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Word Formation (Negative Prefixes) : Un-In Dis - Im

The document discusses word formation using negative prefixes in English. It provides examples of common negative prefixes like un-, non-, dis-, and mis- and their uses to form negatives of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It also discusses negative suffixes like -less. The document concludes by presenting a table of examples of negative adjectives formed using these prefixes and the suffix -less.

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Monica Filimon
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267 views2 pages

Word Formation (Negative Prefixes) : Un-In Dis - Im

The document discusses word formation using negative prefixes in English. It provides examples of common negative prefixes like un-, non-, dis-, and mis- and their uses to form negatives of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It also discusses negative suffixes like -less. The document concludes by presenting a table of examples of negative adjectives formed using these prefixes and the suffix -less.

Uploaded by

Monica Filimon
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Word formation (negative prefixes)

We use these prefixes most commonly in


negation: de-, dis-, il-/im-/in-/ir-, mis-, non-, un-:

What he said was very impolite.

There was a misunderstanding about who should sign the contract.

The refugees also need non-food items such as tents and blankets. (items which are not
food)

-less is the most common suffix for negation:

Too many people are homeless in this city.

We just have endless meetings at work – they’re so boring.

There are lots of prefixes and suffixes we can use to make negatives. Here is some useful
general advice:

1. Negative prefixes can be used with nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs. For
example disapproval,  disapprove, disapproving, disapprovingly.
2. Usually im + p (impatient) but not always (unpleasant).
3. Often il + l (illegal) but not always (unlikely).
4. Often ir + r (irregular) but not always (unresponsive).
5. Usually -ful changes to -less (harmful/less) but not always (endful / endless).
6. If you can't remember, choose un - it's the most common negative prefix.

All the words in the table below are adjectives.

Look at the information in the table for a few minutes and try to remember the words.

un- in dis- im-

unexpected inaccurate disapprove (verb) improbable


unaware inappropriate dislike (verb) impossible
unbelievable inefficient disagree (verb) impolite
unknown incapable disbelieve (verb) imperfect
unable ineffective dishonest (adjective) impatient

il- ir- mis- -less

illegal irregular misbehave (verb) careless


illiterate irresponsible misunderstand (verb) harmless
illogical irrational misspell (verb) helpless
illegible irrelevant misuse (verb) endless

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