Hues & Views എന്ന Unit മായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട കൂടുതല്‍ വിവരങ്ങള്‍ (Class 8)

The Mysterious Picture

What are Prefixes and Suffixes?

    In the English language, we often place prefixes and suffixes at the beginning and end, respectively, of a word in order to modify it.

Prefix

    A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word to modify its meaning. For example, the word ‘unhappy’ consists of the prefix  ‘un-’[which means ‘not’]  combined with the root word ‘happy’.

Adding ‘un’- to the word ‘happy’ gives you the word ‘unhappy’, which means not happy.

Examples of Prefixes

Unfriendly, Overlook, Nonsense, International, Disconnect

Suffix

    A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make a new word. For example, adding ‘ion’ to the verb ‘act’ gives us  ‘action’, the noun form of the word. Suffixes also tell us the verb tense of words or whether the words are plural or singular.
Examples of Suffixes
Wonderful, Selfish, Logical, Creative,Soften
When to use Hyphens with Prefixes and Suffixes
When to Hyphenate Prefixes
The prefixes ‘ex’ and ‘self’ are followed by a hyphen.
For example: ex-student, self-service etc.
If the unhyphenated version could be confused with a different word, add the hyphen.
For example: re-cover  / recover
(If there were no hyphen in ‘re-cover’,(put a new cover) it could be confused with ‘recover’, meaning
‘return to a normal state’.
Insert a hyphen when the prefix ends with the same vowel.
Example: re-entry
When to Hyphenate Suffixes
Hyphen can be used when a word seems lengthy.
Examples: community-wide, scholarly-like
When last letter is same as first letter.
Example: Past-tense