English Teacher Classes

Affixes are part words that are added to ful words and that modify their meaning or grammatical function. There are two types of affixes: prefixs and suffixes. Prefixes are added before the base word and suffixes are added after a base word. Sometimes the spelling of the word may change in the process of adding a suffix/prefix. Sometimes, the part of speech of the word will also change. Some words may take both prefixes and suffixes. Look at the following examples: PREFIXES Prefixes are groups of letters added to the beginning of words to get new words. This kind of word formation leads to changes in the meaning and changes in part of speech and is also used to indicate number. It is important to know the meaning a prefix imparts before using it to form new words. LATIN AFFIXES Affixes used in the English language have been delivered from many languages. While many of them belong to English, many more have been borrowed from Latin. The following table gives you an overview...

The process of making new words from a base or root from (or the most basic form of a word, without anything attached to it, which you will find in a dictionary) is known as word formation, and understanding how this works will help us build our vocabulary by deriving many new words according to our needs. Many words that we use come from a root word. If we disconnect prefixes and suffixes, the root can be identified. A little digging will uncover just what the root word really means. For example, in a word such as 'bicycle', the root what is 'cycle'. Since English is a derivational language, it has borrowed many words from other languages especially from Greek and Latin roots. (A 'root' is a form of a word from which other words are derived using affixes.) For example, pater (or patr) is a Latin word which means 'father'. It serves as root for English words such as 'patriarch', 'patrimony', 'patron', etc. DETERMINING A R...