Adjective Prefixes

PREFIXES
Words that start with il- generally have the prefix il- (illegal, illogical), but there are exceptions.
Words that begin with ir- tend to have the prefix ir- (irrelevant, irrational, irregular, irresponsible)

SUFFIXES – at the end
People who do jobs: suffixes -er, -ist, -ant, -or, -ee (teacher, artist, shop assistant, professor)
Adjective suffixes: -ful, -less, -able, -ous, -ive. -itive, -y, -ible (helpful, useless, bossy)
Noun suffixes: -tion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance, -ence, -ship (education, clarity, friendship)

PREFIXES – at the start
1. Negative prefixes (mainly used for adjectives, but can be for verbs and nouns): un-, in-, -im, -dis, -ir, -il (untrue, disloyal, illogical)
2. Prefixes that give a specific meaning: anti- V pro-, down- V up-, hyper- V hypo-, pre- V post-, V micro- V macro-, sub- V supra-, inter-, V intra, multi-, V mono-, hetero- V homo-, under- V over-, trans-, ultra, semi-, non-, mini-, super- mega-…
(pro-government V anti-government, pre-war V post-war, mega-city, mini-skirt, international, ultra-modern, transatlantic, semi-skimmed..)

What’s the opposite?

Employed – unemployed
Relevant – irrelevant
Successful – unsuccessful
Possible – impossible
Trustworthy – untrustworthy
Noisy – quiet, noiseless
Comfortable – uncomfortable
Mature – immature
Respect – disrespect
Regular – irregular
Believable – unbelievable
Tolerant – intolerant
Satisfied – dissatisfied
Moral – immoral
Legal – illegal
Concerned – unconcerned
Lucky – unlucky
Reliable – unreliable
Modest – immodest
Obedient – disobedient
Honest – dishonest
Practical – impractical
Patient – impatient
Responsible – irresponsible
Perfect – imperfect
Experienced – inexperienced
Logical – illogical
Micro-economic – macroeconomic
Homosexual – heterosexual
Alcoholic (drink) – non-alcoholic
Pre-revolution(ary) – post-revolution(ary) Some words can be adjective or noun.
eg. a pre-revolution stamp. (Pre-revolution can be an adjective.)
Anti-war – pro-war. eg. The anti-war protestors had a demo. (anti-war is an adjective)
Overcooked – undercooked

*Dispones de más PODCAST en inglés publicados en los cuadernos anteriores
a los que puedes acceder directamente así como al índice de su contenido.