How Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes Form so many English Words

Many English words are formed from smaller elements: roots, prefixes and suffixes. When you know the common ones and how to combine them, you can understand hundreds of different words.

The majority of academic vocabulary uses Latin roots and affixes. (Affixes are prefixes and suffixes.) They are especially useful for English university study or professional work.

a picture of a tree with roots showing, and the title 'How roots, prefixes, & suffixes can help your vocabulary grow.'

If you already speak a Latin-based language like French, Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese, you have a huge advantage in reading academic English.

If not, you can still increase your vocabulary faster by studying roots and affixes.

As you study them, you will notice common patterns and recognize new words. 

It’s easier to learn words in groups. Studying related words together helps you see the connections between them. That's why I include so much information on the words made from each root.

It's also useful to understand the ways suffixes (word endings) can change the form (and part of speech) of English words. This is one way that English word formation is quite flexible.

How to Change a Word's Part of Speech (and Sometimes its Meaning)

Word Families demonstrates how this works with the word family 'act:' the verb 'act', the nouns 'action,' 'actor,' 'activity,' or 'transaction;' the adjectives 'active' 'inactive', or 'hyperactive,' or the adverb 'actively'-- about 40 words in all. The page links to two more pages to practice with different word families.

Sometimes the same word may be used as a verb OR a noun or another part of speech. A few examples of words that can be verbs or nouns are approach, factor, focus, grant, review, or support.

Contract, contrast, desert, object, & present are examples where the noun and verb are spelled the same, but pronounced with the stress on different syllables. The nouns are stressed on the first syllable; the verbs on the second. (This is the usual pattern for stress in two syllable words, but there are MANY exceptions.) 

A verb's past participle (like broken, hidden, or required) may be used as an adjective. A verb's present participle may also serve as a noun called a gerund. (Example: "Riding a bike is good exercise. So is jogging.") You can tell which part of speech a word is by its location in a sentence.

Sentence structure is the main way we recognize the part a word is playing. (That is a major reason why English word order is less flexible than many languages.)

We can also take what was a noun and make it a verb (or make a verb into a noun) by changing its position in the sentence. The word ‘text’ has been used for centuries as a noun meaning the words of a document. Recently, people have begun to use it as an adjective (“I’ll send a text message”) or as a verb (“I’ll text you.”)

Words that began as names of objects often become metaphors for ideas as well. Eventually they may have a second or third meaning that is completely abstract. This ancient process (common to many languages), also adds to the richness and confusion of English vocabulary.

We talk about the 'fruits' (meaning results) of labor. We might say a discussion is ‘heated’ (meaning angry) or that a person is ‘cold’ (meaning indifferent to the feelings of others.) 

Those are all metaphors. They use words for physical objects (like fruit) or sensations (like heat or cold) to explain ideas.

Look at Word Parts to Learn New Words

More tree roots in the background, and text 'Notice how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of this root: cede- accessible, concession, excessive, precede... recession, succeed, unprecedented'

As you read new words, analyze them. Are parts familiar? Can you see a pattern? 

For example, if you read about a retractable blade, you can guess its meaning before you look it up.

(Even better: guess instead of looking it up if its meaning isn't essential.

Don’t break your concentration unless you need the word to understand what you're reading. If not, write it down to check later.)

For retractable, you may know that the prefix ‘re’ means 'again' or 'back.'  ‘Able’ means that something is possible. So you can guess 'retractable' is about the possibility of ‘tracting’ something back, or again.

‘Tract’ is also the base of ‘attract,’ ‘distract,’ and ‘traction,’ so it seems related to a pulling movement. Good guess! In fact, retractable wheels on an airplane can be pulled back into the body of the plane. Retractable hose is easy to rewind (pull back into storage.) Retractable awnings can be pulled back easily.

Here's another example of how prefixes and suffixes can change the meaning and use of a root. These words come from 'form': 

conformity, formal, formality, format, formation, formula, formulate, inform, informally, informative, misinform, nonconformist, reformer, transformable, transformation, uninformed

Roots

EnglishHints.com has a large number of pages about word roots, especially those that come originally from Latin or Greek.

To practice words from a particular root, use the root words table below to find the right page or pages if you know the root you want to study, or check out 50+ Latin Root Words in English, which also links to other pages with different Latin roots or ways to practice them. It also shows how prefixes combine with many roots and gives a complete demonstration using one root.

Latin and Greek Root Words Table is a list or index of all the roots covered on these pages. It gives their meanings, examples, and the pages to practice each one. 

See Greek Roots for words, especially scientific or medical terms, that originally come from Greek.

Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes: Worksheets have inexpensive pdf worksheets to boost your vocabulary in an organized way. 

Prefixes and Suffixes

You can learn more prefixes on the alphabetical List of Prefixes (with examples) and Common Greek and Latin Prefixes. (It's a table of the same prefixes arranged by English meaning, so you can compare the Latin and Greek forms).

Suffixes sometimes change the meanings of words. More often they change their positions in a sentence. It’s very helpful to know the different endings that belong to different parts of speech. 

If you recognize more suffixes, you'll understand more of what you read. It will also help you to use the words correctly when you write.

The List of Suffixes gives an alphabetical listing of the most common word endings.

Suffix List by Use shows the suffixes that indicate general nouns (like conclusion, tolerance, or verification), nouns for different groups of people (banker, chemist, etc.), adjectives (like conclusive, tolerant, or verified), adverbs (like conclusively or tolerantly), and verbs (like conclude, tolerate, or verify). It also explains suffixes that show plurals and tenses (-s, -es, -ed, -ing, etc.) 

A Course to Help with Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Would you like a simpler, more organized way to learn the essentials for using roots and affixes?

The most efficient way to learn common roots and affixes is with a step-by-step course. This inexpensive course on Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots will teach you the most common prefixes, suffixes, and roots. You'll get the background you need to continue learning them as you keep reading in English.

Whether you take a course or study a few at a time, learning common roots, prefixes, and suffixes is worth the effort. Knowing how they combine can help you recognize hundreds of new English words!

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