Prefixes and Suffixes: Meanings, Examples and Word Building
Prefixes and suffixes are word parts that attach to a base word to change its meaning. This guide gives a list of common prefixes with their meanings, shows how the two kinds of parts work together, and ends with an anchor chart and games for the classroom.
What are prefixes and suffixes
A prefix goes at the front of a base word, and a suffix goes at the end. Neither one can stand alone as a word. Each one carries a small piece of meaning, and learning the prefixes and suffixes meaning one piece at a time lets a reader who knows the pieces can work out many new words without a dictionary.
- A prefix comes before the base word: re + play makes replay.
- A suffix comes after the base word: play + ful makes playful.
- The base word is the part that carries the main meaning: play.
A prefix usually changes the meaning of a word, and it does not change the word’s part of speech. Happy and unhappy are both adjectives. A suffix, on the other hand, often changes the part of speech. Care is a noun or a verb, and careful is an adjective. This is the biggest difference between the two, and it is worth putting on the board early.
Together they are called affixes. Students do not need that word right away, but it helps when a reading program or a test uses it.
Common prefixes and their meanings
This list covers the first half of the common prefixes and suffixes that students meet most often: the prefixes. Each one has a meaning and two words that use it.
- un- means not or the opposite of: unfair, undo
- re- means again: replay, rewrite
- pre- means before: preview, preheat
- dis- means not or the opposite of: disagree, dislike
- mis- means wrongly: misspell, misread
- non- means not: nonfiction, nonstop
- over- means too much: overcook, overgrown
- under- means too little or below: underpay, underground
- sub- means below or under: subway, submarine
- inter- means between: interact, interstate
- anti- means against: antifreeze, antisocial
- de- means remove or reverse: defrost, decode
- fore- means before or in front: forecast, forehead
- mid- means middle: midday, midway
- semi- means half or partly: semicircle, semifinal
- trans- means across: transport, transfer
- bi- means two: bicycle, bilingual
- tri- means three: triangle, tricycle
- uni- means one: unicycle, unite
The prefix un- appears in this list and also appears in the word uncle. That is a good place to remind students that not every word beginning with these letters has the prefix. We come back to this below.
The prefix that changes spelling: in-
The prefix in-, meaning not, has a few forms. It changes to match the first letter of the base word so the word is easier to say.
- in- before most letters: inactive, incorrect
- im- before b, m and p: impossible, immobile
- il- before l: illegal, illogical
- ir- before r: irregular, irresponsible
All four mean not. The base word does not change: possible, mobile, legal and regular are all spelled the way they normally are.
Prefixes do not change the spelling of the base word
When a prefix is added, the base word keeps every one of its letters. This is why some words end up with a double letter in the middle. The doubled letter is not a spelling rule, just the end of the prefix meeting the start of the base word.
- un + necessary = unnecessary (two n’s)
- mis + spell = misspell (two s’s)
- dis + satisfied = dissatisfied (two s’s)
- im + mature = immature (two m’s)
- ir + regular = irregular (two r’s)
If a student drops a letter because the word looks too long, point back to the two parts. Spelling the prefix and then the base word, one after the other, gives the right answer every time.
A hyphen sometimes decides the meaning. Resign means to quit a job, while re-sign means to sign again. Recover means to get better, while re-cover means to cover again. In both pairs, the prefix re- carries its usual meaning only in the hyphenated word.
Common suffixes and how they change a word
Suffixes are often grouped by the part of speech they make. A short version is enough for a first lesson, and the full set of endings is in our list of suffixes, which goes into much more detail on suffix meanings and spelling than this post does.
- -ful means full of and makes an adjective: care becomes careful.
- -less means without and makes an adjective: care becomes careless.
- -ness makes a noun that names a state or quality: kind becomes kindness.
- -ly makes an adverb that tells how: slow becomes slowly.
- -er makes a noun that names a person or thing that does something: teach becomes teacher.
- -ment makes a noun that names an action or result: agree becomes agreement.
- -able means can be done and makes an adjective: read becomes readable.
Notice that care + ful and care + less come out with opposite meanings. A pair like that shows students how much one small ending can change. If you want to look at the kinds of adjectives these endings produce, our list of adjectives has more.
How prefixes and suffixes build words together
Many longer words contain a prefix, a base word and a suffix at the same time. Taking such words apart one piece at a time is one of the best ways to see how they work, and words with prefixes and suffixes make the best examples of prefixes and suffixes for a first lesson.
- unkindly = un + kind + ly
- disagreement = dis + agree + ment
- unbreakable = un + break + able
- carelessly = care + less + ly
- disrespectful = dis + respect + ful
- uncomfortable = un + comfort + able
- misunderstanding = mis + understand + ing
Show students how to read these from the outside in. Cover the prefix, then cover the suffix, and say what remains. Then say each piece’s meaning and put them back together. For unbreakable, the pieces are not, break and can be done, which gives a word that means cannot be broken.
Some base words change a little when a suffix is added, and the next section explains how.
Spelling changes when a suffix is added
Prefixes leave the base word alone, but suffixes sometimes make small changes. These four patterns come up most often.
- Drop the silent e before a suffix that starts with a vowel: use + able = usable, hope + ing = hoping, write + ing = writing.
- Keep the silent e before a suffix that starts with a consonant: care + ful = careful, hope + less = hopeless.
- Double the last consonant in a word that ends with one vowel and one consonant, when the suffix starts with a vowel and the stress falls on the last syllable: run + ing = running, stop + ed = stopped, forget + able = forgettable.
- Change y to i when a consonant comes before the y: happy + ness = happiness, carry + ed = carried. The y stays before -ing, so carry + ing is carrying.
These rules have exceptions. Words with a soft c or g keep the e before -able, as in noticeable and manageable. Teach the four patterns and let students collect exceptions as they find them.
Two longer words show the patterns at work. In unhappiness, un + happy + ness, the y changes to i. In unforgettable, un + forget + able, the t is doubled.
Root words and base words
A base word is a word that can stand alone, such as play, kind or agree. A root is a word part that carries the core meaning, and in many longer words it comes from Latin or Greek and cannot stand alone. Prefixes and suffixes attach to both.
- port means carry: transport, portable, import
- spect means look: inspect, spectator
- struct means build: construct, structure
- dict means say: dictate, predict
Prefixes add to these roots in the same way. Pre + dict means say before, which fits the meaning of predict. Trans + port means carry across, which fits transport. This is a good bridge to older students, who meet many roots in science and social studies words.
Use the term root words with younger students to mean any base word, and add the Latin and Greek roots later, once the first idea is secure.
Words that only look like they have a prefix or suffix
Some words start or end with the same letters as an affix, but those letters are not a separate part. The test is to take the letters away and see whether a related base word remains.
- Uncle is not un + cle, because cle is not a word.
- Pretty is not pre + tty.
- Dish is not dis + h.
- Corner is not corn + er. Corn is a word, but it has nothing to do with the meaning of corner.
- Hammer is not hamm + er, and sister is not sist + er.
The corner example is the most useful, because the leftover is a real word. The question to ask is whether the meaning of the whole word is built from the meaning of the parts. For unhappy it is, and for corner it is not.
A prefixes and suffixes anchor chart
An anchor chart should be easy to build on. One design is a three-column chart headed “Prefix,” “Base word” and “Suffix,” with a row of sample words under it. Add rows as the class meets new words, and keep the meaning of each part next to it. Here are some rows to start with:
- re | write | ing
- un | kind | ly
- dis | agree | ment
- mis | spell | ing
- pre | heat | ed
The first row shows the silent e rule, because write loses its e before ing. The chart can include a small box for the spelling rules, so students can look up the four patterns when they need them.
Activities and games with prefixes and suffixes
Word building cards
Make three small stacks of cards: prefixes, base words and suffixes. Students draw one from each stack and decide whether the three pieces form a real word. If they do, the student writes the word and uses it in a sentence. If not, the student sets the cards aside and says which piece is wrong.
Prefix and suffix sort
Give students a set of words, such as replay, unfair, careless, kindness, misread and teacher. They sort the words by what each one contains: a prefix, a suffix or both. Include a few words from the trap list above, such as corner and uncle, so students have to defend their choices.
Word detective
In a short text, students circle every word that has a prefix or a suffix and write the pieces in the margin. Ask for the meaning of each piece before moving on. This ties the lesson back to real reading.
Meaning match
Write a definition on one card and a word on another: “not fair” and unfair, “to write again” and rewrite. Students match the pairs. Games with prefixes and suffixes like this one can also be played with partners taking turns to read a definition aloud.
Practice material for prefixes and suffixes
When the idea is clear, written practice lets students use it. The prefixes un, re, pre and dis packet has 29 pages for grades 2 to 4, with a lesson plan and answer key, and 50 questions across 5 sections. The suffixes ful, less and ness packet is for grades 2 to 4 and has meaning questions, a word bank activity, true or false, spelling and short writing tasks, plus a full answer key.
The word study bundle puts four packets in one download: the prefixes un, re, pre and dis, the suffixes ful, less and ness, and two pairs students mix up all the time, its and it’s, and accept and except. It runs 183 pages for grades 2 to 7. Since suffixes change the part of speech, the parts of speech packet makes a good companion, with 52 pages for grades 3 to 5, a lesson plan, an answer key and 85 questions across 6 sections.
For every grammar and ELA packet in the shop, the complete grammar bundle has 32 packets and 1527 pages for grades 2 to 8.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a prefix and a suffix?
A prefix is added to the front of a base word and a suffix is added to the end. Prefixes usually change the meaning, and suffixes often change the part of speech as well.
Can a word have both a prefix and a suffix?
Yes. Unkindly has the prefix un- and the suffix -ly around the base word kind. Many longer words have both.
Do prefixes change the spelling of a word?
No. The base word keeps all its letters, which is why words such as misspell and unnecessary have a double letter. Suffixes can cause small spelling changes, such as dropping a silent e.
Which prefixes should students learn first?
Un-, re-, pre- and dis- are a common starting group, because they appear in many everyday words. Mis-, non- and over- are good next steps.
