Most Common Prefixes Learn English Grammar
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Hi everybody, and welcome back to EnglishClass101.com’s
Youtube channel.
My name is Alisha, and today I’m going to
talk about some common prefixes in English.
So common prefixes refer to these few prefixes
I chose for today’s lesson.
If you don’t know though, I included a definition
of the word prefix here.
So a prefix means letters added to the beginning
of a word to change the meaning of a word.
So a prefix is usually maybe one, two, three,
or four letters, kind of a short, you can
think of it like a smaller word, actually.
We add a prefix to the beginning of a word
and it changes the meaning of the entire word.
So just by adding a short beginning to a word,
you can actually create a different word with
a different meaning.
So today I want to introduce a few common
prefixes that maybe you can use and maybe
you have seen before, and I also want to talk
about some of the ways to pronounce these.
So let’s get started!
Okay, the first prefix I want to talk about
is re-, the prefix RE-, the meaning of re-
as a prefix is, again, this is the nuance,
so when we attach re- to the beginning of
a word, it means that word plus again.
So let’s look at a few examples of this, we
have the word “redo” here, so the original
word is “do” but I attached the prefix re-
and it becomes “do again.”
So redo a task, redo my homework.
Redo a test, it means to do something again,
redo.
The second example here is “replay.”
So you can see the base word here is “play,”
we use this word “replay” for sports, for
a video, for something that we can watch or
listen to, usually.
So, for example, replay a video, replay a
song, replay this YouTube content, for example.
So we use replay to play something again.
Okay, the next word is “reunite.”
So “unite” means come together, we use unite
for when people come together, for example,
so this word reunite means to unite again.
We use this word when we haven’t seen someone
for a long time and we get to see them one
more time.
So, for example, I reunited with my classmates
at a reunion party, or I’m excited to reunite
with my family next month.
We use reunite to come together, reunite means
to unite again.
Ok, the last example is “recapture.”
So “capture” is like to take something and
keep it, to capture something, like, to capture
a flag, if you know that game, or to capture
a person, may be in serious situations like
wartime, but we also use capture to talk about
emotions, so to capture a sad emotion, to
capture a happy emotion, especially in movies
or in songs, to capture an emotion is considered
a skill.
So when we say recapture, for example, we
could mean something recaptures in emotion,
like that movie really recaptured some memories
of my childhood, or that song really recaptured
the feeling of the original composer.
So re + capture means capture again.
so remember the prefix re- has the nuance,
the meaning of, again.
You attach it to a word to mean that word
plus again.
Ok, let’s go to the next common prefix for
today.
The next one is anti-.
You might hear anti- or anti-, both are correct,
it depends a little bit on the word and it
depends a little bit on what your preferred
style of pronunciation is, but you might hear
anti- or anti-.
Let’s look at a few examples and what it means.
So anti- or anti- means against, against something;
so you’ll see in a few examples, anti- or
anti- means against something, to oppose something
else.
So let’s look at the first example.
First, I have antifreeze.
So the base word here is “freeze,” and I have
anti-, meaning against or opposing, so antifreeze
is a product that we use for cars, for example,
to prevent the machinery, to prevent the fluids
in the car from freezing and therefore becoming
unable to move.
So antifreeze is the name of a product, it’s
against freezing or it opposes freezing, it
stops fluids from freezing, this is antifreeze.
Okay, let’s look at one more example, anti-aging.
So “aging” is our base here, aging is the
process of getting older, the process of aging,
the process of getting higher and higher in
the number of years we’ve been alive.
So anti-aging, against aging, this is a word
that’s commonly used for, for example, skin
care products or other, maybe, food products.
These are used, this word is usually used
for products that are supposed to help you
slow down the process of aging or try to make
it appear as though aging has stopped.
So anti-aging is opposing aging, it’s against
aging; this is the meaning of anti-aging or
anti-aging.
Okay, the next word is anticlimactic.
So “climactic” here is the base word, so a
climax, a climactic moment, for example, is
the peak of a moment, like the peak level
of excitement in a movie, for example.
The climax of a movie is the most exciting
part of the movie or the most dramatic part
of the movie, so a climactic moment is a very
exciting moment, therefore when we look at
the word anticlimactic, anti- means against,
so it’s the opposite of climactic, it’s not
exciting, it’s not dramatic, it’s not important.
We might say that movie’s climax was actually
really anticlimactic, or I was really excited
to do something this weekend but my plans
fell through, it was really anticlimactic.
So anticlimactic means not climactic or it’s
the opposite of climactic.
Okay, one more example, antihistamine.
Antihistamine.
So “histamine” here is the base word, this
is a word that’s commonly found in allergy
products, so if you have allergies you might
know about this word.
Histamine, it’s a chemical, it’s a compound
that when you come in contact with, something
that gives you allergies.
It creates your symptoms, it makes you, for
example, have a runny nose or itchy eyes,
or maybe some skin problem, for example.
Histamine causes that reaction, that allergic
reaction.
So antihistamines, this is a very common type
of medicine, a very common drug, antihistamines
stops the histamine reaction, the allergic
reaction, so anti- meaning against, and histamine,
that thing, that compound in you that causes
an allergic reaction.
So this is an antihistamine, against histamine,
commonly found in allergy drugs and medicines.
Okay, so let’s remember anti- or anti- means
against or the opposite, opposing something.
Okay, let’s go to the next one for today.
The next one I want to talk about is dis-.
Dis- is the next prefix.
So this means opposite or not something, opposite
or not is dis-.
So the first word here I have is “disagree.”
The base word here is “agree,” agreed to have
the same opinion as someone else, for example.
But here I have dis-, meaning opposite or
not, which means disagree, meaning I do not
have the same opinion, the opinion is different
from someone else.
I disagree with you, I disagree with that.
Dis- shows it’s not agreement here.
Let’s look at one more example, I have the
word disable here.
Able, of course, means able to do something
or maybe available, for example.
This is a word you might see a lot on computers,
like, disable a function, or disable a device,
for example.
But “able” means we can use, able means is
available, for example.
Dis-, however, shows that it’s not able to
be used or we cannot use it.
Dis- makes it a negative, so we could say
disable a USB device or disable my access
to this file, for example.
It means become unable to do something as
a verb.
Okay, let’s go to the next example, disrespect.
Disrespect.
So “respect” is the base here, respect meaning
to be humble to or to show respect for someone;
but disrespect shows not respect here.
So, don’t disrespect your boss, or don’t disrespect
your parents, or she really disrespected me.
Showing lack of respect, no respect, is what
disrespect refers to.
Okay, one more.
“Obey” is the base word here for disobey.
So obey means to listen to, to listen to a
command and to do that command is obey, the
meaning of obey.
However, disobey means not obey or the opposite
of obey.
So, to disobey a command is to listen to a
command and not do that, to do something different.
So the military personnel disobeyed the president’s
orders, for example.
Or I disobeyed my boss’s requests last week,
for example.
So disobey means to not obey something.
So each of these we see, this dis- means opposite
or not, this is the prefix in each of these
examples.
Ok, let’s continue to the next one.
The next one is ex-.
Maybe many of you are familiar with ex- already,
but ex- means former, past or former.
So it used to be, but is no longer the case.
This is the meaning of ex- as a prefix.
So some examples, ex-girlfriend, for example,
ex-girlfriend, ex-boyfriend, ex-husband, ex-wife,
we can use these for a former relationship.
My ex-girlfriend, my ex-boyfriend, my ex-partner,
maybe for some of you.
So whatever word you choose to use for your
romantic relationships, you can say ex- to
talk about your past or your former romantic
relationships.
In a work setting, you can use ex-boss, the
base here is “boss” so your former boss; if
your job changed or your boss changed, you
can use ex-boss to talk about that.
Here, for maybe more government or maybe more
company related vocabulary words, we have
ex-president.
So ex-president is the former president of
an organization, ex-president.
We could use this for governments as well,
the ex-president of the United States, the
former president.
Okay, finally, ex-roommate is another one.
So someone you used to share a room with,
your ex-roommate, your former roommate, we
use ex- to talk about the former of this case.
Alright, so please remember ex- as a prefix,
it means former.
Let’s go to the last one for today.
The last prefix here is mid-.
So the meaning of mid- as a prefix is middle.
So we use this a lot for time periods or times
of day, seasons, for example.
Let’s look at some example, so the first example
here is mid-summer.
Mid-summer.
Summer is the season, so mid- means in the
middle of summer.
So you might be familiar with a Shakespeare
play called a Midsummer Night’s Dream, that
play occurs in the middle of summer.
In the middle of summer, mid-summer, during,
in the middle.
Okay, another example is mid-air.
The base here is “air.”
Mid-air is used for something that is flying,
so for example, planes, as they fly are cruising
mid-air, for example.
Something that is in the air, it is in the
middle of the air, we say mid-air for that.
Okay, another common word is midnight.
Midnight.
So middle, mid-, night, in the middle of the
night.
This is usually around twelve o’clock a.m.
or, like, zero o’clock, if you use military
time, too.
Then the opposite is also true, midday.
Midday is the middle of the day, midday, maybe,
about twelve o’clock p.m. or noon, for example.
Midday is the middle of the day.
So let’s remember that the prefix mid- means
middle.
Okay, so these are a few common prefixes there,
a lot, actually, there are a lot of different
prefixes but these are a few that are fairly
common, so try them out.
Of course, not every word can be paired with
a prefix, try it out and see what the correct
one is.
These are some examples of some correct words
that you can use, but not all words can be
paired with every prefix, so please be careful
about that.
Ok!
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