Master Prefixes and Suffixes with Vocabulary review games.
This unit covers common prefixes, common suffixes and word building — essential concepts for Vocabulary. Use our interactive study games to test your understanding, or review questions in traditional format below.
Pick a mode. Play.
Answer questions as fast as you can. 2 minutes on the clock. Build streaks for bonus points!
Don't want to play?
Review the questions traditionally. Click to expand.
Questions loading...
Focus on understanding.
Focus on understanding core concepts before memorizing details. Use the game modes to test yourself repeatedly — spaced repetition is proven to boost long-term retention.
This unit covers common prefixes, common suffixes and word building — essential concepts for Vocabulary. Use our interactive study games to test your understanding, or review questions in traditional format below.
Key Concepts Breakdown
1 Common Prefixes
A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a base word that changes its meaning. Students must know the most frequently tested prefixes and their meanings to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. On exams, you will often be asked to identify what a prefix means or how it changes a word's definition.
Key Points
- un-, dis-, non-, in-/im-/ir-/il- all mean 'not' or 'opposite of' (unhappy, disagree, nonprofit, impossible)
- pre- means 'before'; post- means 'after'; re- means 'again' or 'back'
- mis- means 'wrongly'; over- means 'too much'; under- means 'too little'
- sub- means 'under/below'; super- means 'above/beyond'; inter- means 'between'
What does the word 'misjudge' most likely mean? A) judge correctly B) judge again C) judge wrongly D) judge carefully
The prefix mis- means 'wrongly,' and the base word is 'judge.' Combining them gives 'to judge wrongly,' which matches answer choice C. You do not need to have seen this word before — knowing the prefix meaning is enough to answer correctly.
2 Common Suffixes
A suffix is a word part added to the end of a base word that often changes the word's part of speech. Students must know common suffixes and understand how they shift a word from, for example, a verb to a noun or an adjective. Exams frequently test whether students can identify a word's part of speech based on its suffix.
Key Points
- -tion/-sion/-ment/-ness/-er/-or/-ist turn words into nouns (creation, measurement, darkness, teacher)
- -ful/-less/-ous/-al/-ible/-able turn words into adjectives (hopeful, harmless, dangerous, breakable)
- -ly turns adjectives into adverbs (quickly, carefully, loudly)
- -ize/-ify/-en turn words into verbs (modernize, clarify, strengthen)
Choose the word that completes the sentence correctly: 'The scientist made a remarkable _______ about climate change.' (discover / discovery / discoverable / discovering)
The blank follows an article ('a') and needs a noun to function as the object of the sentence. The suffix -y (from -ery) forms a noun, making 'discovery' the correct choice. The other options are a verb, adjective, and participle — their suffixes signal the wrong parts of speech for this position.
3 Word Building
Word building is the process of creating new words by combining a base word with one or more prefixes and suffixes. Students must be able to analyze multi-part words by breaking them into their components to determine meaning. Exams test this by presenting unfamiliar words and asking students to use word parts as context clues.
Key Points
- Always identify the base (root) word first, then analyze attached prefixes and suffixes
- A single word can have both a prefix and a suffix: un + predict + able = unpredictable
- Meaning is built cumulatively: each part adds to or modifies the whole (re + build + ing = rebuilding = in the process of building again)
- When a suffix changes the spelling of the base word, the base meaning stays the same (happy → happiness)
Break down the word 'unmanageable' and determine its meaning.
Start with the base word 'manage,' which means to handle or control. The suffix -able means 'capable of being,' turning it into 'manageable' (able to be managed). The prefix un- means 'not,' so 'unmanageable' means 'not able to be managed or controlled.' Breaking the word into three parts — un + manage + able — gives you the full meaning without needing prior knowledge of the word.
Questions, answered.
What is Prefixes and Suffixes?
Prefixes and Suffixes is Unit 3 of Vocabulary, covering common prefixes, common suffixes and word building.
How to study for Vocabulary Unit 3?
Start with the Quick Summary above, review the Key Concepts, then test yourself with our interactive study games. Aim for 80%+ accuracy before moving on.
How many questions are in this unit?
This unit has 27+ review questions across 5 different game modes.