WORD FORMATION IN ENGLISH

     

Common noun suffixes: 

-er                         person who does an activity                    researcher

-or                                                                                         director         

-ist                                                                                         chemist

-er                         things which do a particular  job             stirrer

-or                                                                                          projector

-er                         person who does something                    employer

-ee                         person who recieves or experiences       employee

                              the action                                          

-ity                                                                                         purity, density

-ing                                                                                        testing

-ment                                                                                     measurement

-ance                                                                                      appearance

-ence                                                                                      difference

-ation                                                                                     distillation

-ion                                                                                        discussion

-age                                                                                        passage

-hood                                                                                     childhood

-ness                  abstract nouns derived from adjectives       bitterness

 

Common adjective suffixes

-al                                                                                            chemical, physical

-ous                                                                                          dangerous

-ic                                                                                             toxic, sulphuric

-ive                                                                                           relative

-y                                                                                              milky

-able,-ible      means  ´can be done´                                         washable, visible

-ful                 often means ˇfull ofˇ+the meaning                    careful, useful

                            of the adjective

-less               means ˇwithoutˇ+ the meaning of the                careless, hopeless

                            adjective

Common verb suffixes

-ify                                                                                             solidify, purify

-ize                                                                                             specialize

-ate                                                                                             separate, condensate

Common prefixes

   Giving the adjective/adverb or verb negative or opposite meaning:

 un-                                                                                             unusual

 im-                                                                                             impossible

 in-                                                                                              invisible

 il-                                                                                               illegal

 dis-                                                                                            disappear

 mis-                                                                                           misunderstand

 non-                                                                                           non-metal

 de-                                                                                             decompose

   Another frequent prefix used in technical language is

re-                    meaning again or back                                        redestill, recycle