Oftentimes it only takes a few letters to change a word to its opposite meaning, to make a plural out of a singular, or to change the tense of a verb. In order for this to happen, all you need is an affix, a small particle, which is added to the beginning or the end of a word. This article will explain the magic of affixes to you, what types there are, and how to use them correctly according to language rules.
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Affix in a nutshell
Affixes are particles consisting of just a few letters, which are added to a root word to change its form or meaning.
Definition: Affix
An affix is a small particle of, usually one to four letters, attached to the beginning or end of a word. This way, you can change the meaning and intention of a word, change tenses, or turn singular to plural. Affixes are a type of morpheme, words that change the meaning of other words. However, as a bound morpheme, they can never stand alone and must always be connected to another root word.
Types
Affixes can be sorted into four types: prefixes, suffixes, circumfixes, and infixes, depending on where they are added to the word. However, not all kinds can be applied to every word, as the respective examples will show.
A prefix is a particle added to the beginning of a word. They typically qualify the natural meaning of it, the intention, or a relationship. Common prefixes can be “de-,“ “in-,“ “un-,“ “re-,“ “non-,“ or “a-.” An extended guide to prefixes can be found in the corresponding article.
Examples
- To part → to depart
- Sane → insane
- Countable → uncountable
- To read → to reread
- Fiction → nonfiction
- Symmetric → asymmetric
A suffix is the second class of affix, which stands at the end of a word. It can sometimes also be called a postfix because of this. These are often used to change verbs or adjectives into nouns or alter their number of tenses. Depending on their application, they are either called inflectional or derivational. Examples of suffixes are “-s,” “-ed,” “-ation,” “-ing,” “-ness,” or “-y.” An extended guide to suffixes can be found in the corresponding article.
Examples
- Cat → cats
- To laugh → laughed
- To reveal → revelation
- To fish → fishing
- Close → closeness
- Noise → noisy
Circumfixes consist of a prefix and a suffix that border the word on both sides. This is a very rare situation that happens for example with “en-…-en” or “em-…-en.” Other combinations of pre- and suffixes can also be called circumfix.
Examples
- Light → enlighten
- Bold → embolden
- Power → empowered
- Controllable → uncontrollably
Infix
Infixes, also referred to as interfixes, are a special case where the affix is put inside the word. However, infixes do not appear in the English grammar. They do exist in other languages, like Greek, Tagalog, or certain American Indian languages.
Example from Tagalog
To indicate future on actor-focused words “sulat,” you add the infix “-um-” to create the word “sumulat.”
Note: Not every prefix can be used with every word. Sane, for example, can become “insane,” but “countable” cannot be “incountable.” Thus, it is important to know which affixes can be used for which words. Unfortunately, there is no rule about when to use which.
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Use and examples
Affixes are mostly used intuitively without thinking about it. These are merely a few examples because there are more options to transform words with affixes than you can list on one page.
The simplest ones used is “-s” or “-es” to turn a singular noun into a plural one.
Examples
- Car → cars
- Flash → flashes
Examples
- I walk → She walks (third person)
- I play → I played (past tense)
- I talk → I am talking (present progressive)
Furthermore, affixes can turn nouns into adjectives by adding “-y,” adjectives into adverbs with “-ly.” Nouns can be formed through “-ness” or “-ation.”
Examples
- Fun → funny (noun into adjective)
- Perfect → perfectly (adjective into adverb)
- Soft → softness (adjective into noun)
- To reveal → revelation (verb to noun)
Moreover, prefixes can help shorten sentences by combining the meaning of two or more words. Great examples of these are negative prefixes like “un-,“ “in-,“ or “dis-,“ which simply says how something is not.
Examples
- Not relatable → unrelatable
- Not discreet → indiscreet
- Not respectful → disrespectful
FAQs
An affix is a small particle added to a word to change its nature of meaning, word class, or tense. An example of a prefix would be the “in-” of “insane” or of a suffix the “-ed” of “booked.”
- Affix is the umbrella term for all types
- Prefixes are particles at the beginning of a word
- Suffixes are added at the end
There are also circumfixes, which are a combination of prefixes and suffixes, as well as infixes which are placed in the middle. Infixes, however, do not exist in the English language.
Yes, both types of affixes can be attached to the same word resulting in a circumfix that frames the whole word.
