Prefixes & Suffixes, Compound words

Let's talk about prefixes and suffixes. They're like word helpers!

Prefixes:

Prefixes are little bits we add to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.

For example, "un-" in "unhappy" changes "happy" to mean not happy.

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
Anti-	Against, opposite of	Antifreeze, antibiotic
Bi-	Two, twice, double	Bicycle, bilingual
Co-	Together, joint	Coexist, cooperate
De-	Reverse, remove, undo	Defrost, deactivate
Ex-	Out of, former	Exit, ex-president
In- (or Im-, Il-, Ir-)	Not	Inactive, impossible, illegal, irregular
Mis-	Wrongly, badly	Misunderstand, misbehave
Non-	Not	Nonfiction, nonstop
Over-	Too much, excessive	Overcooked, overreact
Post-	After	Postgraduate, postwar
Re-	Again, back	Rewrite, return
Sub-	Under, below	Submarine, subzero
Trans-	Across, beyond	Transport, transcend
Un-	Not, opposite of	Unhappy, unclear
Under-	Below, beneath	Underground, undersea

Suffixes:

Suffixes, on the other hand, are bits we add to the end of a word. They can change the word's meaning, too.

Like "-er" in "teacher" changes "teach" into a person who teaches.

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-able	Capable of, able to be	Comfortable, manageable
-al	Pertaining to, relating to	Cultural, seasonal
-ed	Past tense or past participle	Walked, finished
-er	One who performs an action	Teacher, runner
-est	Most, superlative form	Tallest, fastest
-ful	Full of, characterized by	Beautiful, helpful
-ic	Pertaining to, like	Economic, poetic
-ing	Verb form, present participle	Running, swimming
-ion	Action or condition	Completion, connection
-ish	Somewhat, like	Childish, yellowish
-less	Without, lacking	Fearless, homeless
-ly	Like, manner	Quickly, happily
-ment	Action, process, result	Movement, development
-ness	State or quality	Happiness, kindness
-ous	Full of, characterized by	Dangerous, famous
-s	Plural marker	Books, cars
-y	Characterized by, inclined to	Sunny, rainy

Compound words

Compound words are pretty cool! They're like two words holding hands to make a new word with a brand-new meaning. Take "snow" and "man" — put them together and you've got "snowman"! It's not just any snow or any man; it's a special kind of man made out of snow.

Compound Word	Components	Meaning
Blackboard	Black + board	A board that is black in color
Sunflower	Sun + flower	A flower that faces or follows the sun
Firefighter	Fire + fighter	Someone who fights fires
Playground	Play + ground	An area designed for children to play
Waterfall	Water + fall	A natural flow of water over a cliff or rocks
Butterfly	Butter + fly	A flying insect with colorful wings
Snowball	Snow + ball	A ball made of snow
Toothbrush	Tooth + brush	A brush used for cleaning teeth
Raincoat	Rain + coat	A coat worn to protect from rain
Greenhouse	Green + house	A structure for growing plants in a controlled environment
Moonlight	Moon + light	Light from the moon
Bookshelf	Book + shelf	A shelf for storing books
Breakfast	Break + fast	The first meal of the day, breaking the overnight fast
Doorbell	Door + bell	A bell attached to a door for signaling
Headphones	Head + phones	Devices worn over ears for listening to audio

Sometimes compound words are written together like "sunflower," and sometimes they're written with a space like "school bus." But no matter how they're written, they're all about two words teaming up to create something new and exciting!