Word Formation: Prefixes and Suffixes
The Word Formation: Prefixes and Suffixes is an essential English grammar topic for B1-B2 learners. This guide explains how to form and use the Word Formation: Prefixes and Suffixes, with clear examples, common mistakes, and Spanish support where helpful. After studying the explanation, you can practise with worksheets and interactive exercises.
Explanation
Word formation is the process of creating new words by adding prefixes (at the beginning) or suffixes (at the end) to a base word. This is essential for B2/C1 exams. PREFIXES change the meaning of a word: • un- / in- / im- / il- / ir- / dis- = not (unhappy, invisible, impossible, illegal, irregular, disagree) • re- = again (rewrite, rebuild, reconnect) • pre- = before (preview, prepare, predict) • over- / under- = too much / too little (overwork, underestimate) • mis- = wrong (misunderstand, misspell) SUFFIXES change the word class (noun, verb, adjective, adverb): • Noun suffixes: -tion (create → creation), -ment (develop → development), -ness (happy → happiness), -ity (able → ability), -er (teach → teacher) • Adjective suffixes: -ful (use → useful), -less (use → useless), -ous (danger → dangerous), -al (nature → natural), -ive (create → creative) • Adverb suffix: -ly (quick → quickly, happy → happily) • Verb suffixes: -ize (real → realize), -en (wide → widen), -fy (pure → purify) ⚠️ Some words have irregular forms: strong → strength (not strongness), long → length, high → height. ⚠️ Pay attention to spelling changes: happy → happiness (y → i), create → creation (e dropped).
Examples
Her explanation was extremely clear.
Su explicación fue extremadamente clara.
He was unable to attend the meeting.
Él no pudo asistir a la reunión.
The project was a great success.
El proyecto fue un gran éxito.
She is a very creative designer.
Ella es una diseñadora muy creativa.
We need to rethink our strategy.
Necesitamos repensar nuestra estrategia.
The information was misleading.
La información era engañosa.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- 1Learn word families together: create → creation → creative → creativity → creatively.
- 2Negative prefixes: use 'un-' for most adjectives (unhappy), 'in-' before consonants (invisible), 'im-' before p/b (impossible), 'il-' before l (illegal), 'ir-' before r (irregular).
- 3Spanish speakers often confuse 'information' (uncountable in English) with 'informations' (wrong).
- 4In word formation exam tasks, always check what word class the sentence needs (noun, verb, adjective, adverb).