Prefix

English seems quite a simple language at first glance, but when you dig deep into it i.e. when you try to excel in it grammar wise and try to learn about the grammatical concepts of English language, you will find out that you were not so right. It is a diverse language with a lot of hidden and small terms and concepts that one must completely understand in order to call him/herself the master of English.

Today we I will talk about the grammatical term prefix. I will throw light on what the term means, how it is implied in the language and how it changes the meaning of the whole sentence that it is used in.

Keep reading!

Prefix

Prefix is a grammatical term that is used to represent a single or a group of letters used together before the beginning of a word. In other words, when a group of letters is added to the start of a specific word that results in the modification of its meaning is known as a prefix. Thus prefixes give rise to a complete new word by the addition of few letters before an old one.

Example:

Telescope

You would have heard about the word telescope and would probably be familiar with its meaning too. But did you know that telescope is new word that was made from the old word scope by addition few alphabets i.e. tele before it?

Tele = prefix

Scope = old word

Telescope = new word with new meaning

There are four prefixes that are most common in English language and that account for almost 95-96% of all the new words made from prefixes. These four most common prefixes are dis, in, re, un.

Some examples of the new words made from these prefixes include:

Unconditional

Intolerable

Reunited

Disapprove

Discord

Inculpable

Incomplete

Insecure

Unhygienic

All these examples include some previously formed words which get new meaning by the addition of a certain prefix before it. It is important to keep in mind that you cannot add any prefix before any word to make a new word. These things are predefined and you have to know about them before using them in your writing with correct meaning.