes and the meanings they add to the sentence.

A Few Prefixes That Make the Main Word Negative

Some of the prefixes can make the sentence more negative, removing it from its original form altogether. You can make some mistakes in understanding the words you will hear without knowing the meanings of these prefixes and being aware of their existence. To understand English better, you should learn the prefixes that make words negative. These prefixes, their meanings, and examples can be listed as follows:

• The prefix “a-” expresses the lack or absence of something. The word atheist is a good example of this.
• The prefix “ab-” means something has been deleted or is remote. Let’s take the word abnormal as an example.
• The prefix “an-” has the same meaning as the prefix “a-” and makes a word negative. An example of this is the word anaerobic.
• The prefix “anti-” turns a word into an opposite. For example, antisocial.
• We can turn a word into an opposite word with the prefix “contra-“, we can give the word contraindicated as an example of this prefix.
• The prefix “counter-” also means the same as the prefix “anti-” and the prefix “contra-“, an example of this prefix is ​​counter-attack.
• The prefix “de-” is used to undo something and not have done it. Deactivate is an example.

• The prefix “dis-” is used to delete, undo or separate something. An example of this prefix is ​​the word disconnect.
• The prefix “ex-” is often used for people who used to be in your life for a reason in the past, for example, ex-wife.
• The prefix “il-” expresses that something is not like that, that something does not exist or that it is lacking. An example of this is illegal.
• The prefix “im-” has the same meaning as the prefix “il-“, an example of this prefix is ​​impossible.
• The prefix “in-” has the same meaning as the prefixes “il-” and “im-“. For example, we can say injustice.
• The prefix “non-” also means the same as the prefixes above and indicates that something is not happening. For example, we can say nonfiction.

What Are the Most Commonly Used Prefixes in English?

To answer this question briefly, we can state that the prefixes “ante-, auto-, circum-, co-, com-, con-, en- and exo-” are used very often. In addition to these prefixes, the prefixes “-extra, hetero-, homo-, hyper-, inter-, mega-, micro-, and mid-” are also used very often. The most frequently used prefixes are “mis-, mono-, over-, post-, pre-, re-, semi-, sub- and trans-”. By using these prefixes, you can add a new color to the words you learn in English.