Suffixes and Prefixes

english hum-1109 Hum-1109 Technical English

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Part 1: The Master Rule Book (Categorized)

Use these lists to memorize the meanings and standard examples found in your course materials.

A. Prefixes (Added to the START of a word)

Category	Prefix	Meaning	Source Examples
Negative / Opposite	Anti-	Opposite	Anti-corruption, Antibiotic
	De-	Reverse	Deforestation, Deactivate
	Dis-	Not	Disability, Disallow
	Il- / Im- / In- / Ir-	Not	Illegal, Impossible, Incorrect, Irregular
	Mal-	Bad	Malnutrition, Malfunction
	Mis-	Wrong	Misbehave, Misfortune
	Non-	Not	Non-smoker, Non-violence
	Un-	Not	Unhappy, Unpunished
Quantity / Size	Bi-	Two	Bilateral, Bicycle
	Mass-	Large number	Mass-media, Mass-awareness
	Multi-	Many	Multicolor, Multinational
	Poly-	Many	Polygamy (External)
	Semi-	Half	Semi-final, Semi-circle
	Tri-	Three	Triangle, Tri-centenary
Position / Time	Ante-	Before	Ante-date, Ante-meridiem (a.m.)
	Fore-	Before/Front	Forecast, Forehead
	Inter-	Between	International, Inter-change
	Post-	After	Post-war, Post-graduate
	Pre-	Before	Pre-caution, Pre-planned
	Sub-	Under/Lower	Subway, Sub-ordinate
	Super-	Above	Super-market, Super-power
Action / Conversion	Be-	Make/Become	Befriend, Belittle, Beware
	Co-	Together	Co-operate, Co-actor
	Em- / En-	Make/Put into	Empower, Enlarge, Endanger
	Re-	Again	Rebuild, Re-accept
Scientific / Medical	Agri-	Farming	Agriculture
	Bio-	Life	Biology, Bio-data
	Hydro-	Water	Hydro-phobia
	Psycho-	Mind	Psychology

B. Suffixes (Added to the END of a word)

Category	Suffix	Function	Source Examples
Noun Makers (Person)	-er / -or	Doer	Teacher, Actor, Visitor
	-ist	Person	Artist, Chemist
	-ster	Person	Gangster, Spinster
	-ian	Related to	Musician, Politician
Noun Makers (Abstract)	-age	Collection/State	Bondage, Wastage, Marriage
	-ance / -ence	State/Quality	Attendance, Independence
	-dom	State/Realm	Freedom, Kingdom
	-hood	State	Childhood, Brotherhood
	-ism	Doctrine	Capitalism, Patriotism
	-ment	Action/Result	Development, Enjoyment
	-ness	Quality	Kindness, Darkness
	-ship	Relationship	Friendship, Hardship
	-ty / -ity	Quality	Safety, Reality, Honesty
Adjective Makers	-able / -ible	Can be	Readable, Possible
	-al	Relating to	Educational, National
	-ful	Full of	Beautiful, Hopeful
	-ish	Somewhat/Like	Childish, Reddish
	-ive	Nature of	Active, Creative
	-less	Without	Hopeless, Careless
	-some	Tendency	Handsome, Troublesome
Verb Makers	-en	Make	Blacken, Widen, Strengthen
	-fy	Make	Beautify, Simplify
	-ize / -ise	Make	Realize, Popularize
Small / Diminutive	-let	Small	Booklet, Leaflet
	-ling	Small	Duckling, Seedling
Direction / Manner	-ward	Direction	Forward, Homeward
	-wise	Manner	Clockwise, Likewise

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Part 2: PYQ Practice (Year-Wise with Solutions)

This is your practice bank. Cover the “Example Word” column and try to solve it.

Year	Prefix / Suffix Asked	Example Word & Sentence (Memorize these)
2024 (CSE)	For-	Forward: Move forward.
	Out-	Outstanding: Her result was outstanding.
	With-	Withdraw: I will withdraw money.
	-ive	Creative: He is very creative.
	-let	Booklet: Read this booklet.
	-way	Highway: We drove on the highway.
2024	A-	Amoral: His act was amoral.
	De-	Decrease: Prices will decrease.
	Mal-	Malfunction: The robot had a malfunction.
	-let	Leaflet: Distribute the leaflet.
	-ty	Safety: Safety comes first.
	-y	Rainy: It is a rainy day.
2023	De-	Decrease: The rain decreased.
	For-	Forgive: Please forgive me.
	Over-	Overcome: We shall overcome.
	-ance	Performance: Good performance.
	-some	Handsome: He is handsome.
	-ward	Forward: Go forward.
2022	-ive	Active: He is very active.
	-fold	Tenfold: Profits increased tenfold.
	-ary	Primary: This is a primary school.
	-tic	Dramatic: It was a dramatic scene.
	Mal-	Malnutrition: He suffers from malnutrition.
	-fy	Beautify: Trees beautify the land.
2021	Anti-	Antibiotic: Take this antibiotic.
	Be-	Befriend: Befriend the new student.
	Co-	Co-operate: We must co-operate.
	-ian	Musician: He is a musician.
	-ing	Reading: Reading is a good habit.
	-ish	Childish: Don’t be childish.
2020	A-	Amoral: He is an amoral person.
	Bi-	Bicycle: I ride a bicycle.
	En-	Enable: This will enable you to pass.
	-able	Capable: He is capable of doing it.
	-ary	Customary: It is customary to bow.
2018	Fore-	Forehead: He hit his forehead.
	-age	Bondage: Freedom from bondage.
	-ance	Attendance: His attendance is poor.
	-ty	Honesty: Honesty is the best policy.
	-ab- (infix/typo?)	Abnormal: His behavior is abnormal.
	-be- (infix/typo?)	Become: He wants to become a doctor.
2017	Be-	Beloved: She is my beloved friend.
	For-	Forgive: Forgive and forget.
	Mal-	Malpractice: Stop medical malpractice.
	-age	Marriage: Their marriage was happy.
	-ling	Duckling: The ugly duckling.
	-way	Subway: Take the subway.
2016	Fore-	Forecast: The weather forecast is good.
	For-	Forgive: Can you forgive him?
	Se-	Select: Select the best one.
	-ive	Active: Be active in class.
	-ish	Foolish: That was a foolish mistake.
	-some	Awesome: The view is awesome.
2015	Fore-	Foresee: I foresee trouble.
	Pro-	Active: Be proactive.
	Se-	Separate: Separate the items.
	-en	Widen: Widen the road.
	-ling	Seedling: Plant the seedling.
	-some	Troublesome: The task is troublesome.

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Part 3: Expert Comments & Cheat Codes

1. The “Start vs. End” Hack:

   • If the blank is Before the hyphen (e.g., Fore-), it’s a Prefix (add to the start).
   • If the blank is After the hyphen (e.g., -tion), it’s a Suffix (add to the end).

2. The “Safety” Words (Memorize these 5):

   • If you see Mal-: Write Malnutrition.
   • If you see Be-: Write Befriend.
   • If you see -tion: Write Education.
   • If you see -ment: Write Development.
   • If you see -fy: Write Beautify.

3. The “Little Thing” Suffixes:

   • -let and -ling both mean “small”.
   • -let: Booklet (small book), Leaflet.
   • -ling: Duckling (small duck), Seedling.

4. Common Confusions:

   • For- vs Fore-:
     • Fore- usually means “Before/Front” (Forehead, Forecast).
     • For- is often “Away/Off/Prohibition” (Forgive, Forbid).
   • -al vs -el:
     • Usually -al is the suffix (National, Capital). -el is rare as a suffix in this context.

Study Strategy:

1. Read the Source Examples in Part 1 to get a feel for the words.
2. Focus heavily on Part 2 (PYQs). The same prefixes like Mal-, Be-, Fore-, -tion, -ment repeat constantly.
3. Practice writing one sentence for each PYQ word.