5.3 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

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1 Introduction & Exam Overview

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2 Chapter 2: Mathematics I — Numbers, Algebra, and Functions

2.1 Number Sense, Operations, and Fraction–Decimal–Percent Conversions 2.2 Algebra, Polynomials, and Linear/Quadratic Equations 2.3 Inequalities, Absolute Value, and Systems of Equations 2.4 Radicals, Rational Expressions, and Scientific Notation 2.5 Coordinate Geometry, Lines, and Functions

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5 Chapter 5: English I — Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary

5.1 Reading Comprehension: Main Idea, Purpose, and Passage Structure 5.2 Inference, Supporting Detail, and Author's Tone 5.3 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 5.4 Vocabulary in Context, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Confusables

6 Chapter 6: English II — Grammar, Usage, and Written Expression

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5.3 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Decompose in the order suffix, prefix, root: the suffix gives part of speech, the prefix gives polarity, direction, quantity or time, and the root carries the core meaning.

Morphology reliably eliminates about two of four options but rarely proves one — use it to cut, then let the sentence decide.

The Latin root dict ('to say') alone generates predict, contradict, edict, verdict, abdicate, benediction, malediction, jurisdiction and diction.

Not every in- is negative: invaluable means too valuable to measure and inflammable means easily set alight, because in- there means 'into', not 'not'.

Ped- is Latin 'foot' in pedal and impede but Greek 'child' in pedagogue and paediatric — identical spelling, unrelated roots.

Last updated: August 2026

5.3 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Most of the hard words on a college entrance test are not learned words — they are assembled words. English built its academic vocabulary out of Latin and Greek parts, and the same parts recur relentlessly. Morphology , the study of word structure, lets you take a word you have never seen and recover most of its meaning from its pieces. Filipino students begin with an advantage: hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Filipino carry the same Latin stock — tradisyon , sirkulo , eksperimento , biyahe — so the roots below are often half-familiar already. This section is about a word's raw material; using the surrounding sentence to choose between shades of meaning belongs to section 5.4.

How to decompose a word

An assembled word has up to three slots: prefix + root + suffix . Work them in this order.

Strip the suffix. It tells you the part of speech, and sometimes a general flavour ( full of , the state of ), but rarely the core meaning.

Strip the prefix. It supplies polarity (not, against), direction (through, across, under), quantity (one, many, all), or time (before, after, again).

Read the root. This carries the meaning.

Reassemble literally , then translate the literal gloss into ordinary English.

Check the grammar slot. If the sentence needs an adjective and your gloss is a verb, you have mis-split the word.

Decomposition gives you the neighbourhood, not the street address. It reliably eliminates two of four options; it seldom proves one. Use it to cut, then decide.

High-frequency Latin and Greek roots

Root Origin and meaning Example words
bene, bon Latin: good, well benevolent, benefactor, benign
mal Latin: bad, ill malevolent, malady, maladroit
cred Latin: to believe credible, credulous, incredulous
dict, dic Latin: to say edict, contradict, verdict
duc, duct Latin: to lead conduct, induce, abduct
fer Latin: to carry, bear transfer, confer, proliferate
spec, spic Latin: to look conspicuous, circumspect, introspection
scrib, script Latin: to write inscribe, circumscribe, manuscript
tract Latin: to pull, drag retract, intractable, protracted
ven, vent Latin: to come intervene, convene, advent
voc, vok Latin: voice, to call evoke, revoke, vociferous
loqu, locu Latin: to speak eloquent, loquacious, circumlocution
sci Latin: to know omniscient, prescient, conscientious
ced, cess Latin: to go, to yield recede, concede, precedent
pend, pens Latin: to hang, to weigh suspend, pensive, impending
ten, tain Latin: to hold tenacious, retain, untenable
viv, vit Latin: life vivacious, revive, vital
mort Latin: death mortal, moribund, mortify
chron Greek: time chronology, anachronism, synchronise
bio Greek: life biology, symbiosis, biopsy
path Greek: feeling, suffering empathy, antipathy, pathology
phil Greek: love, fondness philanthropy, bibliophile, philology
graph, gram Greek: to write, draw cartography, epigram, graphic
morph Greek: form, shape metamorphosis, amorphous
anthrop Greek: human being anthropology, misanthrope
arch Greek: rule, chief, first monarchy, anarchy, archetype
log, logue Greek: word, speech, study dialogue, neologism, monologue
therm Greek: heat thermal, isotherm, geothermal
Affixes worth memorising
Negative and reversal prefixes
a-, an- (without): amoral, anarchy, anaemic
in-, im-, il-, ir- (not): inept, impartial, illegible, irreversible
un-, non- (not): unwarranted, nonpartisan
dis- (not, apart): disparate, dissuade
mis- (wrongly, badly): misconstrue, misanthrope
anti-, contra-, counter- (against): antipathy, contravene, counteract
de- (down, away, reverse): devalue, deregulate
Quantity prefixes
mono-, uni- (one): monolithic, unilateral
bi-, di- (two): bilateral, dichotomy
poly-, multi- (many): polyglot, multifaceted
semi-, hemi- (half): semiannual, hemisphere
omni-, pan- (all): omnipotent, pandemic
Spatial and directional prefixes
sub- (under): subordinate, submerge
super-, supra- (above, beyond): superfluous, supranational
inter- (between): intervene, interdisciplinary
intra- (within): intramural, intravenous
trans- (across): transcend, transitory
circum-, peri- (around): circumvent, perimeter
hyper- (over, excessive) and hypo- (under, deficient): hyperbole, hypothermia
ex- (out), ab- (away), ad- (toward): extract, abdicate, adhere
Temporal prefixes
ante-, pre- (before): antecedent, presage
post- (after): posthumous, postscript
re- (again, back): reiterate, retract
retro- (backward): retrospective, retroactive
neo- (new) and proto- (first, earliest): neologism, prototype
Suffixes as part-of-speech signals

Suffix Part of speech Sense Examples
tion, -sion, -ment, -ance, -ence Noun act or result of retraction, deferment, reliance
ity, -ness, -tude Noun state or quality of tenacity, brittleness, fortitude
ist, -er, -or, -ian Noun person who does philanthropist, benefactor, historian
ism Noun doctrine or condition anachronism, altruism
ous, -ose Adjective full of vociferous, verbose
able, -ible Adjective able to be tractable, incorrigible
ive, -ic, -al Adjective relating to pensive, chronic, mortal
ify, -ize, -ate, -en Verb to make or cause exemplify, synchronise, alienate
ly, -wise Adverb in the manner of circumspectly, likewise
Building a word family from one root
One root generates a whole family. Here is dict / dic (Latin, "to say"): DICT / DIC -- to say
|
+-----------+--------------+-------------+--------------+
pre-dict contra-dict e-dict ver-dict ab-dic-ate
say before speak against spoken out truth-said say away
= foretell = oppose = decree = judgement = renounce

+---------------+----------------+------------------+
bene-dict-ion male-dict-ion juris-dict-ion dict-ion
good-saying bad-saying law-saying manner of saying
= blessing = curse = legal authority = word choice

Learn dict once and nine words arrive with it. Do the same for spec (inspect, conspicuous, circumspect, retrospective, perspective, specious) and for ten / tain (tenacious, retain, sustain, untenable, tenure).

Worked exemplar 1 — decomposing perspicacious
Sentence: "A perspicacious editor caught the error three drafts earlier."
Suffix -acious → adjective, "tending to, full of."
Prefix per- → "through, thoroughly."
Root spic → "to look, see."
Literal reassembly: "tending to see through."

Ordinary English: keenly perceptive, shrewd.

Against options stubborn / perceptive / careless / long-winded , the literal gloss eliminates three at once.

Worked exemplar 2 — decomposing intractable
Sentence: "The dispute over the boundary proved intractable."
Suffix -able → adjective, "able to be."
Prefix in- → "not."
Root tract → "to pull, drag."

Literal: "not able to be pulled" → not able to be handled or steered.

Ordinary English: stubborn, unmanageable, resistant to any solution.

Note carefully what morphology did and did not do here. It proved the word is negative and concerns difficulty of handling, which is enough to eliminate easily settled and widely publicised . It could not separate unmanageable from unforgivable ; only the sentence can do that.

Traps in morphological analysis

Not every in- is negative. Invaluable means too valuable to measure, and inflammable means easily set alight; in both, in- means "into," not "not."

Same spelling, different root. Ped- is Latin "foot" in pedal and impede , but Greek "child" in pedagogue and paediatric .

Some words only look assembled. Noisome means offensive-smelling and has nothing to do with noise.

Suffixes carry grammar, not polarity. -ous is neutral: generous and odious share it.

Do not over-literalise. Circumspect means "cautious," not "looking in circles." The literal gloss is a stepping stone, never the final definition.