Affixes Infographic
Affixes are small parts of a word that can change its meaning. They are like building blocks for words. There are two main types of affixes: prefixes and suffixes.
A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of a word. For example, the word “happy” becomes “unhappy” when we add the prefix “un-.” The prefix “un-” changes “happy” to its opposite, which is “not happy.” Other examples of prefixes are “re-” (as in “redo,” which means to do again), “pre-” (as in “preview,” meaning to see before), and “dis-” (as in “dislike,” meaning not liking something).
A suffix is an affix added to the end of a word. For instance, when we add the suffix “-ful” to the word “care,” we get “careful,” meaning full of care. Suffixes can change a word’s meaning, tense, or part of speech. Some common suffixes are “-ing” (like “running,” showing an action happening now), “-ed” (like “walked,” showing an action that happened in the past), and “-ly” (like “happily,” which turns an adjective into an adverb).
Affixes help us expand our vocabulary. They make it easier to understand new words. When we know how prefixes and suffixes work, we can guess what unfamiliar words mean. For example, if you know that “pre-” means “before” and “-view” means “to see,” you can guess that “preview” means to see something before it happens.
Affixes are useful tools. They help us understand and create new words. By learning about prefixes and suffixes, we can improve our reading and writing skills. So, next time you come across a word you don’t know, try looking for its affixes!
