CSE Reviewer: Understanding Prefix and Suffix

Understanding the meanings of prefixes and suffixes along with root words will give you the ability to determine a word’s meaning without having to look it up. Having this knowledge will vastly improve your chances of passing the Civil Service exam in just your first take. Not only that, prefixes and suffixes are a really common part of the English language and it will come in handy once you need to use it! So learning how to use them correctly will help you boost your language skills enormously. Hopefully, the tutorial below will help you have a better grasp on prefixes and suffixes.

Prefix

Prefixes are syllables which we add to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes can, for example, create a new word opposite in meaning to the word the prefix is attached to. They can also make a word negative or express relations of time, place or manner. Check out some examples below:

Base Word	Prefixed Word	Type of Meaning
practical	impractical	opposite
ability	inability	opposite
payment	non-payment	negation
war	post-war	time (after)
historic	prehistoric	time (before)
cook	overcook	manner (too much)
terrestrial	extraterrestrial	place (outside of/beyond)

It’s impractical to have so many people all trying to use the equipment at the same time.

If he was self-conscious about his inability to talk, he gave no indication.

Jason have received an eviction order from the council for non-payment of rent.

The meat was overcooked and quite tasteless.

Common Prefixes

Here are the most common prefixes used in the English language. There’s a high probability that you will encounter these words when you take the Civil Service Eligibility exam.

anti-	against/opposed to	anti-government, anti-racist, anti-war
auto-	self	autobiography, automobile
de-	reverse or change	declassify, decontaminate, demotivate
dis-	reverse or remove	disagree, displeasure, disqualify
down-	reduce or lower	downgrade, downhearted
extra-	beyond	extraordinary, extraterrestrial
hyper-	extreme	hyperactive, hypertension
il-, im-, in-, ir-,	not	illegal, impossible, insecure, irregular
inter-	between	interactive, international
mega-	very big, important	megabyte, mega-deal, megaton
mid-	middle	midday, midnight, mid-October
mis-	incorrectly, badly	misaligned, mislead, misspelt
non-	not	non-payment, non-smoking
over-	too much	overcook, overcharge, overrate
out-	go beyond	outdo, out-perform, outrun
post-	after	post-election, post-war
pre-	before	prehistoric, pre-war
pro-	in favor of	pro-communist, pro-democracy
re-	again	reconsider, redo, rewrite
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-retired
sub-	under, below	submarine, sub-Saharan
super-	above, beyond	super-hero, supermodel
tele-	at a distance	television, telepathic
trans-	across	transatlantic, transfer
ultra-	extremely	ultra-compact, ultrasound
un-	remove, reverse, not	undo, unpack, unhappy
under-	less than, beneath	under-cook, underestimate
up-	make or move higher	upgrade, uphill

 

Suffix

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word which makes a new word. The new word is most often a different word class from the original word. In the table below, the suffix –ful has changed verbs to adjectives, –ment, and –ion have changed verbs to nouns. If you see a word ending in –ment, for example, it is likely to be a noun (e.g. commitment, contentment).

Word	Suffix	New Words
forget, use	-ful	forgetful, useful
state, govern	-ment	statement, government
complicate, create	-ion	complication, creation

 

Often, the suffix causes a spelling change to the root word. In the table above, the -e ending of complicate and create disappears when the –ion suffix is added. Other examples of spelling changes include:

1. beauty, duty + -ful → beautiful, dutiful (-y changes to i)

2. heavy, ready + -ness → heaviness, readiness (-y changes to i)

3. able, possible + -ity → ability, possibility (-le changes to il)

4. permit, omit + -ion → permission, omission (-t changes to ss)

 

Common Suffixes

Here are the most common suffixes used in the English language. Just like prefixes, you will encounter a hefty amount of these words when you take the CSC Eligibility test.

Noun Suffixes

Suffix	Examples of Nouns
-age	baggage, village, postage
-al	arrival, burial, deferral
-ance/-ence	reliance, insistence
-dom	boredom, freedom, kingdom
-ee	employee, payee, trainee
-er/-or	driver, writer, director
-hood	brotherhood, childhood, neighborhood
-ism	capitalism, Marxism, socialism (philosophies)
-ist	capitalist, Marxist, socialist (followers of philosophies)
-ity/-ty	brutality, equality, cruelty
-ment	amazement, disappointment, parliament
-ness	happiness, kindness, usefulness
-ry	entry, ministry, robbery
-ship	friendship, membership, workmanship
-sion/-tion/-xion	expression, population, complexion

 

Adjective Suffixes

Suffix	Example of Adjectives
-able/-ible	drinkable, portable, flexible
-al	brutal, formal, postal
-en	broken, golden, wooden
-ese	Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese
-ful	forgetful, helpful, useful
-i	Iraqi, Pakistani, Yemeni
-ic	classic, Islamic, poetic
-ish	British, childish, Spanish
-ive	active, passive, productive
-ian	Canadian, Malaysian, Peruvian
-less	homeless, hopeless, useless
-ly	daily, monthly, yearly
-ous	cautious, famous, nervous
-y	cloudy, rainy, windy

 

Verb Suffixes

Suffix	Examples of Verbs
-ate	complicate, dominate, irritate
-en	harden, soften, shorten
-ify	beautify, clarify, identify
-ise/-ize	economise, realise, industrialize (-ise is most common in British English; -ize is most common in American English)

 

Adverb Suffixes

Suffix	Examples of Adverbs
-ly	calmly, easily, quickly
-ward(s)	downwards, homeward(s), upwards
-wise	anti-clockwise, clockwise, edgewise

Test question exercises for Prefixes and Suffixes will be added soon. For the meantime, re-read the reviewer above so you can familiarize yourself with Prefix and Suffixes. Doing so will make you have an easier time when you encounter them in the Civil Service Examination. Also, check out more grammar and correct usage reviewers to broaden your prefix and suffix knowledge.