Affix Examples

An affix is a word part added to the beginning or the end of the word. An affix can change the meaning of the word, and also can be used to change the part of speech of the word.

There are two types of affixes: prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is added to the beginning of the word. A suffix is added to the end of the word.

Common Prefixes:

re- (again)
un- (not)
dis- (not)
pre- (before)
post- (after)
in- (not)
tri- (three)

Common Suffixes:

-able (can be done, able to)
-ful (full of)
-ing (verb ending, progressive tense)
-ed (verb ending, past tense)
-ly (adverb ending)
-tion (act or process of; often turns a verb to a noun)
-less (without)
-ment (act or process)

Using affixes helps a writer to reduce wordiness and to be more precise in the use of language and meaning. It is helpful for readers to know common affixes as their meanings in order to break down more complex words and understand them.

Words with Affixes

Action-noun form of act
     The movie was full of action.

Careless--without care
     The teenager was careless with his clothing.

Remake-make again
     His mother asked him to remake the bed.

Loveable-able to be loved
     The toddler threw a tantrum, but she was so loveable that everyone laughed.

Fretful-full of fret, or worry
     Before her surgery, the woman was fretful until the nurse calmed her.

Dislike-not like
     I am sorry, but I dislike vegetable soup.

Triangle-a shape with three angles
     You could draw a triangle between my house, the school, and the park.

Pretest-before the test
     Our teacher gave us a pretest to see how we would do and what we needed to discuss again.

Post-op (post-operation)-after the operation
     After the surgery, the man was taken to post-op so that he could recover.