Prefixes

Prefixes

Prefixes (at the beginning of words) can help you to understand what a new word means. Here are some common prefixes.

prefix	meaning	example
Ex( + noun)	Was but not now	Ex-wife, ex-president
Half(+ noun or adjective)	5% of something	Half-price , half-hour
In , im(+adjective)	not	Informal, impossible
Non(+adjective or noun)	not	Non-smoking
pre	before	Pre-school
Re( +verb)	again	Redo, rewrite
Un(+adjective)	not	Unhappy, unsafe

An ex-wife is a wife who is now divorced.

President Gorbachev is an ex-President of Russia.

A half-hour journey is a journey of 30 minutes.

Something that cost 10$ yesterday and cost 5$ today is half-price.

Informal clothes are clothes like jeans and trainers. Formal clothes are things like a suite.

If something is impossible, you can’t do it. It is impossible to read with your eyes closed.

A non-smoking room is a room where people may not smoke.

Pre-school children are children who are still too young to go to school.

To redo something is to do it a second time and to rewrite something is to write it a second time.

Unhappy means sad, the opposite of happy.

Unsafe means dangerous, the opposite of safe.