{"id":20510,"date":"2025-03-07T12:33:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T12:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/?p=20510"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T07:05:10","slug":"12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Common Prefixes and What They Mean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If you\u2019ve studied the English language, then there\u2019s a good chance that you have heard about prefixes. A prefix is a group of letters which can be added to the <strong>beginning <\/strong>of a word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A prefix<strong> cannot <\/strong>be used alone, and using one will <strong>change<\/strong> the meaning of the word it is attached to. Let\u2019s take a look at some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>I\u2019m uncomfortable with speaking Italian. I need to study and practise more often.<\/em> [<em>Un- <\/em>+ comfortable = <strong>not <\/strong>comfortable]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>The boy felt demotivated after he failed his test. He thought he would get a better grade.<\/em> [<em>de- <\/em>+ motivated = <strong>opposite of <\/strong>motivated]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Have you watched the new &#8216;Mission Impossible&#8217;&nbsp;film? Tom Cruise does his own stunts!<\/em> [<em>Im<\/em>&#8211; + possible = <strong>not <\/strong>possible]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">There are many prefixes in the English language, but today we\u2019re going to take a look at 12 of the most common ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Prefix<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Meaning<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Example<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Anti-<\/strong><\/td><td>Against<\/td><td>Antisocial<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>De-<\/strong><\/td><td>Opposite<\/td><td>Demotivated<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Un-<\/strong><\/td><td>Not<\/td><td>Unhappy<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Dis-<\/strong><\/td><td>Not, opposite of<\/td><td>Disagree<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Im-<\/strong><\/td><td>Not<\/td><td>Impolite<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Mid-<\/strong><\/td><td>Middle<\/td><td>Midday<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Mis-<\/strong><\/td><td>Wrongly<\/td><td>Misunderstand<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Over-<\/strong><\/td><td>Over<\/td><td>Overenthusiastic<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Pre-<\/strong><\/td><td>Before<\/td><td>Prehistoric<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>10.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Re-<\/strong><\/td><td>Again<\/td><td>Rewrite<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>11.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Super-<\/strong><\/td><td>Above, beyond<\/td><td>Superhuman<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>12.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Under<\/strong><\/td><td>Under<\/td><td>Underestimate<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-8736e815e343784614daf4c5fab0376a\">Interested in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecenglish.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">learning English abroad<\/a>? EC English operates language schools all around the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve studied the English language, then there\u2019s a good chance that you have heard about prefixes. A prefix is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":9732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_trash_the_other_posts":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"acf":{"post_subtitle":"","related_posts":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EC English ( EN )\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"abigailcalleja\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"abigailcalleja\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"abigailcalleja\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40\"},\"headline\":\"12 Common Prefixes and What They Mean\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\"},\"wordCount\":269,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"English\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\",\"name\":\"12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40\"},\"description\":\"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg\",\"width\":1619,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Proud EC Student\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"12 Common Prefixes and What They Mean\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/\",\"name\":\"EC English ( EN )\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40\",\"name\":\"abigailcalleja\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a21732fc8b7c826753ab27d6519d4b934533465390c441ab70d1f58705a0a9af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a21732fc8b7c826753ab27d6519d4b934533465390c441ab70d1f58705a0a9af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"abigailcalleja\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/author\/abigailcalleja\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English","description":"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English","og_description":"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.","og_url":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/","og_site_name":"EC English ( EN )","article_published_time":"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1619,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"abigailcalleja","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"abigailcalleja","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/"},"author":{"name":"abigailcalleja","@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40"},"headline":"12 Common Prefixes and What They Mean","datePublished":"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/"},"wordCount":269,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg","articleSection":["English"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/","url":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/","name":"12 Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings | EC English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-07T12:33:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-08T07:05:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40"},"description":"Learn the meanings and usage of 12 common English prefixes. Boost your vocabulary and understanding of English words easily with EC English.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Proud-EC-student.jpg","width":1619,"height":1080,"caption":"Proud EC Student"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ecenglish.com\/en\/blog\/english\/12-common-prefixes-and-what-they-mean\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"12 Common Prefixes and What They Mean"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/","name":"EC English ( EN )","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/59af6e26b3d54696f64d390180c69e40","name":"abigailcalleja","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a21732fc8b7c826753ab27d6519d4b934533465390c441ab70d1f58705a0a9af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a21732fc8b7c826753ab27d6519d4b934533465390c441ab70d1f58705a0a9af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"abigailcalleja"},"url":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/author\/abigailcalleja\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20510"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23511,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20510\/revisions\/23511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ec.itmonks.dev\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}