Comprehensive list of prefixes and suffixes with their meanings

Have you ever wonder what those prefixes and suffixes we link up to words actually mean?

Native English speakers use these letters that go before and after words all day long, usually without a thought to their definitions. But we do use them for a reason: they alter the meaning of the word.

For instance, if someone is being careless, a native English speaker would be quick to say, “Hey, stop acting carelessly,” without hesitating to recall that the suffix –ly means “in the matter of.”

But, oh those poor English learners. It takes time to memorize all of our prefixes and suffixes and learn which to attach to what word. (A unicycle is quite different from a tricycle, you know.) It also doesn’t help that English, being that it is the bastard child of multiple European languages, adopted its prefixes and suffixes from Latin, Greek, and Old French.

Download the FREE textbook on Grammar

Grammar is a very old field of study. Did you know that the sentence was first divided into subject and verb by Plato, the famed philosopher from ancient Greece? That was about 2,400 years ago! Ever since then, students all over the world have found it worthwhile to study the structure of words and sentences. Why? Because skill in speaking and writing is the hallmark of all educated people. Lesson by lesson, this book provides basic instruction in the eight parts of speech—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections—as well as the standard patterns of English

sentences. 

Some Great Lessons on Nouns

  

Nouns: Definition

Nouns are words that indicate a person, place, or thing.

In a sentence, nouns can function as the subject or the object of a verb or

preposition. Nouns can also follow linking verbs to rename or re-identify the

subject of a sentence or clause; these are known as predicate nouns.

The Subject

The subject in a sentence or clause is the person or thing doing, performing, or controlling the action of the verb. For example:

• “The dog chased its tail.” (The noun dog is performing the action of the verb

chase.)

• “Mary reads a book every week.” (The proper noun Mary is performing the action of the verb read.)

Objects

Grammatical objects have three grammatical roles: the direct object of a verb, the indirect object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.

Direct objects

Direct objects are what receive the action of the verb in a sentence or clause.

For example:

• “The dog chased its tail.” (The noun tail is receiving the action of the verb

chase.)

• “Mary reads a book every week.” (The noun book is receiving the action of the verb read.)

Indirect objects

An indirect object is the person or thing who receives the direct object of the verb. For instance:

• “Please pass Jeremy the salt.” (The proper noun Jeremy is receiving the direct object salt, which receives the action of the verb pass.)

• “I sent the company an application for the job.” (The noun company is receiving the direct object application, which receives the action of the verb sent).

Concord, its rules and usages.

  

Concord

Concord in the use of English language means agreement between the subject and the verb or agreement

between a verb and other elements of clause structure.

In the use of concord in English language, there are many rules governing the topic.

So let's analyse the rules one by one.

Rule 1

Subject and verb concord

When the subject in a sentence is singular, the verb should also be singular.

For example,

She (singular subject) goes (singular verb), not: She go ( plural verb). Also, when the subject is plural,

the verb should also be plural.

Learn the Order of Adjectives with Ease

 

The order of adjectives is a topic with diverse applications and usages.

In fact, (about 5) questions are being asked annually on it...in WASSCE, NECO and JAMB examinations.

Let's continue...

Adjectives are words that qualify/modify a noun or a pronoun. In other words, theydescribe a person, place, or thing in a sentence. Adjectives usually come before the noun. For example:

• “The small dog jumped over the white fence.”