Prefix

A prefix is a small part of a word that is added to the beginning, or the start, of another word. Think of it like a label that changes what the word means or how we use it. For example, when we add the prefix un- to the word happy, we get unhappy, which means the opposite of happy.

Prefixes are important in language because they help us understand and create new words. They can change the meaning of a word or even turn a noun into a verb. In English, we often use prefixes to show that something is not the case, like in- in incorrect or dis- in disagree.

The idea of prefixes comes from studying many languages. In some languages, prefixes help show things like tense or gender, but English mainly uses them to build new words. The word prefix itself comes from Latin. It has the prefix pre- meaning “before” and the stem fix, meaning “attach.” Together, they tell us that a prefix is something attached before a word to change it.

English language

List of English derivational prefixes

Main article: English prefix

This is a list of word beginnings in English that change the meaning of words. Some word parts that mix old and new styles are included because they work like regular word beginnings such as over- and self-.

Only the most common number prefixes are listed here. A bigger table with all of them can be found at Numeral prefix > Table of number prefixes in English.

Hyphenation

Deciding whether to use a hyphen or write prefixes together is explained at Hyphen > Prefixes and suffixes.

Japanese language

In Japanese, some common prefixes are お〜 (o- ) and ご〜 (go- ). These prefixes are part of the special way people talk politely. They show respect for the person or thing being talked about and can also be used in a nice way to avoid saying something directly.

Bantu languages

In the Bantu languages of Africa, prefixes help show the noun class. These prefixes change to match the words they are used with.

Example from Luganda

ò-mú-límí

AG-CL1-farmer

ò-mú-néné

AG-CL1-fat

ò-mú-kâddé

AG-CL1-old

ò-mú

AG.one

à-∅-gênda

he-PRES-go

ò-mú-límí ò-mú-néné ò-mú-kâddé ò-mú à-∅-gênda

AG-CL1-farmer AG-CL1-fat AG-CL1-old AG.one he-PRES-go

The one, old, fat farmer goes.

Navajo

In the Navajo language, verbs are made from a word stem and several added parts called affixes. Each verb needs one of four special non-syllabic prefixes (∅, ł, d, l) to help form the verb properly. These prefixes change the basic word to create different meanings.

Sunwar

In the Sunwar language of Eastern Nepal, the prefix ma- म is used to create negative verbs. It is the only verbal prefix in the language.

For example, ma.rimʃo means "bad" when used with the word for "child":

ma.rimʃo al

NEG.nice child

This means "Bad child!" and can be used for scolding.

Russian

In Russian, prefixes are not used as often as suffixes when forming nouns, but they can change the meaning of a word.

German

In German, prefixes are added to words to change their meaning. There are two main types: those used with nouns and adjectives, and those used with verbs.

For nouns and adjectives, two common prefixes are un- which means "not" (like in ungesund, from gesund), and ur- which means "original" or adds emphasis.

Verbs often use prefixes like be-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, and zer- . be- makes an action stronger, ent- means "not", and ge- shows that an action is finished. ver- adds emphasis or turns a noun or adjective into a verb. The prefix er- usually shows that an action is completed successfully. It can also be used to make verbs from adjectives, like erkalten, which means "to get cold".