{"id":3313,"date":"2025-07-15T18:32:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T11:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/?p=3313"},"modified":"2025-07-15T18:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T11:32:14","slug":"english-prefix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/english-prefix\/","title":{"rendered":"English Prefix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/h2>\n

A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word. Prefixes have set meanings and change the meaning of the root word when combined.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In-depth Explanation<\/h2>\n

Prefixes are not words on their own. They must be attached to the front of a root word. For example:<\/p>\n

inter-\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>(prefix) +\u00a0national<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0(root word) =\u00a0international<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

The prefix\u00a0inter-<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0means \u201cbetween\u201d or \u201camong.\u201d The new word, “international,” means \u201cbetween nations.\u201d For example:<\/p>\n

The conference attracted\u00a0international<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0participants from over 20 countries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Most Common Prefixes<\/h3>\n

Here are some of the most common English prefixes, their meanings and examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Prefix<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\nMeaning<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\nExamples<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
anti-<\/td>\nagainst<\/td>\nantibiotic
\nantisocial
\nantiwar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de-<\/td>\nopposite; down<\/td>\ndefrost
\ndepart
\ndescend<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
dis-<\/td>\nnot; opposite<\/td>\ndisagree
\ndissimilar
\ndisobey<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
il- \/ im- \/ in- \/ ir-<\/td>\nnot<\/td>\nillegal
\nimpossible
\ninsane
\nirregular<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
inter-<\/td>\nbetween<\/td>\ninteract
\ninternet
\ninterconnected<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mis-<\/td>\nwrongly; badly<\/td>\nmisplace
\nmisspell
\nmisuse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
non-<\/td>\nnot<\/td>\nnonfiction
\nnonprofit
\nnonstop<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
pre-<\/td>\nbefore<\/td>\nprefix
\npreheat
\npreview<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
re-<\/td>\nagain<\/td>\nrediscover
\nredo
\nreread<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sub-<\/td>\nunder<\/td>\nsubmarine
\nsubmit
\nsubway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un-<\/td>\nnot; opposite<\/td>\nunable
\nuncommon
\nunhappy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
under-<\/td>\nbelow; too little<\/td>\nundercooked
\nunderestimate
\nunderground<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here are some examples of how words with prefixes are used in context:<\/p>\n

The train will\u00a0depart\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

Be careful not to\u00a0misspell\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>words in your essay.<\/p>\n

The plane flew\u00a0nonstop<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0from New York to London.<\/p>\n

Remember to\u00a0preheat\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>the oven before baking.<\/p>\n

The chicken was\u00a0undercooked<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0and not safe to eat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Prefixes with Hyphens<\/h3>\n

There are some prefixes that need a hyphen between the prefix and the root word. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Prefix<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\nMeaning<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\nExamples<\/strong><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all-<\/td>\nall<\/td>\nall-inclusive
\nall-knowing
\nall-powerful<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ex-*<\/td>\nprevious<\/td>\nex-boyfriend
\nex-colleague
\nex-president<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
self-<\/td>\nto, of or by one\u2019s self<\/td>\nself-control
\nself-employed
\nself-taught<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*The prefix\u00a0ex-\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>can also appear in words without a hyphen, in which case it means \u201cout of\u201d or \u201cfrom.\u201d For example:\u00a0ex<\/strong><\/b>it,\u00a0ex<\/strong><\/b>tend,\u00a0ex<\/strong><\/b>port. A prefix also needs a hyphen when the root word is a proper noun, like in “mid<\/strong><\/b>-July.”<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of these prefixes in context:<\/p>\n

The professor seemed\u00a0all-knowing<\/strong><\/b>, able to answer any question we asked him.<\/p>\n

She had an awkward encounter with her\u00a0ex-boyfriend<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0at the coffee shop last weekend.<\/p>\n

It took a lot of\u00a0self-control<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0to resist eating the entire cake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Prefixes in Unpaired Words<\/h3>\n

Some root words must have a prefix in order to be considered an English word. These are called unpaired words. Some common examples are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • dis<\/strong><\/b>rupt<\/li>\n
  • pre<\/strong><\/b>dict<\/li>\n
  • re<\/strong><\/b>duce<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    If you remove the prefix from each word above, they are no longer words:\u00a0rupt, dict,<\/em>\u00a0duce.<\/em>\u00a0In these cases, the meaning of the prefix can still help you understand the meaning of the word.<\/p>\n

    For instance,\u00a0pre-<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0means \u201cbefore.\u201d “Predict<\/strong><\/b>” means to say that something will happen in the future. In other words: You guess what will happen before it happens.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word. Prefixes have set meanings and change the meaning of the root word when combined. In-depth Explanation Prefixes are not words on their own. They must be attached to the front of a root word. For example: inter-\u00a0(prefix) …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[253],"tags":[521,528,513,508,510,511,273,287,512,518,523,516,522,524,514,526,520,519,527,517,509,525,515],"class_list":["post-3313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-bai-tap-tien-to","tag-common-prefixes","tag-cong-thuc-tien-to","tag-english-prefix","tag-english-prefixes","tag-hoc-tien-to","tag-hoc-tieng-anh-cung-eduma","tag-learn-english-with-eduma","tag-learn-prefixes","tag-negative-prefixes","tag-ngu-phap-tien-to","tag-prefix-examples","tag-prefix-exercises","tag-prefix-grammar","tag-prefix-rules","tag-prefix-vocabulary","tag-quantity-prefixes","tag-tien-to-chi-so-luong","tag-tien-to-pho-bien","tag-tien-to-phu-dinh","tag-tien-to-tieng-anh","tag-tu-vung-tien-to","tag-vi-du-tien-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3315,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3313\/revisions\/3315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}